The Tennessee Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission (ATJC) is seeking feedback on how to best serve communities across the state and opportunities to improve its initiatives. This survey will help inform the ATJC's strategic planning process, which is conducted every two years and is used to focus efforts, programs, and resources. The ATJC will be creating its strategic plan at the end of February and welcomes survey responses from members of the legal and judicial system and the community, as well as ATJ Commission members, members of its Advisory Committees and other key stakeholders.

The TBA's Disability Law Section will host a one-hour webcast, Disability Law: Past Relevant Work Issues, on March 24 at 2:30 p.m. CST. Moderated by section executive council member Chris George of George & George, the program will focus on classifying past relevant work properly for both DDS and Vocational Experts. Often proper job classification is the dispositive issue in a case if the claimant is above age 50, so getting accurate descriptions of past relevant work is essential. Since this is a roundtable style program, attendees are encouraged to ask questions throughout the hour. Register before 1:30 p.m. CST on March 24 to receive the Zoom email invitation.

The Knoxville Bar Association and its Bankruptcy Section, in partnership with Legal Aid of East Tennessee and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Suzanne H. Bauknight, will hold a Pro Bono Debt Relief Clinic on Feb. 26 from 9 a.m. to noon EST. The event will take place at the Knox County Public Defender's Community Law Office, 1101 Liberty St., Knoxville 37919. Judge Bauknight will present a short overview of the bankruptcy system and other solutions for clients before volunteer lawyers meet with them to discuss their options. Sign up to volunteer.

While Memphis’ National Civil Rights Museum and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music are noteworthy institutions, the Commercial Appeal suggests five lesser-known landmarks you can visit in honor of Black History Month. Included on the list is the Mason Temple, the 8,000-seat church in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech on April 3, 1968 – the day before his assassination. Next, visit the historical marker on Union that commemorates the longtime home of AM radio station WDIA, which in 1949 became the first radio station in the U.S. aimed entirely at Black audiences. Also on the list is Zion Christian Cemetery, a 15-acre site that is the oldest cemetery in Memphis devoted to African Americans in the region, and reportedly contains close to 30,000 graves. Read the full list from the Commercial Appeal.

Legal fees for the Davidson County Election Commission’s (DCEC) defense of an anti-property tax ballot measure have surpassed $700,000 and are still rising, the Nashville Post reports. The Tennessee Court of Appeals last week heard arguments from the DCEC and Metro on the merits of the proposal, which seeks to roll back the county’s 2020 property tax increase and limit the city’s ability to raise taxes in the future. The DCEC had to hire outside counsel, but because DCEC Chair Jim Delanis and the GOP members declared the DCEC’s interest at odds with Metro’s, outside counsel was retained. Republican commissioners last summer chose to defend the ballot in court instead of seeking a declaratory judgement first. As a result, the DCEC is responsible for defending the proposition, not 4 Good Government, which wrote the measure and gathered signatures to place it on the ballot. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU-TN) today sent an open records request asking for more information about the McMinn County School Board of Education’s decision to ban the book “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” from eighth-grade curriculum. The graphic novel depicts interviews between the book’s author, Art Spiegelman, and his father about his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. According to News Channel 9, McMinn County Schools chose to remove “Maus” for foul language and images of nudity and suicide. ACLU-TN staff attorney, Stella Yarbrough, says the decision “flies in the face of academic freedom.” Read more from ACLU-TN.

Judge John W. Campbell was today confirmed to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals – Western Section, the Administrative Office of the Courts reports. Campbell was appointed to the position by Gov. Bill Lee on Jan. 12. Since 2012, Campbell has served as Criminal Court judge in the 30th Judicial District, which includes Shelby County. Prior to taking the bench, he worked as an Assistant District Attorney General in the 30th Judicial District from 1985 to 2012 and an Assistant Public Defender from 1984 to 1985. While an Assistant District Attorney General, he also was appointed a Special Assistant United States Attorney. “I am passionate about criminal justice, education, and the law,” Campbell said. “Becoming an appellate judge was always an aspiration, and I am very grateful to everyone who helped make this goal come to fruition.”

President Joe Biden’s nomination of Memphis attorney Andre Mathis to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals was today advanced by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Reuters reports. Lawmakers voted 12-10 to clear the way for Mathis’ nomination to be considered by the full Senate. The nomination of Mathis, a Butler Snow partner, was not supported by Tennessee Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, who claim the Biden administration failed to “meaningfully consult” with them. Historically, Mathis would have needed the votes of his home state’s senators to advance, but after Republican senators during the Trump administration did away with the “blue slip” process for appellate nominees, that support is no longer necessary to move forward.

The General Assembly today confirmed Nashville attorney Sarah Campbell to the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Tennessean reports. Campbell, Tennessee’s associate solicitor general, clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals and for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito until 2015 when she joined the Attorney General’s Office. "As a judge, I will be firmly neutral on the issues that come before me," Campbell said in recent interviews with lawmakers. "The role of a judge, in my view, is to decide cases based on neutral, objective principles that don't lend themselves to any one outcome or the other." The vote to confirm Campbell was nearly unanimous, with the lone dissenting vote cast by Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville. Johnson voiced concerns about the “partisan nature” of Campbell’s work in the attorney general’s office.

Laurence M. McMillan Jr. has announced that he will seek reelection as chancellor for the 19th Judicial District, serving Robertson and Montgomery counties, Main Street Clarksville reports. McMillan began his legal career in the Nashville office of Barnett and Alagia and continued his law practice after moving back to his hometown of Clarksville. He was appointed chancellor in December 2004 by former Gov. Phil Bredesen. McMillan was certified as a Civil Trial Specialist in 2001 by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and has served on its Board of Examiners. In 2014, he served as special judge on the Tennessee Court of Appeals for the Middle Section of Tennessee and also served on the Tennessee Supreme Court Worker’s Compensation Panel.