Prosecutors in the fraud and money laundering suits against Tennessee state Sen. Katrina Robinson, D-Memphis, have asked the court to move the trial from Memphis to Jackson, the Daily Memphian reports. Barring moving the trial, the prosecution has asked for a jury pool from outside of Shelby County. According to court filings, prosecutors made their request due to Robinson’s recent statements that the case is being prosecuted for political and racist ends. Robinson also has allegedly encouraged supporters to “pack the courtroom” and “shut the entire city down” during the trial. Robinson faces federal charges of stealing, intentionally misapplying for funding, federal wire fraud, and money laundering in two separate cases both related to her nursing school. The trial is scheduled to start Sept. 13. Read more from Fox 13 local news.

The TBA Criminal Justice Section is seeking lawyers to serve as mentors for law students during the section’s annual Crim Law Day, taking place virtually this year on Nov. 15 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. EST. Volunteer lawyers will lead a small group of students through a case scenario, facilitate discussion and answer questions. Ideally, each group will be paired with two to three practitioners. This program has grown exponentially in recent years with more than 300 students from all law schools in the state expected to attend. To volunteer for the program please contact Criminal Justice Section staff coordinator Jarod Word at jword@tnbar.org.

District Attorney General John W. Carney Jr. has retired after serving for more than two decades in the 19th Judicial District, the Leaf Chronicle reports. Carney, a graduate of the Nashville School of Law, was elected district attorney for Montgomery and Robertson counties in September 1993, after serving as a criminal investigator with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and as the bureau’s director for two years. Carney also has led the 19th Judicial District Drug Task Force, served on the board of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference, and served on the state’s Child Protective Investigative and Child Fatality Review teams and Nashville’s Domestic Violence Death Review Team. He was instrumental in founding the Montgomery County Child Advocacy Center and later served as its president. He also played a key role in state history: securing the governor's office during former Gov. Ray Blanton's pardons scandal.

A six-year-old lawsuit over the adequacy of Tennessee’s funding of public education is now headed to a three-judge panel created by legislation passed in the last General Assembly session, Chalkbeat reports. Shelby County Schools, Nashville Public Schools and 87 rural school districts are challenging the state’s basic education formula. A trial was to have started Nov. 15 but now has been reset for February 2022. And instead of being heard in Nashville, the trial will be held in Murfreesboro. Judges selected to serve on the panel are Senior Judge Don Ash of Murfreesboro, Knox County Circuit Court Judge Deborah Stevens and 25th Judicial District Chancellor William Cole.

The parents of three Knox County Schools students — all of whom have a disability or chronic illness — have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Bill Lee and Knox County claiming their children are “unable to safely attend school without increased risks of serious injury or even death.” The suit, which is seeking class action status, alleges that Lee’s executive order allowing parents to opt out of school mask mandates and Knox County’s lack of a school mask mandate violate the federal Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disabilities Act, WATE reports. The parents are asking for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction of Executive Order No. 84 so that Knox County schools can enforce mask mandates. It is the second suit filed by families concerned about their children’s safety. A similar suit was filed a few days ago in Shelby County.

The state’s one-time top vaccination official has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Tennessee Department of Health leadership of making “stigmatizing and defamatory statements” against her. Dr. Michelle Fiscus filed the lawsuit yesterday naming Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey and Chief Medical Officer Tim Jones as defendants in the case, WBIR reports. Fiscus was fired on July 12 after serving as medical director of the health department’s Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization Program. She specifically cites comments made in a letter released to the media explaining the reasons for her termination.

Tennessee Sen. Ramesh Akbari, D-Memphis, will address state legislation affecting the LGBTQ community at the TBA's LGBT Forum on Sept. 17 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CDT. This year’s virtual program will look at political concerns for Tennessee’s gay community, with a particular focus on anti-transgender legislation. The forum also will include an advocacy panel on how to become more involved in the fight for equal justice, a presentation on discrimination concerns after the Bostick v. Clayton County, Georgia decision and more.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. judicial system faced unprecedented challenges, quickly adapting to new health and safety requirements and navigating court closures while ensuring that litigants still had access to the courts. To explore the impact of these challenges, Thomson Reuters surveyed nearly 240 court professionals — judges and chief justices, magistrates, court administrators, attorneys and clerks — at the state, county and municipal levels. A new report “The Impacts of the Pandemic on State & Local Courts” distills those responses, offering insight into how well courts pivoted to remote hearings, how remote hearings impacted access to justice, how case backlogs were impacted, which technology solutions are most needed, and what hearings might look like going forward.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today denied a petition from California lawyer William M. Fischer, who was asking for a waiver from the requirement that anyone seeking admission in Tennessee without examination be a graduate of an ABA accredited law school. Fischer graduated from the Irvine University School of Law in 1979 and has practiced law since 1981. Although he acknowledged that he did not graduate from an accredited law school, Fischer argued that he is in good standing in California and employed as senior counsel by Travelers Insurance Company. In denying the petition, the court noted that Fischer is “an experienced attorney” but does not meet the requirements for admission without an examination.

The criminal and general sessions courts in Knox County issued an order yesterday requiring face coverings to be worn at all times in the courtrooms and the back hallway behind the courts. The order allows individual judges to suspend the requirement on a case-by-case basis. The requirement will remain in effect until Sept. 30 unless modified by a subsequent order.