The TBA Young Lawyers Division, in collaboration with law firms and businesses in Chattanooga, held the 2026 Chattanooga Leadership and Law Academy, which introduces high school students to the practice of law. The program featured courtroom observation and discussion with General Sessions Court Judges Tori Smith and Christie Sell, and panel discussions with civil law attorneys, criminal law attorneys, and those in law-adjacent careers. Federal Magistrate Judge Mike Dumitru gave the keynote address. Mary Frances DeVoe, TBA YLD district representative and John Jolley, TBA YLD Mock Trial Committee chair, also participated in the event. TBA YLD Board member Ariel Anthony helped start this program 10 years ago and continues to serve as the chair. See photos from the event.

The U.S. Supreme Court signaled a divide over whether mail-in ballots must be received by Election Day, focusing on a Mississippi law that allows ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted up to five business days later. According to Bloomberg Law, during more than two hours of arguments, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett questioned both sides about how a ruling overturning the law could affect early voting, while Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh raised concerns about late-arriving ballots fueling claims of stolen elections. Justice Sonia Sotomayor emphasized that election rules are generally the domain of states and Congress. 

President Donald Trump, along with several cabinet members, attended a Memphis Safe Task Force roundtable, according to the Daily Memphian. In remarks that also touched on foreign and domestic policy, Trump praised Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Memphis Mayor Paul Young — who was not in attendance — for their efforts, noting the decline in the city’s homicide rate. The Commercial Appeal reports that the task force has made 7,240 arrests and seized 1,188 firearms. Trump was joined on the visit by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, U.S. Marshals Service Director Gadyaces Serralta, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Lee, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, and House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, were on hand to represent the state. The task force has been working in Memphis since September 2025 and has added more than 1,500 federal personnel to the city’s law enforcement presence. Watch the remarks from USA Today. Congressman Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, was set to hold press conference prior to the president’s event according to News 5, while state Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, held a protest rally and Mayor Young released a statement after the visit.

The Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office is warning residents about scam emails and text messages claiming recipients have outstanding parking or toll violations, according to Local News Break. The messages include fake links or QR codes that lead to fraudulent websites. In a press release, Clerk Joseph P. Day said the court does not send texts or emails about past-due tickets. Officials advise recipients not to click links or scan QR codes, and not to share personal or financial information. Legitimate Tennessee government emails end in “@tn.gov” and residents should use verified contact information rather than details provided in suspicious messages. Those with questions can call 615-880-3305 or email circuitclerkpr@nashville.gov to confirm.

HERMANDORFER, Circuit Judge. The presence of probable cause generally permits police officers to make arrests. And as officers perform their duties, speech can play a permissible role in assessing threats and whether conduct is criminal. At the same time, police cannot use probable cause as a pretext to retaliate against individuals for protected expression. Retaliatory arrest claims arise at the crossroads of those rules. So they can trigger complex causation disputes—particularly since unlawful motive can be easy to allege and hard to disprove. Yet if left unchecked, protracted, post-arrest litigation risks chilling officers’ carrying out of important public-safety functions. The Supreme Court’s retaliatory arrest framework, set out in Nieves v. Bartlett, 587 U.S. 391 (2019), seeks to balance those concerns. Under Nieves, the presence of probable cause “generally defeat[s]” a First Amendment claim of retaliatory arrest. Id. at 406. But there’s a “narrow” out: A claim can proceed “when a plaintiff presents objective evidence that he was arrested when otherwise similarly situated individuals not engaged in the same sort of protected speech had not been.” Id. at 406-07. This case implicates the scope of that exception. At issue are officers’ arrests of Daniel and Shatina Grady during a late-night shooting investigation outside a Michigan residence. Those arrests came after the Gradys approached officers’ investigatory perimeter—set up around a suspected shooter’s location—and refused repeated commands to step back while loudly questioning the instructing officers’ authority. The district court concluded that the Gradys’ conduct gave officers probable cause to arrest them under Michigan law. Yet as the district court saw it, the Gradys’ retaliatory arrest claim fell within the Nieves exception because other onlookers had not criticized police and were not arrested. And it deemed those onlookers similarly situated to the Gradys even though they stood well outside the officers’ perimeter and had not defied officers’ commands. We conclude that the Gradys’ cited comparators were not similarly situated for purposes of satisfying the Nieves exception. Nor did the Gradys come forward with any other objective evidence sufficient to permit their claim to proceed. So Nieves’s general rule—that the presence of probable cause defeats retaliatory arrest claims—governs here. We therefore reverse the district court’s contrary decision and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge. Defendant-Appellant Paul Curry appeals his convictions and sentence arising out of his arrest on April 2, 2023. He argues that his convictions were not supported by sufficient evidence and that the prejudicial admission of jail calls he made before trial tainted his proceedings. He also challenges the reasonableness of his sentence. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm Curry’s convictions and sentence.

LARSEN, Circuit Judge. A jury found Michael Bailey guilty of two counts of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute illegal narcotics. He was sentenced to 300 months’ imprisonment. He appealed, challenging the jury instructions, the admission of certain evidence, and the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conspiracy charges. We AFFIRM.

The petitioner was employed at the Light, Gas, and Water Division of the City of Memphis (“MLGW”). During his employment, the employee participated in a pension plan. The employee was terminated in July 2016 but did not apply for his pension benefits. In 2022, the employee filed two retirement applications that were rejected. Both applications sought the payment of pension benefits retroactive to the 2016 termination date. The employee appealed to MLGW’s pension board. The pension board accepted the second application and instituted the payment of benefits as of its filing date. However, the board declined to award benefits retroactive to 2016. The employee sought judicial review in the Shelby County Chancery Court. The court held that the decision to deny the first application was arbitrary and capricious and ordered the payment of benefits to be deemed effective as of the date it was filed. However, it found that the decision to deny the claim for retroactive benefits stemming from the date of termination was not arbitrary and capricious as it was in accordance with the pension system’s plan. The employee appeals. We affirm.

On March 23, the Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily suspended Carter County lawyer Jason Lee Holly from the practice of law after finding that he failed to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility on two misconduct complaints. Holly is precluded immediately from accepting any new cases and must cease representing existing clients by April 22. The suspension remains in effect until dissolution or modification by the court.

Appellant brought this action after his car was painted the wrong color. During the course of the proceedings, the trial court ordered the parties to submit to mediation subject to certain guidelines requiring good faith participation, denied Appellant’s motion to recuse, granted Appellees’ motion for partial summary judgment as to Appellant’s claim for punitive damages, and ultimately granted Appellees’ motion to confess judgment as to Appellant’s claims for breach of contract and negligence. Appellant appeals each of these rulings. We reverse the trial court’s ruling as to Appellees’ motion to confess judgment, but affirm in all other respects.