The Memphis Lawyers’ Chapter of the Federalist Society will host an in-person luncheon event on Aug. 23 from noon to 1 p.m. CDT at the Majestic Grille, 145 S Main St. in Memphis. Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to noon. Attendees will hear from Matthew Rice, associate solicitor general and special assistant to the solicitor general in the Tennessee Attorney General's Office, who will present a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court update. Those interested in attending may register online or contact Greg Grisham, 901-333-2076.

Cheryl Rumage Estes, a shareholder in the Memphis office of Lewis Thomason, died July 15 after a brief illness. She was 65. Estes, a 1982 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Law, began her legal career with the firm as a runner and went on to become one of its first female shareholders. For a decade, she led the Labor and Employment Group. Estes also was a member of the Shelby County Bar Association and a fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation. Memorial donations may be made to the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. Checks should be made payable to the University of Memphis Foundation and note that the gift is being given in honor of law school alumna Cheryl Rumage Estes. Checks should be mailed to Department 238, University of Memphis Foundation, P.O. Box 1000, Memphis, TN 38148.

Two conservative groups are asking a federal court to block the Biden administration’s plan to cancel $39 billion in student loans for more than 800,000 borrowers, the Associated Press reports. In a lawsuit filed Friday, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Cato Institute argue the administration overstepped its power when it announced the forgiveness in July. The program would offer cancellation of debt for borrowers with income-driven repayment plans, which typically offer cancellation after borrowers make 20 or 25 years of payments. The administration says that “past administrative failures” have resulted in inaccurate payment counts, which have set borrowers back on their progress toward forgiveness. Opponents argue that only Congress can authorize debt cancellation programs.

Gov. Bill Lee's office made several personnel changes last week. His longtime policy director, Tony Niknejad, is departing to work in the private sector. He will be succeeded by Michael Hendrix, who has been a special adviser to Lee. Hendrix previously was a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and senior director at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. In addition, Alec Richardson has been named a senior adviser to the governor. On the communications team, Jade Byers has been named senior communications officer. Replacing Byers as press secretary is Elizabeth Lane Johnson, who previously worked for Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. Read the governor’s announcement.

Former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao was sentenced Tuesday to four and 3/4 years in prison for aiding and abetting manslaughter in the 2020 killing of George Floyd, Reuters reports. The sentence will run concurrently with the three and 1/2 years Thao previously received on a federal conviction of violating Floyd's civil rights. Thao, a nine-year veteran of the police force, was the fourth and final officer sentenced in the killing of Floyd. He held back a small crowd of bystanders while then-officer Derek Chauvin and two others subdued Floyd, who police suspected of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a nearby store.

The Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee on Saturday adopted a resolution calling on fellow Republican Gov. Bill Lee to abandon his planned upcoming special session, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. The resolution "encourages Gov. Bill Lee to reconsider and not have a special session." Many in the GOP-controlled legislature also are opposed to the special session and the legislation the governor wants considered, the Nashville Post reports. That measure would create a new order of protection law allowing judges to temporarily take guns away from those who are deemed dangerous to themselves or others.

McKEAGUE, Circuit Judge. Defendant Rudy Guerrero was convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He challenges his conviction on several grounds, including variance and venue, as well as his sentence and an evidentiary ruling by the district court. Because the errors he alleges are either not prejudicial or not error at all, we affirm his judgment and sentence.

A Jefferson County jury convicted the defendant, William David Phillips, of four counts of reckless homicide, one count of reckless endangerment, and one count of felony reckless endangerment, for which he received an effective sentence of fourteen years, eleven months, and twenty-nine days in confinement. On appeal, the defendant contends the trial court erred in imposing an excessive sentence, denying probation, and imposing consecutive sentences. After reviewing the record and considering the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the tr

The defendant, Luther Ray Mabe, Jr., appeals his Hawkins County Criminal Court jury convictions of aggravated robbery and theft of property valued at more than $1,000, for which he received an effective sentence of 10 years’ incarceration. On appeal, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his aggravated robbery conviction and argues that his sentence is excessive. We affirm the judgments of the trial court but remand for entry of a corrected judgment reflecting the correct grade of theft for which the defendant was convicted and merging the theft conviction into the aggravated robbery conviction.

The Defendant, Danny Lynn Collier, appeals the Sullivan County Criminal Court’s ordering him to serve a four-year sentence in confinement after revoking his probation, arguing that the trial court should have elected to place him back on supervised probation. Based on our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.