In case you missed it, recordings from last bar year’s TBA Entertainment & Sports Law Forum are available on-demand as individual videos or in a convenient 1-Click CLE package. Topics include the American sports betting boom and developments in Tennessee’s betting framework; litigating copyright claims in the Copyright Claims Board; producer agreements with an inside look at licensing beats, sampling clearance, and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence in production technique and innovation; and best practices for maximizing attorney well-being and mental health. TBA Entertainment & Sports Law section members always receive a discount on CLE programs produced by the section.

Former Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland will be the new head of the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis, reports the Daily Memphian. The announcement follows the law school telling staff Strickland was the preferred candidate in an email two weeks ago. Strickland is an alumnus of both the law school and the university, and he was a practicing attorney until he became mayor in 2016. Strickland will join the law school’s faculty as a professor of practice April 8 and become dean June 1. Current Dean Katharine T. Schaffzin announced to the law school community in August of last year that she would step down at the end of the school year.

Dear Colleagues, 
 
First, and most importantly, thank you for your work on behalf of children and families in Tennessee. You are quite literally the glue that is holding an incredibly fragile system together right now. You are also the best bet we have to strengthen the system for safe children and families in Tennessee, and don’t we have so many ways to do that?!?
 
First, let’s work together to improve resources for guardian ad litems and parents’ counsel, shall we? Please share your experiences with me via email so we can share them with policy makers in Nashville. Also, please contact your legislators personally; you can contact me any time for forms to use to call, fax or email your representatives. 
 
Second, we want to know how the TBA can better support you. Please send me your ideas for CLE topics, networking events or resources you need to be your best for your child and parent clients, as well as other ideas to improve our section and our area of industry.
 
Let’s tackle these first and go from there. Thank you for staying committed to a challenging practice. You are making the world a better place, and I appreciate you. 
 
Best, 
Stacie Odeneal

A national group representing the Satanic Temple filed a lawsuit against Memphis-Shelby County Schools alleging it violated the organization’s First Amendment right to free assembly when it blocked the After School Satan Club (ASSC) from meeting at Chimneyrock Elementary School. According to the Tennessee Lookout, a representative of the group contacted school district officials in November of last year to request space for club meetings at the same rate charged to other after-school groups, including the Good News Club, a group sponsored by Child Evangelism Fellowship. The lawsuit alleges Memphis Schools charged ASSC “exorbitant” fees, including a $2,045 “special security fee” for additional security officers if it wanted to host a meeting, while not assessing a similar fee to other nonprofit organizations meeting at school facilities.

A bill that would increase the penalty for making a threat of mass violence against a Tennessee school has passed the House 90-0. WCYB reports that the bipartisan HB2198/SB2263, introduced by Rep. Bo Mitchell, D-Nashville, and Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, "increases the penalty from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony," according to Mitchell. The Senate Judiciary Committee was set to take up the bill this week but deferred it to next week.

The U.S. Supreme Court this week heard oral arguments in a case that could have sweeping consequences for all Americans’ access to mifepristone, a widely used abortion pill. According to The Hill, the court is essentially being asked to uphold an appeals court ruling that overrides a series of changes made by the Food and Drug Administration over the past decade, including increasing the gestational age at which mifepristone can be used to up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, allowing the medication to be mailed to patients, lowering the dosage, allowing telehealth prescribing and permitting providers other than physicians to prescribe the drug.

Denton Loudermill, a Kansas City-area resident, on Monday sued U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett in federal court. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that after a fatal shooting at a Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration on Feb. 14, Burchett tweeted a photo of Loudermill, falsely saying he was one of the shooters and was an illegal resident. Neither is true. Loudermill's suit alleges that the false tweet from the congressman caused him distress and he is seeking $75,000 due to the "highly offensive" nature of the accusations. Loudermill was arrested because he was suspected of being drunk in public; he was released and police never suspected he was connected to the shooting.

The Tennessee Senate on Monday passed SB2093, a bill that will allow records from the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development to be exempt from public records laws if the tourism commissioner and attorney general deem them “sensitive.” The Tennessean reports that the House passed a version of the bill in February, but the legislation has faced more debate in the Senate, where amendments were added to define how long documents could remain secret without being destroyed. The two chambers will have to work out their differences before the legislation can go to Gov. Bill Lee for his signature.

Thank you for your support of the Federal Practice Section this bar year! It has been a busy year, led by section Chair David Garrison. In December,  Executive Committee member Brent Jones joined ATF Special Agent Thomas Waggoner for a webinar to firearm regulation in America. If you missed the program, no worries, it is currently available on demand in our CLE catalog. For more learning opportunities, register now for this year’s virtual forum on July 26, where speakers will cover a range of topics, including ADR in federal district court, ramifications of the Chevron decision, and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act cases in Tennessee. Our annual forum is a great time to connect with others in your practice area, and remember, you can use your section discount for the CLE.

Thank you for being part of the Federal Practice Section. If you have thoughts or ideas for future section initiatives, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thank you for your support of the Communications Law Section this bar year! It has been a busy year, led by section Chair Amy Mohan. In February, Executive Committee member Jay Harbison joined the Tort & Insurance Law Section for a webinar to discuss Tennessee's Anti-SLAPP Act. If you missed the program, no worries, it is currently available on demand in our CLE catalog. The section also is gearing up for the 2024 Reporters Workshop coming up next month. We are excited to host the selected journalists in sessions that will help them develop a deeper understanding of media law issues that affect their everyday work.

Thank you for being part of the Communications Law Section. If you have thoughts or ideas for future section initiatives, don’t hesitate to reach out.