The ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty has been the driving force behind the movement to establish homeless courts, providing technical assistance, resources and training for jurisdictions interested in starting programs. According to the commission, there are now at least 50 such courts across the country that offer treatment-oriented diversionary proceedings in place of jail time for homeless-related crimes. To encourage additional jurisdictions to create homeless courts, the commission plans to develop an online toolkit over the next year. Learn more about the effort in the ABA Journal.

The federal government is targeting late July for reopening the Memphis Immigration Court, the Commercial Appeal reports. Hearings are now scheduled to begin after July 24. Memphis attorney Lily Axelrod, who represents an association of immigration lawyers, says she has contacted the local chief immigration judge several times to discuss safety precautions but has not heard back. The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees the immigration courts, also has been largely silent on the issue of how courts can safely open. It has posted some guidelines, including that everyone in the court must wear a face mask and no one with a COVID-19 diagnosis or symptoms may enter the space. In related news, the National Law Journal reports that the National Association of Immigration Judges has filed a lawsuit arguing that the government is stifling judges’ rights to speak publicly on key issues, including the threat of COVID-19.

Nashville Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal ruled yesterday that the Tennessee Public Records Act applies to the Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA), finding that the association is the “functional equivalent” of a government agency. The case, Karrie Marren v. Tennessee School Board Association, focused on Marren’s request for records related to training of school board members, communication between board members and elected officials, and the association’s position statements on governance and allocation of public funds. TSBA provided some information but maintained it was not subject to the public records law since it is a private nonprofit. The court found that given the “totality of the circumstances of this case” — including the fact that TSBA receives government funding, performs a government function and has a close interrelationship with government agencies — the association should be considered a functional equivalent of government.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is the only federal U.S. appellate court that has never had a Black judge. There have been a small number of Black law clerks but several say they never saw a Black attorney argue a case while they worked there. Now that they are lawyers, they say it is rare to see a peer in the courtroom. Bloomberg Law interviewed eight former clerks who stressed they had very close relationships with the judges they clerked for, with several even saying that clerking was the best part of their career. Those interviewed expressed concern that the number of Black clerks will stay stagnant until there is more diversity among the judges on the court.

The TBA Board of Governors has selected Hamilton County General Sessions Judge Alexander McVeagh to fill the vacant position of Young Lawyer Delegate to the American Bar Association House of Delegates. McVeagh will fill the post vacated by Troy Weston, who resigned to move out of state. McVeagh also serves as East Tennessee governor on the TBA YLD Board, and is also president-elect of the Chattanooga Bar Association YLD. Currently Tennessee’s youngest judge, McVeagh was appointed by Gov. Bill Haslam in May 2017. He previously practiced with Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, the Tennessee Public Defenders Conference and the Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee.

Memphis lawyer Lauren Holloway has been appointed a hearing committee member for Disciplinary District 9. In this role, she will review recommendations by Board of Professional Responsibility counsel as to dismissals, diversion and private informal admonitions against attorneys in her district. Holloway, an attorney with McAngus Goudelock & Courie, also recently was named a “Top 100” lawyer for Tennessee by National Black Lawyers. She joins Belmont Law professor Tracey Carter in the honor. 

Hamilton County lawyer Kent Thomas Jones received a censure yesterday from the Tennessee Supreme Court. Jones received a $2,000 flat fee for representing a client on a DUI. The client had signed a written fee agreement but the agreement did not state that the fee was nonrefundable. On the day of the client’s court date, Jones appeared late and was acting erratically. Court personnel removed him from the courthouse and he was charged with public intoxication, though the charges eventually were dropped. By email later that day, Jones agreed to provide a full refund of the fee. Two and a half years later, Jones has made three partial payments amounting to $1,650. The court directed him to pay the remaining $350 within 60 days. The court also found that Jones did not keep the fee in a trust account. His actions violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.5, 1.15 and 8.4(b) and (d).

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will host three legal phone clinics this week for members of the public with questions about housing and renters’ rights, bankruptcy, medical bills, debt collection, domestic violence, applying for SNAP benefits and applying for unemployment benefits. Clinics will take place tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday from 3 to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday from 8:30-11 a.m. Those needing assistance may call 800-238-1443 during these times. To volunteer for a clinic, contact Andrae Crismon or Kendra Cheek or call 615-780-7131. See the list of clinics for the entire month.

Gov. Bill Lee has announced a partnership among Tennessee law enforcement agencies aimed at enhancing policies, increasing officer training and improving information sharing, WSMV reports. Lee said law enforcement agencies across the state will review and update their use of force and “duty to intervene” policies over the next 60 days, specifically calling on agencies to ban chokeholds and require officers to prevent or stop any act that violates law or policy. Additionally, all state agencies will have easier access to a national registry that tracks officer misconduct. Under the plan, the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy will increase minimum curriculum hours from 400 to 488 and update curriculum to include de-escalation techniques, duty to intervene, public assembly interaction and positive community-officer interaction and relationships. Critics have said the action does not go far enough.

The Tennessee Supreme Court in a unanimous decision today held that acquitted-act evidence (evidence of a prior act for which a defendant was acquitted) may be used against that defendant in a subsequent trial if it meets the requirements of Rule of Evidence 404(b). The decision explicitly overturns the court's prior decision in State v. Holman, which prohibited use of such evidence in all circumstances. The new ruling finds the evidence can be used if the trial court determines, among other factors, that it is relevant to prove some other material issue.