The 2025 Peace Award, given by the Rotary Club of Knoxville, was presented to Judge Chuck Cerny, a 25-year veteran of the Knox County General Sessions Court. The Peace Award Luncheon was held last week at the Knoxville Museum of Art. In his remarks accepting the award, Cerny reflected on his years of service and highlighted his community involvement, including leadership in the Knox Recovery Court and participation in numerous expungement and fee waiver legal clinics. He also addressed the challenges faced by individuals in the criminal justice system, noting that most are struggling with mental health or addiction and “less than five percent are actually bad actors.” Read more about the award and event in Knox TN Today.

At the TBA Convention, the annual favorite “Legislative Update" will provide attendees with a comprehensive overview of recent legislative changes impacting Tennessee lawyers. Hosted by TBA's government affairs team, the session will feature insights from Berkley Schwarz of Pier Strategies, along with Brad Lampley and Ashley Harbin of Adams & Reese, as they break down key developments from the latest session of the Tennessee General Assembly. Learn more about this session and other convention CLE programs on the TBA website.

Storm survey teams have confirmed five tornadoes from storms that swept through Middle Tennessee last Tuesday, with additional damage in some areas caused by straight-line winds and a downburst. The storm downed trees and power poles and produced extremely large hail in and around Williamson County, WPLN News reports.The National Weather Service found the strongest tornado was in southern Cumberland County, where it caused minor structural damage to at least a dozen homes near Crossville. The other, weaker tornadoes were confirmed in North Clarksville, Bedford County, Marshall County and Rutherford County.

Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday signed into law legislation that will establish a publicly accessible registry — much like existing sex offender registries — for individuals convicted multiple times of domestic violence offenses. Known as Savanna's Law, the measure is named in honor of Savanna Puckett, a Robertson County sheriff’s deputy who was killed in 2022 by a man with a known history of domestic assault. The registry, which will be overseen by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, will include offenders’ names, dates of birth, conviction dates and counties of conviction, according to Fox Chattanooga.

An item in yesterday's TBA Today incorrectly identified former TBA President Jim Emison's law school. Emison received his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law (now Winston College of Law) in 1968 and his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University in 1965.

This summer marks 100 years since the infamous Scopes Evolution Trial, formally "The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes," that took place in Dayton, north of Chattanooga in July 1925. The case was a challenge to the Butler Act, a law that made the teaching of human evolution in Tennessee schools illegal. Dubbed “the trial of the century” at the time, noted attorney Clarence Darrow represented Tennessee school teacher John Scopes while three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan prosecution the case for Tennessee. Opening June 24, the Tennessee State Museum will present Eight Days in Dayton: 100 Years of the Scopes Trial, a temporary display featuring artifacts from the museum's collection related to the trial, including the table where town leaders sat in Robinson’s Drug Store when planning the trial, textbooks related to the case, and a significant collection of original press photographs the museum acquired in 2022.

One day after the Department of Justice (DOJ) closed its investigation into the Memphis Police Department (MPD) and possible civil rights violations, Stand for Children Tennessee and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) submitted public records requests for "response to resistance" forms and internal investigation documents created since the DOJ report was released. The groups also are asking for policies that were in effect prior to Tyre Nichols being beaten by police in 2023. Community advocates say that a task force formed in lieu of federal oversight lacks transparency, and that collected data could inform legal action and continued advocacy for police reform. The Commercial Appeal reports that the effort is part of a broader campaign across seven states where DOJ findings were made but no consent decrees were signed.

Past TBA President and University of Tennessee College of Law (now Winston College of Law) graduate Jim Emison has devoted much of his retirement to finding justice for Elbert Williams, the first known NAACP member to be racially terrorized and slain. In 1939, Williams helped found the Brownsville chapter of the NAACP, which sought to regain voting rights for Haywood County African Americans. The next year, police and one civilian forcibly removed Williams from his home. Williams’ body was pulled out of the Hatchie River three days later with two bullet holes in his chest. Emison says, “Pursuing justice for Williams’ murder has taught me so much. I’m grateful to Vanderbilt because what perhaps is even better than good grades is a yearning to keep learning. My professors certainly instilled that in me.” Read more about Emison's work in this profile in Vanderbilt Magazine. Emison received his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt.

Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, who represents Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, held a press conference on Memorial Day to announce that two congressional committees will investigate Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s response to recent immigration raids in the city. “The Homeland Security and the Judiciary committees will be conducting an investigation into the mayor of Nashville, his conduct and whether or not federal dollars have been used in criminal enterprise,” Ogles said. The Nashville Banner reports that while taking questions from the media, Ogles stated that he believed only citizens are entitled to due process and dismissed a question about raids causing fear in Nashville’s Latino community. About 100 protesters disrupted the event, which was held in the otherwise closed state capitol building, by banging on windows, blowing an air horn and chanting opposition to Ogles and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington, D.C., on Friday permanently blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting law firm Jenner & Block, ruling it an unconstitutional abuse of the president’s power, according to Bloomberg News. The firm sued the administration on March 28 in response to a March 25 executive order that sanctioned the firm for its pro bono work and ties to Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation into Russian interference into the 2016 election. Bates initially imposed a temporary halt on the order. In Friday's ruling, he said, “This order, like the others, seeks to chill legal representation the administration doesn’t like, thereby insulating the Executive Branch from the judicial check fundamental to the separation of powers.” In a second case,  U.S. District Judge Richard Leon today ruled in favor of WilmerHale’s request to strike down a similar executive order targeting it from March 27. Leon also found that order unconstitutional and granted summary judgement to the firm in lieu of proceeding to a full trial.