The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld legal protections for young immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, also known as DACA, rejecting efforts to end the program, the Tennessean reports. The DACA program provides work permits and social security numbers to immigrants brought into the country without documentation as children or on visas that later expired. President Donald Trump and his administration argued the program was illegal and sought to end DACA entirely, but the high court blocked those efforts in today’s 5-4 ruling. "We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. "We address only whether the agency complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action. Here the agency failed to consider the conspicuous issues of whether to retain forbearance and what if anything to do about the hardship to DACA recipients."

The Metro Nashville Airport Authority today announced it has appointed TBA Executive Director Joycelyn Stevenson to its Board of Commissioners. Nashville Mayor John Cooper appointed Stevenson to the position and Metro Council confirmed that decision during its June 16 meeting. Stevenson will serve as the board’s neighborhood representative. She fills the board seat previously held by Dr. A. Dexter Samuels, who had been a board member since 2007. The board is composed of three business and finance representatives, two pilot representatives, two neighborhood representatives, one engineering representative, one legal representative and the mayor.

The 17th Annual TBA Bankruptcy Law Forum will take place Nov. 13-15 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Gatlinburg. The event kicks off with two-hours of CLE programming that will highlight bankruptcy case law updates and the Small Business Reorganization Act, H.R. 3311. Those sessions are followed by a networking reception and dinner at the Park Grill. During the second day of programming, prominent bankruptcy judges will lead small breakout groups in discussing case problems that bring into focus recent developments in the law and real world problems that bankruptcy practitioners face. The program wraps up on the third day with a three-hour session on ethical issues that arise in bankruptcy. Get registered for the program and find information on how to book your hotel rooms here.

The TBA's House of Delegates selected new officers at today's meeting with Meredith Humbert of Hunter, Smith & Davis LLP in Kingsport being installed as speaker of the House, Charlotte Knight Griffin of Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division as deputy speaker and Shauna Billingsley of the City of Franklin's law department as secretary.

TBA's Virtual Convention tomorrow will feature a special session on the anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and our first-ever virtual Lawyers Lunch. Also on tap will be law school alumni breakfasts, CLE programming and a special set of entertainment events. The TBA will feature two listening rooms where attendees can choose the music that fits their taste or mood. The two options: a music mash-up or Southern Soul music. Pick one or try them both out! Links will be provided to Convention registrants in the daily email tomorrow.

Today's convention activities started early with a fitness session, followed by the infamous “Bill & Phil Show,” featuring legal technology every lawyer needs, a local bar leaders caucus, a meeting of the TBA House of Delegates and a roundtable discussion of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.

After a joint resolution passed unanimously in the state Senate to recognize Ashanti Nikole Posey — a basketball player and senior at Hillsboro High School in Nashville who was killed last spring — the measure ran into opposition in the House. After Majority Leader William Lamberth said he could not vote in favor of the measure because police said Posey had been involved in the sale of a small amount of marijuana prior to her death, the measure failed 45 to 1 with 39 members present but not voting, WPLN reports. The vote left a tense situation on the House floor. Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, shouted an expletive, then left the chamber after being threatened to be removed. Minutes after the House defeated the resolution, a group of demonstrators were forcefully removed from the chamber’s gallery.

Yesterday’s Better Right Now program from the TBA Attorney Well Being Committee focused on findings from research regarding lawyer happiness. Professor Larry Krieger with Florida State University College of Law highlighted five elements that contribute to happiness: (1) realizing the experiences you truly need to be fulfilled; (2) emphasizing connection above competition or comparison; (3) experiencing joy, love and inspiration every day; (4) realizing that all achievement starts inside; and (5) improving rather than surrendering your health in your practice. Krieger also encourages lawyers to do several small things each day to take care of themselves. These can include breathing exercises, a quick walk or a music break. Materials are online. 

Above the Law is expanding its network of podcasts with “Lawyer Forward” by Mike Whelan. The podcast will feature stories that illustrate principles explored in Whelan’s book of the same name. Lawyer Forward will bring to bear Whelan’s “unique ability to distill and explain oft-confusing concepts” to “lay out a roadmap for lawyers to carve out their own space in the future of the legal profession,” says one commentator. In the first episode, Whelan explores the loneliness and isolation many lawyers feel right now and offers advice on how to tackle isolation to become better lawyers and make clients happier.

The U.S. Justice Department has set new dates to begin executing federal death-row inmates following a months-long legal battle over a plan to resume the executions for the first time since 2003, WMC 5 News reports. Attorney General William Barr directed the Bureau of Prisons to schedule executions, beginning in mid-July, for four inmates convicted of killing children in Arkansas, Iowa and Kansas. Three of the men had been scheduled to be put to death when Barr announced the federal government would resume executions last year, ending an informal moratorium on federal capital punishment. Lawyers for the inmates are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the process.

The National Bar Association will hold a Juneteenth Town Hall on the topic of “Road to Reform, Equity, and Freedom.” The event will take place on Zoom Friday beginning at noon CDT or 1 p.m. EDT. The discussion will focus on police reform, criminal justice reform, reparations, removal of confederate statues, justice in policing act and anti-lynching legislation. Register here.