Civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced last week that he will represent the family of a Knoxville high school student who was killed by police earlier this month, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. Anthony Thompson Jr., 17, was shot and killed by a Knoxville police officer on April 12 after a chaotic confrontation in a bathroom of Austin-East High Magnet High School. After demonstrations calling for quick release of the police bodycam footage of the incident, Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen released the video last week and announced she had ruled the shooting legally justified. Demonstrations continued with advocates calling for greater police accountability and an end to protections for officers like qualified immunity. Crump said his office is reviewing the case and urged local officials to “be sensitive but also responsive to the outrage because people are devastated.” Crump has become a national leader in representing Black victims and their families in cases of police violence and wrongful death, including Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Daunte Wright.

The Nashville office of Frost Brown Todd is now accepting resumes for an associate position on the firm’s Trademark, Entertainment and Advertising team in the Intellectual Property Practice Group. The role would include representing brands in various marketing and advertising matters; representing brand owners in trademark-related matters, including the clearance, adoption, prosecution, monetization and enforcement of brands; and drafting trademark copyright, software development, SaaS and related technology agreements. Those interested must have one to three years of experience. To apply, submit a cover letter, resume and transcript to Sonya Yadon.

A measure that would allow death row inmates to appeal their sentence on intellectual disability grounds was passed by the Tennessee legislature last night, the Tennessean reports. The bill could create an opportunity for death row inmate Pervis Payne to avoid execution if the court acknowledges his intellectual disabilities. Payne was convicted of double murder in 1987 and sentenced to death despite unanswered questions around the evidence and arguments from his legal team that he has a particularly low IQ. The bill says inmates with intellectual disabilities must suffer from "general intellectual functioning" that is "significantly" below average level among other stipulations. Defense attorneys can petition the trial court to examine the inmate's mental competency, but prosecutors are allowed to appeal the decision. The bill now heads to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for his signature.

The Tennessee Senate yesterday rejected HB1072/SB915 by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, and Rep. Curcio, R-Dickson, to ban local governments from filing lawsuits to challenge the constitutionality of laws passed by the General Assembly. The bill would also have allowed the state to file an interlocutory appeal in any case in which the constitutionality of a statute is challenged and would have stayed any injunction issued by the court pending the final outcome of the appeal. TBA has been expressing concern to bill sponsors and committee members. Yesterday, the House Civil Justice Committee removed the section banning local governments from filing lawsuits against the state and that amended version passed the full House. In the Senate, the vote on Kelsey’s amendment failed 14-14, with three Republicans and two Democrats missing the vote. Kelsey then asked to move his bill to Wednesday, at which point he is expected to introduce another amendment seeking similar changes as were made to the House-passed bill. Read more from TNJ: On the Hill. 

Applications are now being accepted for a circuit court judge vacancy in the 19th Judicial District. The vacancy, which covers Montgomery and Robertson counties, was created when former Circuit Court Judge Jill Bartee Ayers was appointed to the Court of Criminal Appeals, Middle Section. Those interested must submit the Trial Court Vacancy Commission application to the Administrative Office of the Courts by noon CDT on May 11. The commission will consider applicants at a hearing on June 16 at 9 a.m. CDT in the Commission Chambers of the Montgomery County Historic Courthouse located at One Millennium Plaza. The AOC has complete application instructions.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has one case set for its docket tomorrow. Steven Kampmeyer et al. v. State of Tennessee will be livestreamed on the Administrative Office of the Court’s YouTube page at 9 a.m. CDT. The case involves interpretation of the Claims Commission Act, which authorizes certain suits against the state of Tennessee. The AOC’s website has more on the case.  

Attorney General Herbert Slatery this week signed a letter with 38 other state attorneys general asking Congress to pass the EAGLES Act. Named after the mascot of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were killed in 2018, the act is a national program to prevent targeted school violence. It would expand the U.S. Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) with a greater focus on school violence prevention. The measure contains research and training components, allows dissemination of evidence-based practices and authorizes the NTAC to work with state and local officials to develop research and training. NTAC was created in 1998 to provide information on threat assessment to the Secret Service and began studying school violence after the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School. Read more on the AG’s website.

A Knoxville News Sentinel investigation into the state’s cash bail practices alleges that the computer system used to set bail in Knox County is violating state law. There are five bail options judges and magistrates must consider, but the paper's ongoing investigation into the issue found that two of the cashless options are excluded from the county’s system. After the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Civil Rights Corps threatened to file suit against the county if bail practices did not change, the county's general sessions judges issued a statement promising to "examine and re-examine" bail practices. An April 19 meeting of the judges to discuss a proposed plan to fix the violations was postponed hours before it was set to start. That meeting is now set for Monday.

Join the Juvenile and Children’s Law Section on Thursday at 9 a.m. for its 2021 Forum. This year's event will include a discussion about the impact COVID-19 has had on education, training on equality and two panel discussions on human trafficking. Panelists from law enforcement agencies will review laws, policies and information aimed toward those who are targeted for involuntary servitude. Register now to attend this virtual program.

Tomorrow at 1 p.m. CDT the House Local Government Committee will consider SB282/HB1386, sponsored by Rep. Chris Todd, R-Madison County, and Sen. Paul Rose, R-Covington. The bill will cap attorneys’ fees and expenses for attorneys in lawsuits brought by county officials if counties refuse to provide the resources required to perform their duties. The TBA worked with all of the involved parties and drafted a solution that would implement judicial oversight to ensure that attorneys’ fees are reasonable; however, the amendment Todd is offering tomorrow still caps attorneys’ fees and expenses at $35,000, among other things. We have until 1 p.m. CDT tomorrow to reach out to the members of the House Local Government Committee by calling or emailing them and asking them to oppose HB1386. Thank you for doing your part to protect attorneys’ rights to be compensated for their work.