Appellant appeals the denial of his motion to recuse the trial judge on the grounds that the trial judge refused to explain the reasons other judges recused from the case, refused to hear evidence of misconduct against an attorney involved in the case, and allegedly ruled erroneously in several respects. Because we conclude that an ordinary person knowing all the facts known to the judge would not question the judge’s impartiality, we affirm.

The Memphis Police Department (MPD) has announced changes to its leadership structure. The Daily Memphian reports that MPD has created 125 first-line supervisor positions, for which it is currently testing candidates. MPD Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis said nearly 400 officers have applied for the jobs. “We were top heavy,” Davis said. “We had too many manager positions and didn’t need all of that stuff at the top and (didn’t have) enough career development and opportunities at the bottom layers.” The department has a goal of hiring 2,500 officers, which Davis believes will increase law enforcement visibility and deter crime. MPD currently employs 1,946 officers.

Metro Nashville and Shelby County have withdrawn their lawsuit against the state's private school voucher program law, Gov. Bill Lee's signature legislation during his campaign. Chalkbeat Tennessee reports that the law, which allows the state to give taxpayer money to eligible families to pay toward the cost of private school tuition, was declared unconstitutional by a Nashville judge in 2020 because, at the time, it affected students only in Nashville and Memphis. But after several appeals, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state in 2022 and resurrected the law, allowing the program to launch last year in the two counties. A second lawsuit filed in 2020 by the Education Law Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of 11 public school parents and community members in Memphis and Nashville is pending before the state’s appellate court.

The Defendant, Stephen Novatne, pled guilty to possessing methamphetamine in a drug- free zone and agreed to serve a sentence of eight years. He later filed a motion asking the trial court to resentence him in accordance with the 2020 amendments to the Drug-Free Zone Act. The trial court declined to do so, finding that resentencing was not in the interests of justice, and the Defendant appealed. Because the Defendant does not have an appeal as of right from a denial of resentencing under the Drug-Free Zone Act, we respectfully dismiss the appeal.

Gov. Bill Lee will not propose a renewed extreme risk protection order bill when the Tennessee General Assembly returns in January, the Nashville Post reports. Addressing gun safety measures during a Monday event, the governor said that while he won't push for ERPO legislation — also known as red-flag laws — he is “looking for an opportunity in this next session to continue to work on public safety.” During last summer’s special session, Lee pushed for legislation that would have allowed guns to be confiscated from someone for up to 180 days following a court ruling that the person was a risk to public safety based on their mental health. Republican opposition in the legislature prevented the measure from moving forward.

A ruling on who has the ability to sue under a key section of the federal Voting Rights Act contradicts decades of precedent and could further erode protections under the landmark 1965 law, the Associated Press reports. The 2-1 decision from a panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals came Monday in St. Louis. It found that only the U.S. attorney general can enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires political maps to include districts where minority populations’ preferred candidates can win elections. The majority said other federal laws, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act, make it clear when private groups can sue, but said similar wording is not found in the voting law.

Nearly half of the people arrested this year in Nashville were already on bond or awaiting trial for other crimes, new data from Metro Police shows. The data shows that 40% of the more than 17,742 people arrested through the end of September were on bond for other offenses or in some pre-trial release status. The most recent, and perhaps most notable, case is the man accused of shooting Belmont University freshman Jillian Ludwig. He had been arrested this spring for aggravated assault but was found incompetent to stand trial. He was released after doctors determined he did not meet the state’s criteria for involuntary commitment. News Channel 5 reports on the numbers.

A new study by the U.S. Sentencing Commission reveals that in federal court, Black and Hispanic defendants are less likely than white defendants to receive probation instead of prison. The report also highlights that the main factor affecting differences in sentencing outcomes based on demographics is whether a judge decides to impose a prison sentence. It stresses that the crucial aspect is the choice of incarceration rather than the specific length of the prison term. The findings include updated research on sentencing disparities across demographic groups, which continued over the five years subsequent to the commission's frequently referenced 2017 Demographic Differences in Sentencing Report. Read more from KnoxNews.

Staff attorney Traci Haynes of the Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims looks at the granting of summary judgment in the recent case of Timothy Burke v. Steve Towers Enterprises. In that case, the board overturned a trial court’s granting of summary judgment, concluding that the trial court didn’t fully explain why the factual issues in dispute were immaterial to the legal question at hand.

Memphis attorney Kristin Clay Dunavant, 40, died Nov. 17 at her childhood home after a three-year battle with cancer. She attended the University of Mississippi and earned her law degree at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and later worked as a corporate attorney at Bass, Berry and Sims. Services were held Monday, with a graveside service following on Wednesday.