The YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee will hold its next “Stand Against Racism” event Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m. CDT. This virtual program will focus on teaching and talking about racism in U.S. history. Speakers include Metro Nashville Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer Andrea Blackman; Tennessee State University professor Dr. Learotha Williams; and Vilmaris González with the Education Trust. Register here for the free program.

The General Assembly has ratified and approved proposed changes to the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure and Rules of Appellate Procedure. The changes will go into effect on July 1. The state House approved the civil rules changes (Resolution 21) and the appellate rules changes (Resolution 22) on March 22. The Senate approved the civil rules changes (Resolution 19) and the appellate rules changes (Resolution 20) on April 5. Read the notice from the Tennessee Supreme Court clerk. The court adopted the changes in December 2020 pending approval by the legislature. View red-line versions of the revised rules.

Williamson County General Sessions Court Judge Denise Andre will run for reelection in the May 3, 2022, Republican primary, Williamson Herald reports. Andre has held the Division 1 seat since 2006. Among the accomplishments she touts are creating the first General Sessions DUI Recovery Court in the county; starting the first General Sessions TNRocs docket in the state, which addresses drug offenders who also have co-occurring behavioral health issues; serving as president of the Tennessee General Sessions Judges Conference; and being involved in a wide range of legal and community organizations.

A month after the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance authorized its director to negotiate a payment plan with former Tennessee Senator and Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron, the director is raising doubts about whether payment plans are legal. “I think that’s a very close question,” Bill Young, executive director of the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance, said this week. The question may be moot, however, as Ketron now plans to pay the entire amount in a lump sum, the Tennessee Lookout reports. Avoiding a payment plan also clears away any questions of whether Ketron would be eligible to qualify to run for elected office in 2022. Young said the board will consider Ketron’s payment proposal at its July meeting.

President Joe Biden yesterday signed legislation that aims to combat the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans that has occurred since the coronavirus pandemic, The Hill reports. The legislation is designed to improve hate crime tracking and reporting, as well as bolster support for state and local officials investigating hate crimes. The advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate says it has received reports of more than 6,600 anti-Asian hate incidents in the United States since the start of the pandemic. Read the president’s remarks at the signing ceremony.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper is calling for a new juvenile justice center, echoing the concerns of Juvenile Judge Sheila Calloway, who has been talking about the current center’s state of disrepair for some time. Calloway says the building is too small, has crumbling pipes and raw sewage leaks, and was designed in a way that makes upgrades difficult, Fox 17 reports. A new center also would include security upgrades to help prevent escapes, such as one that occurred in November 2019. Calloway estimates the cost of a new center would be about $130 million. The mayor’s office says it is looking for a site on which to build.

Tennessee’s elected officials are looking into reports that migrant children were flown to Chattanooga, loaded onto buses and transported to multiple cities across the southeast. Chattanooga TV station WRCB broke the story earlier this week. Gov. Bill Lee, who had declined a Biden administration request to house unaccompanied minors weeks ago, says he was not notified of the action. U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty and U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann have sent a letter to the departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services saying they are “deeply troubled” by the lack of transparency and accountability. They also are calling for a halt to the flights and demanding a briefing from the Biden administration, WREG reports. State lawmakers also are speaking out. Several talk to the Tennessee Star. The news comes on the heels of reports in April that unaccompanied minors were being housed at a former Tennessee Temple dormitory in the Highland Park neighborhood of Chattanooga.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has reinstated four lawyers who were placed on inactive status more than five years ago. On May 18, the court reinstated Hawaii lawyer Semmes Hill Bobo, Shelby County lawyer Daniel H. Kiel and Kentucky lawyer Casey Marie Keller. On May 7, the court reinstated Davidson County lawyer Jing Geng.

An investiture ceremony and reception for Charles E. Atchley Jr., U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee, has been scheduled for Aug. 20. Watch for more details coming soon. Atchley was nominated to the federal bench by then-President Donald Trump in September 2020 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December. He previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Twitter is all the rage, both in lawyers’ personal and professional lives. But according to the “CLE Performer” Stuart Teicher, whenever lawyers choose to tweet they enter an ethical danger zone. Join Teicher on July 20 at 10 a.m. CDT to learn more about the tricky Twitter traps that can cause ethical headaches. He also will discuss ethics issues with popular platforms TikTok and Zoom. Register here.