President Biden’s son Hunter Biden was criminally charged today with deceiving a gun dealer into selling him a firearm, reports Reuters. It is the first-ever indictment of a sitting president's child. Biden was charged in U.S. District Court in Delaware with three criminal counts related to lying about using illegal drugs at the time of the gun purchase, which would have banned him under the law from owning a firearm. A prior deal under which Biden, 53, would have pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and enroll in a program to avoid prosecution, collapsed in during a hearing in July. A tax investigation remains ongoing.

The Nashville School of Law will host a reception to welcome the newest member of the Tennessee Supreme Court, Justice Dwight E. Tarwater on Oct. 5 from 4:30 – 6 p.m. CDT at 4013 Armory Oaks Dr., Nashville 37204. Justice Tarwater was nominated by Gov. Bill Lee and confirmed by the General Assembly in 2023.

A native of Knoxville, Tarwater earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee, where he previously earned his undergraduate degree in political science. He has had a long career in private practice with the Knoxville firms of Egerton, McAfee, Armistead and Davis and Paine Tarwater Bickers LLP. He also served as general counsel to former Gov. Bill Haslam. Justice Tarwater began his term on Sept. 1. Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served. RSVP at this link.

This event is sponsored by the Tennessee Bar Association, the Lawyers' Association for Women, the Nashville Bar Association and Nashville School of Law.

The California Senate passed legislation yesterday requiring lawyers to inform the state bar if they suspect other lawyers of engaging in seditious conspiracy, insurrection or treason, reports Reuters. Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign the bill, which would not apply to information protected by attorney-client privilege. The California Supreme Court in August also began requiring lawyers to report fraud, misappropriation of funds and other criminal acts or conduct. The legislation was by motivated by the recent indictment of California lawyer Tom Girardi for allegedly stealing millions in client funds and directing more than $1 million in cash and gifts to a former investigator.

Petitioner, Darius Patterson, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition, arguing that the post-conviction court erred in finding that he received the effective assistance of counsel at trial. Following our review of the entire record and the briefs of the parties, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law has opened the region's first Expungement and Restoration of Rights Clinic, reports the Daily Memphian. The clinic is staffed with law students working under director and adjunct professor of law Amber Floyd. The clinic will introduce students to the theoretical and practical aspects of representing clients with legal needs arising from the collateral consequences of prior arrests and convictions. Floyd currently serves as the general counsel for the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority and is also a member of the Tennessee Bar Journal Editorial Board in addition to the steering committee of the TBA's Leadership Law program. Read more about the clinic.

JOHN K. BUSH, Circuit Judge. Several Twitter users were temporarily or permanently banned from the platform for posting alleged COVID-19 misinformation. Rather than sue Twitter, these users chose to sue the United States Department of Health and Human Services, its Secretary, and the United States Surgeon General (collectively, HHS). Though these users asserted claims under the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, and Administrative Procedure Act, the district court dismissed their complaint for lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. On appeal, we ask: are Twitter’s actions traceable to the federal government? Based on the facts alleged in the complaint, no. We affirm.

Following his convictions for felony murder, especially aggravated robbery, and especially aggravated kidnapping, the Petitioner, Mario Donte Keene, filed a petition for postconviction relief. The Petitioner alleged that his confession was unconstitutionally admitted into evidence during his trial. He also asserted that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel when his trial counsel failed to cross-examine a witness and failed to present an expert to testify that he did not have the physical ability to commit the crimes. After a hearing, the post-conviction court denied the petition. On appeal, we respectfully affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

In the third interlocutory appeal in this case, the employee contends the trial court issued a scheduling order without her input. The employee alleged multiple injuries due to a fall in the employer’s bathroom. Previously, the employee appealed the entry of a scheduling order, and we affirmed the court’s order. On remand, the trial court issued a new scheduling order that, among other things, set an expedited hearing and a hearing on a motion for summary judgment that had been filed by the Subsequent Injury and Vocational Recovery Fund to be heard on the same day. The employee failed to attend the hearing, although she was reportedly present in the building. She requested a continuance in writing, which the court denied. The court then granted the motion for summary judgment as well as the employer’s oral motion to dismiss the request for expedited hearing, but it denied the employer’s motion to dismiss the case in its entirety. In the second appeal, we again affirmed the court’s order. On remand, the court held a scheduling conference and issued another scheduling order, which the employee has now appealed. We affirm the trial court’s decision, find the employee’s appeal to be frivolous, award attorneys’ fees for the frivolous appeal, and remand the case.

A Knox County jury found the Defendant, Geoffrey Ian Paschel, guilty of aggravated kidnapping, domestic assault, and interference with emergency communications. He was sentenced to eighteen years as a Range II, multiple offender. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. He also argues that (1) the trial court abused its discretion by twice denying a mistrial following improperly admitted evidence; (2) the trial court misapplied enhancement factors and placed too much weight on the testimony of his ex-wife in sentencing; and (3) the cumulative impact of the errors warrants a new trial. Upon review, we respectfully affirm the trial court’s judgments.

Pro se Petitioner, Bruce Parks, Jr., appeals the Bradley County Criminal Court’s summary dismissal of his motion to correct an illegal sentence, filed pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1. Because the Petitioner’s claim that the State failed to give notice of enhancement factors or its intent to seek consecutive sentencing is not cognizable in a Rule 36.1 motion, we affirm the trial court’s summary dismissal of the motion to correct an illegal sentence.