Tennessee prison officials are appealing a judge’s order requiring them to deactivate the defibrillator in Byron Black’s chest before they execute him on Aug. 5. The case will go straight to the Tennessee Supreme Court, which has asked Black’s attorneys to file their arguments by the end of this week. Tennessee Department of Correction officials told Davidson County Chancellor Russell Perkins earlier this week that they were unable to comply with his original order because they could not find a medical professional who would deactivate the device moments before the execution. The device will be deactivated at Nashville General Hospital the morning of the execution. Perkins modified his order to allow that procedure, but now the state is asking the state Supreme Court to allow them to execute Black without deactivating the device at all. Black’s attorneys have told the court that by design, the device will repeatedly shock Black during his lethal injection in an attempt to restore his heart’s normal rhythm. Read more in the Nashville Banner newsletter.

Clifford Dwight Hawks of Humboldt died May 5. Hawks earned his law degree in 1966 from the University of Memphis (then Memphis State) Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. He was a member of the Gibson County and Tennessee Bar Associations, a Master of the Bench member of the Lowell Edmunds Jackson American Inn of Court and a fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation. He served on the staff of the Memphis State Law Review from 1965 to 1966. He served as city judge for Humboldt and later as city attorney until 2014. Funeral services were held May 10 at The Church at Sugar Creek. Memorials may be made to The Church at Sugar Creek, 3400 E. Mitchell St., Humboldt, TN 38343.

The TBA will present “Legislative Update 2025” on July 29 from noon to 1 p.m. CDT. The webcast will feature TBA Government Affairs team members Ashley Harbin and Brad Lampley of Adams and Reese LLP, along with Berkley Schwarz of Pier Strategies LLC. The panel will provide an overview of key legislation from the most recent session of the Tennessee General Assembly and its impact on Tennessee lawyers. For more information, visit the TBA website. 

DeKalb County lawyer Robert Andrew Free received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court on July 24. The court found that he violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 1.4, 1.15 and 1.16 while representing a client in immigration court. Free agreed to assist the client in the filing of a U visa but failed to clearly communicate or document that agreement. That left the client with the inaccurate impression that Free was providing the service. The court also found that Free failed to file the appropriate paperwork, failed to communicate with the client throughout the representation, and either lost or misplaced the client’s file. He was never able to provide her with a copy of her file.

Maury County lawyer William Clark Barnes Jr. received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court on July 24. The court found that he violated Rules of Professional Conduct 3.3, 3.4 and 8.4 while representing a juvenile at a detention hearing in juvenile court. As part of the hearing, the parties were looking for viable options to place the juvenile as an alternative to detention. Barnes eventually was able to secure placement for the juvenile with a family member and informed the magistrate there was an agreement between the parties for placement of the juvenile. However, Barnes had not discussed the placement with the opposing attorney. He then signed the opposing attorney’s name to the judge’s order without authorization.

A proposal from the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar is facing pushback from law school deans. The ABA Journal reports that proposed changes to Accreditation Standards 303, 304 and 311 would double the required number of experiential learning credits from six to 12. The section’s council has received 343 pages of comments on the proposal, most of which were in opposition. Concerns centered on the cost of creating the classes, the overall impact on tuition, and the lack of flexibility within the curriculum, including how part-time students would be able to meet the requirements. Writing in support of the change was the Clinical Legal Education Association, the Society of American Law Teachers and one professor emerita. The council will consider the input at its next meeting set for Aug. 21-23.

The American Bar Association (ABA) will receive $3.2 million in domestic violence training grants through 2027, after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to appeal a May ruling blocking cancellation of funding. After the department chose not to appeal, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper administratively closed the ABA’s lawsuit, putting the case on hiatus for two years. According to Reuters, the DOJ and the ABA released a joint status report that either party could reopen the case “if circumstances warrant.” Cooper had ruled in May that the ABA was entitled to the full amount of grants it had been awarded to train lawyers to represent victims of domestic and sexual violence.

A coalition of news organizations — including the Nashville Banner, Tennessee Lookout, The Tennessean, WSMV and WTVF — are suing the state of Tennessee over a law passed in the 2025 legislative session that makes it illegal to approach a police officer within 25 feet if the officer is engaged in official duties and has ordered the person to stop advancing. The publications claim the law is so broad it will cover “most of what law enforcement officers do in public” and will put reporters at risk of arrest for simply doing their job. They also argue that a distance of 25 feet is too far way for journalists to report on law enforcement activities. The Banner has more on the suit in its newsletter today.

Rulings from federal judges yesterday mean that Kilmar Abrego Garcia will be released from jail in the coming weeks and put under the supervision of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Maryland, where he was living before being deported to and brought back from El Salvador. The Hill reports that U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw in Nashville ordered him to be released pending trial on charges of human smuggling. Later in the day, another federal judge delayed that order for 30 days at the request of the defendant’s lawyers. Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of Maryland ordered that Abrego Garcia be transferred to supervised release under ICE's Baltimore office and that the agency give him 72 hours to appeal if it plans to deport him.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, along with four other state attorneys general, are speaking out against the proposed SCORE (Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements) Act. The group argues the bill gives too much power to the NCAA and risks undermining athlete compensation progress. According to WBIR, the bill would establish a federal standard for name, image and likeness (NIL), create regulations for agents who represent college athletes, prevent schools from revoking scholarships for injuries or performance, require schools to provide academic and medical support for athletes who leave the school, and put restrictions on the use of student fees for athletics. The lawyers agree with the bill authors that the NCAA has not done enough to "fully ensure fair treatment for student-athletes" but say this response is misguided. Read more in the release from the AG's office.