U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Amy St. Eve, chair of the Federal Judicial Conference’s Budget Committee, on Tuesday told a panel of the House Judiciary Committee that funds for the "Criminal Justice Act" (CJA) panel are set to expire on July 7 or 11, sooner than the conference's original estimate that funds could stretch until July 23. Bloomberg Law reports that the early expiration of funds will mean that CJA panel attorneys — who are appointed by courts to represent criminal defendants who can’t afford representation — will go nearly three months without pay for their work or reimbursement for case-related expenses. The delay also comes on top of a two-week prescheduled payment pause this month for unrelated systems updates.

A federal lawsuit has been filed challenging a new Tennessee law that criminalizes “harboring” undocumented immigrants. The Nashville Banner reports that the suit argues that the law, set to take effect July 1, is unconstitutionally vague, violates religious freedoms and infringes on federal immigration authority, potentially criminalizing landlords, families, churches and nonprofits for common acts of housing or helping undocumented people. Plaintiffs include the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a landlord and a legally present father with undocumented family members, all of whom say the law forces them to choose between their values and risking criminal prosecution. According to the Tennessee Lookout, the American Immigration Council, Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center also have joined the suit, which is seeking class action status.

The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear an appeal of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) as it tries to protect its constitutional rights in a case connected to an inquiry by the SBC Credentials Committee. According to a press release from Baptist Press, Preston Garner, a longtime worship pastor and school music teacher, and his wife Kellie filed suit in 2023 against the SBC, Guidepost Solutions and others alleging defamation/libel and slander, defamation by implication, invasion of privacy and loss of consortium. The Garners claim the SBC defamed them in conversations after a confidential report was made to the SBC’s abuse hotline. The SBC argued in court that it was protected by the church autonomy doctrine, a First Amendment right which keeps courts from interfering in disputes within religious bodies that involve religious faith, doctrine or governance. Two lower courts have rejected that argument.

Robert Lance Johansen, the father of Lauren Johansen, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court against Brooke's Bail Bonding, Freedom Monitoring Services, On Time Bail Bonding and several people in their individual capacity. Johansen was a nursing student in Mississippi who was killed by her boyfriend Bricen Rivers after he was bonded out of a Nashville jail and left the state. The Tennessean reports that the suit alleges several mistakes by the bonding and monitoring companies which lead to Johansen's death. Chief Deputy Clerk Julius Sloss of the Davidson County Criminal Court acknowledged in July 2024 that errors occurred during Rivers' release. A six-judge panel in October 2024 ruled that two bonding companies did not break local court rules when they let Rivers go.

The University of Tennessee Winston College of Law, together with the Black Law Students Association, recently marked the 25th anniversary of the Julian Blackshear Jr. Scholarship Gala. The event celebrates a commitment to fostering a broadly diverse and welcoming community according to a press release from the school. The Blackshear Scholarship has provided years of opportunities for students at Winston Law. Named in honor of Julian Blackshear Jr., one of the first African American alumni of the college, the scholarship reflects his legacy as an attorney and civic leader. This year, his daughter Lillian Blackshear served as the gala's keynote speaker. Read more from Knox TN Today.

The TBA encourages all lawyers to participate in the Foundations 2.0 Survey, which is available via the link below. In 2014, Foundations for Practice identified the skills, competencies and abilities lawyers need to be successful in practice. The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) and the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) have launched Foundations 2.0 to ensure the competency framework accurately reflects the present and future needs of the profession. Your participation will provide key data on the abilities lawyers need as they enter and grow in the profession. Please note that while you may receive this survey from different bar organizations, you only need to take the survey once. The survey takes about 15–25 minutes and is open through July 2. Participation is voluntary and confidential. Access the survey here.

Stuart Teicher (the CLE Performer) says ethics educators should stop scaring everyone about generative AI (gAI) as he takes a different approach to AI in legal. In a July 17 webcast, Teicher will explore five ways lawyers ethically can use gAI, and specifically Chat GPT, including communicating effectively with clients (Rule 1.4), developing case strategy (Competence, Rule 1.1) and more. Teicher also will cover how to avoid confidentiality issues inherent in gAI (Rule 1.6). Get more information and register.

JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge. The district court denied Edwin Tavarez’s pro se motion for early termination of supervised release in a summary order. The order consisted exclusively of a refiling of the probation officer’s supervision report with a box next to the statement, “The Request is Denied,” marked and a signature on the last page. The district court then denied Tavarez’s subsequent motion for access to the information underlying the district court’s decision. Tavarez timely appealed both orders. For the reasons set forth below, we VACATE the district court’s order on Tavarez’s motion for early termination of supervised release, AFFIRM the district court’s denial of Tavarez’s motion for access to documents, and REMAND for further proceedings.

NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judge. Luis Martinez Jr. died in February 2021 and the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office (WCMEO) took control of his body. The WCMEO found his next of kin but inexplicably did not contact them. Meanwhile, the family hired a social worker to find out what happened to Luis Jr. In April 2021, the investigator found him. But by then, his body was in an advanced state of decomposition and had to be cremated. The family sued Wayne County and various state officials under § 1983 alleging a Fourteenth Amendment procedural due process claim, a Monell liability claim, and various state- law claims. The defendants moved to dismiss, and the district court granted the motion. The family appealed. Although it’s clear that the complaint alleges tragically irresponsible conduct by the defendants, that conduct is not a clearly established constitutional violation. And the Monell claim fails on both the lack of a clearly established constitutional violation and a failure to state facts supporting the claim. So we affirm.

JOHN K. BUSH, Circuit Judge. In late July 2022, an unprecedented flood destroyed numerous homes and other properties in Eastern Kentucky. Many of those who suffered brought this suit against Pine Branch Mining, LLC. They allege that Pine Branch violated Kentucky mining regulations in how it maintained a surface mine property, located relatively near Plaintiffs’ lands. According to Plaintiffs, Pine Branch committed negligence per se. To succeed at trial, Plaintiffs must prove that Pine Branch committed infractions that substantially contributed to the flooding. But the district court excluded the opinion rendered by Plaintiffs’ sole causation expert. In so ruling, the district court did not abuse its discretion, as we explain below. Without competent expert proof, Plaintiffs lacked enough evidence to create a jury question on causation. So, we agree with the district court that Plaintiffs cannot establish a prima facie case of negligence per se. We therefore AFFIRM the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Pine Branch.