Well-Being Week in Law is recognized each year during the first full week of May as part of Mental Health Awareness Month. The initiative, sponsored by the Institute for Well-Being in Law, is designed to engage the legal profession in practical activities that reflect a holistic approach to well-being. Watch for daily coverage next week on this year's themes: staying strong for physical well-being, aligning life and work to values for spiritual well-being, engaging and growing through continued learning for intellectual well-being, connecting with others for social well-being, and understanding emotions for emotional well-being.

The TBA is hosting its Spring CLE Blast during the whole month of May! Whether you are catching up on CLE or starting to meet your 2022 requirements, our packages are designed with your convenience in mind. Choose from two CLE packages that you can watch on-demand from the comfort of your own home or office. Package 1 offers eight dual hours of credit while Package 2 offers seven hours. Earn 15 hours of CLE when you purchase both! Need to customize your learning? Visit cle.tba.org to access more than 250 on-demand programs. Whether you need one hour of CLE or 15, we have a curated list of options by hour, topic and practice area. And don't forget that all of your 2022 CLE can be taken through approved distance learning courses.

New data from the American Bar Association shows that, of Belmont University College of Law’s 2019 graduating class, 100% of those who took the bar exam sometime within the last two years have passed. The law school is one of only two schools in the country with a 100% bar passage rate over the last two years among 2019 graduates and the only school in the country to have 100% bar passage for both its 2018 and 2019 graduates within two years of graduation. The national average ultimate pass rate was 91 percent. ABA Standards require that at least 75% of a law school’s graduates in a calendar year who sit somewhere for a bar examination administered within two years of graduation must pass. Belmont has more on the story.

The Tennessee General Assembly has passed legislation that prevents candidates who have been censured from becoming judges, The Greeneville Sun reports.  An amendment to Senate Bill 2478/House Bill 2538 bars attorneys who have been publicly censured by the Board of Professional Responsibility within 10 years from holding a judgeship. The bill has an Oct. 1 effective date, meaning it will not affect current races. Rep. Andy Farmer, R-Sevierville, said the bill was the first step in ensuring honesty in candidates for all positions.

A new report from Disability Rights Tennessee and the Youth Law Center claims the Wilder Youth Development Center in Somerville is being run like a “dangerous jail,” in violation of state and federal laws, the Associated Press reports. The report says Wilder has a dearth of rehabilitative and educational services, a disproportionately high number of Black youths and young people with disabilities confined there and a reliance on solitary confinement. It also says the facility has a “pattern and practice of abuse perpetrated by staff at Wilder, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, and staff orchestrating attacks on youth.” A spokesperson with the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services said a full review of the report would be conducted, but expressed confidence that community partners, lawmakers and staff could “work towards a resolution to any concern that may exist.” Read the report here.

Brandon Toney, a Germantown intensive care nurse practitioner, has been removed from the ballot in the Republican primary for State Senate District 31, the Commercial Appeal reports. Members of the Tennessee Republican Party voted against restoring Toney to the ballot after his Republican “bona fides” were challenged. The party’s bylaws state that a person must vote in three of the past four Republican primaries to be considered a bona fide Republican. In a letter to party members, Toney acknowledged that he had not voted in the primaries in question, but that he was “clearly a Republican with a demonstrated record of supporting Republican candidates and committees.” He was set to face Brent Taylor in the August primary to fill the seat of outgoing state Sen. Brian Kelsey who is not running for reelection following his indictment on allegations of illegally redirecting campaign finance dollars.

Metro Council Member Freddie O’Connell yesterday confirmed that he will run for Nashville mayor in 2023, the Tennessean reports. O’Connell serves Nashville’s District 19, the city's most populous and fastest-growing district. Since being elected to Metro Council in 2015, O’Connell pushed for improved and increased transit and  infrastructure for bicyclists and pedestrians as well as services aiming to house Nashvillians experiencing homelessness. He said his decision to enter the mayoral race stems in part from a desire for clearer policies and more decisive actions surrounding Nashville's response to homelessness and increasing transit needs as the city grows.

The state attorney general last week asked a Davidson County court to compel Cade Cothren, former top aide to Rep. Glen Casada, R-Franklin, to explain why he refused to obey subpoenas issued in a campaign finance probe earlier this year, the Tennessean reports. Cothren, who left state politics amid a racist and misogynistic texting scandal, was issued two subpoenas during an investigation into the Faith Family Freedom Fund political action committee. Cothren’s attorney, Cynthia Sherwood, called the subpoenas an "abuse of process" and said Cothren would invoke his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination. Attorney General Herbert Slatery in last week’s court filing argued Cothren had broadly misused that privilege and could not use it as “a blanket shield from testifying or producing requested documents."

Federal public defenders are asking Gov. Bill Lee to issue a moratorium on all executions, one week after the governor delayed the execution of Oscar Franklin Smith due to “technical oversight” in the lethal injection process, the Tennessean reports. Kelley Henry, chief of the federal public defender's habeas unit, says she wants an immediate independent review of the problem. In a letter to Lee, Henry wrote a review would be “the right thing to do for the residents of this state who deserve to know that the most solemn act of government is approached with the utmost care and professionalism.” Lee issued a temporary reprieve roughly one hour before Smith was scheduled to be executed on April 21, with no explanation. He has said he will release more details Monday.

Three attorneys selected by Gov. Bill Lee to serve on the state’s appeals court and criminal appeals court were yesterday confirmed to the bench by Tennessee lawmakers, the Times Free Press reports. Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz and Knox County Criminal Court Judge Kyle Hixson were both confirmed to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Eastern Division. Jeffrey Usman, an associate professor of law at Belmont University College of Law, was confirmed to serve on the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Middle Division. In a release announcing their appointments in March, Lee said he was sure the nominees would “serve our state with the highest integrity.” The Nashville Post reported that each appointment would be effective Sept. 1.