SUTTON, Chief Judge. Terrance Kimbrough murdered a rival drug dealer. When he learned that a witness might cooperate with law enforcement, Kimbrough murdered him too. Federal charges followed. His lawyers negotiated a plea deal under which the government would drop many of the charges and he would serve 480 to 520 months in prison. Kimbrough agreed to the plea deal, and the district court imposed a 504-month sentence. Kimbrough had second thoughts. He moved to vacate his sentence, claiming that his counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance in advising him to accept the plea deal. The district court rejected this contention. So do we.

Petitioner, Michael Bailey, appeals from the Shelby County Criminal Court’s summary dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court.

Appellant, a tenured teacher employed by Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, was involved in an altercation with students at an alternative high school. Subsequently, Appellee Metropolitan Nashville Board of Education (the “Board”) terminated Appellant’s employment. After exhausting his administrative remedies, Appellant filed an action with the trial court arguing that the Board exceeded its authority under the Teachers’ Tenure Act. The trial court vacated the Board’s decision on the ground that the Board violated the Open Meetings Act. We affirm the trial court’s decision on different grounds, i.e., that the Board committed a clear error of law when it conducted a third hearing concerning the termination of Appellant’s employment. We also conclude that Appellant is entitled to reinstatement and back pay. There is nothing further for the Board to do; accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s order of remand.

Two lawyers who used fake case citations generated by ChatGPT in a court filing were ordered in U.S District Court on Thursday to pay a $5,000 fine, reports Law.com. Judge Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York also ordered Steven Schwartz of Levidow, Levidow & Oberman and his associate, Peter LoDuca, to send letters to their client, Roberto Mata, and to “the judges whose names were wrongfully invoked.” Schwartz said in a court filing in May he "greatly regrets" his reliance on the technology and was "unaware of the possibility that its contents could be false." Read more about the case in our previous reporting in TBA Today.

In this case involving a petition to terminate the mother’s parental rights to her child and to allow the petitioners to adopt the child, the trial court determined that three statutory grounds for termination had been proven by clear and convincing evidence. The trial court further determined that the petitioners had provided clear and convincing evidence that termination of the mother’s parental rights was in the child’s best interest. The mother has appealed the best interest determination. Upon our review, we affirm the trial court’s finding as to the statutory grounds of abandonment through failure to support, abandonment through failure to visit, and severe abuse of the child’s sibling. However, having determined that under the facts of this case, the trial court erred in applying the statutory best interest factors applicable to the initial termination petition rather than those applicable to the amended petition, we reverse the trial court’s best interest finding and remand for reconsideration applying the amended best interest factors contained in Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-1-113(i) (Supp. 2022).

The sixth floor of the Cordell Hull legislative building in downtown Nashville was briefly closed Thursday after envelopes containing an unidentified substance addressed to Republican legislature members was discovered, reported the Tennessean. No injuries were reported. An investigation by the FBI is currently underway.

A story in yesterday’s issue of TBA Today reported that the Nashville Metro Council voted unanimously this week to appoint former Metro Councilmember Anthony Davis to the state House seat held by Democratic Rep. Bill Beck, who died earlier this month. Davis will serve in an interim capacity until a special general election is held in September. He will face three other Democrats in a special primary election on Aug. 3. The winner of that race will advance to the general election on Sept. 12. One Republican has picked up papers to run in the general election. The Nashville Post has more on the story.

The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a suit on Thursday by the Navajo Nation that would have required the federal government to develop a plan to secure water access for the tribe on reservation lands in the southwest, reported Reuters. The tribe claimed more than 30% of households on the Navajo reservation currently lack running water. The 5-4 decision ruled that an 1868 peace treaty between the U.S. and the tribe did not require the federal government to take steps to secure water. The ruling reversed a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that had permitted the Navajo Nation's lawsuit against the U.S. Interior Department ruling the government had a "duty to protect and preserve the Nation's right to water."

The African American Clergy Collective of Tennessee held coordinated news conferences in Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga and Memphis on Wednesday urging that gun violence be considered a "public health crisis," reports the Commercial Appeal. In Memphis, Shelby County Commissioner Erika Sugarmon spoke about the upcoming referendum scheduled for October 5 that will challenge recent state legislation that removed requirements for gun permits and background checks. "This referendum … states that individuals must have a permit to carry firearms," said Sugarmon. A recent survey by the Daily Memphian confirmed that crime is a big concern in Shelby County, noting that 52% of Shelby County respondents say they have considered leaving the area because of crime.

Attorneys for four former Memphis Police Department officers are requesting that a $500 million civil lawsuit filed by the family of Tyre Nichols be halted until the criminal case is finished, the Commercial Appeal reports. Pausing the civil lawsuit, which alleges negligence by Memphis police and fire departments in the death of Nichols, would include a freeze on civil discovery and any mediation efforts while the criminal case is ongoing, the Commercial Appeal says. In their motions, attorneys claimed that the civil case could be prejudicial to the criminal case. On Thursday, two former officers who are facing criminal charges also filed motions to have their cases tried separately, reports the Tennessean.