Kevin Ritz, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, recently spoke at the graduation ceremony for the Federal Reentry Court. He congratulated the individuals who completed the program and encouraged them to stay on the right path. Supported by U.S. District Court Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr., the Reentry Court works to remove unnecessary barriers for those who have served their sentences and are reentering the community.

Lauren Castor has been promoted to the position of Tennessee Lawyers Association Program (TLAP) clinical director. Castor has been a clinical case manager for the program since March 2021. In a release from TLAP, Executive Director J. E. "Buddy" Stockwell III said that Castor’s advancement is marked by years of excellent service and recent licensure by the state as an LPC-MHSP (temp). “Lauren is dedicated to supporting TLAP’s mission of providing excellent clinical support tailored specifically to the demanding needs of lawyers, judges and law students. Her clinical leadership will continue to generate advances in TLAP’s mission to provide confidential assistance, help to support fitness to practice law and education about mental health challenges in the legal profession,” he said.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today directed California lawyer Bradley Roy Peacock to fulfill outstanding obligations to the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and the Tennessee Department of Revenue by Sept. 16 or face dismissal of his petition for reinstatement. Peacock filed the petition on July 11.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on July 29 dismissed a reinstatement petition that had been filed by Mississippi lawyer Andrew Jackson Clark. On June 10, the court noted that Clark had outstanding obligations with the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education. The court dismissed the petition after Clark failed to satisfy those obligations by the deadline of July 25.

COLE, Circuit Judge. Plaintiffs Dominique Ramsey and Travis Sammons were incarcerated for over five years for the murder of Humberto Casas. After the Michigan appellate courts determined that their convictions were based on an improper identification, the prosecution dismissed the case and Ramsey and Sammons were released.

Defendant Brandon M. Jones was convicted by a jury of seventeen counts of a twenty- seven-count indictment. The offenses involved the possession of methamphetamine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and a firearm. He was sentenced as a Range II offender to a total effective sentence of thirty-five years. On appeal, Defendant contends the trial court erred in allowing the jury to deliberate late into the evening before reaching a verdict in a bifurcated trial in violation of his Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial. Following our review of the entire record, the briefs of the parties, and applicable authority, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Voters are going to the polls today to vote in Republican and Democratic primary elections but data from the early voting period shows that turnout was down 39% from 2020. According to the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office, 353,774 voters cast ballots over the 14-day early voting period, compared to the 583,704 four years ago. Tennessee Journal has more.

The Lone Mountain Shores Homeowners Association (HOA) is back in court, appealing a decision that its covenants are too ambiguous to ban short-term vacation rentals, Knox News reports. The group pledged to appeal the decision in April after a Claiborne County judge found that a neighborhood rule limiting homes to "single family residential purposes" can include renters who use the properties like a home. It had sued renters in August 2023. In a separate case, the Tennessee Supreme Court held in 2023 that "residential" could be interpreted many ways and is not clear enough to ban listings on sites like Airbnb or Vrbo. In a counter suit, homeowners opposed to allowing short-term rentals accuse the HOA board of moving forward based on a fraudulent vote.

State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis, Memphis City Council member Pearl Walker and Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy are calling for a pilot program that would use real-time GPS monitoring to track repeat criminal offenders. The Daily Memphian reports that the group says that such a program could provide another option to jail or bail. “We know that we do not have time to waste,” Hardaway said at a press conference yesterday. “Every minute, someone’s life is at risk. This will take repeat offenders and put them where we can guide them.” The pilot would be an extension of a law that took effect July 1 and authorizes a magistrate to mandate a defendant wear a GPS monitor for certain domestic assault charges. Hardaway also said he plans to offer legislation to expand the law to other charges when the legislature convenes next year.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced a measure to prohibit the creation of digital re-creations of a person’s voice or likeness without that individual’s consent. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee’s senior senator, is one of two Republicans and two Democrats behind the NO FAKES Act. If enacted, the bill would allow individuals to pursue damages if their voice, face or body were re-created by AI. Both individuals and companies would be held accountable for creating, hosting or sharing unauthorized digital replicas. The proposal has garnered early support from entertainment organizations and OpenAI. The federal effort follows passage of the ELVIS Act in Tennessee this year. The Tennessean has more on the story.