Memphis Mayor Paul Young kicked off the first part of crime summit with U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty this week. The event comes as residents and businesses are concerned about the ongoing crime problem and just days after Young announced his Black Mayors’ Coalition on Crime initiative, Local Memphis reports. Young said initial conversations focused on “things that we know we would have some bipartisan agreement on,” while Hagerty said he was optimistic that the group could “make some real progress.” The second part of the summit is taking place today as Young meets with 21 mayors from across the country to finalize his response. The Commercial Appeal has the list of participants.

Tennessee Attorney General’s Office has issued a warning to consumers in advance of the upcoming solar eclipse, set for April 8. In its advisory, the office writes that while the Volunteer State is not in the path of totality for eclipse, “past eclipses have resulted in viewers sustaining eye injuries, some severe and permanent, due to either looking directly at the sun with no protection or by using eclipse viewing glasses that had been falsely marketed as providing protection.” The office also warns consumers to be careful where they buy viewing gear, noting that events of this nature bring out “unscrupulous sellers.” Read more from the alert.

The American Bar Association (ABA) this week filed amicus briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court in two cases. In the first, the group asks the court to require the U.S. government to provide a factual basis, beyond citing a general federal statute, to deny visa applications of a U.S. citizen's noncitizen spouse. The case of Department of State v. Sandra Muñoz is set for argument on April 23. In the second case, the ABA asks the court for the second time to take up a Texas death penalty case in which the defendant was convicted on DNA evidence and testimony from a police laboratory that was later deemed unreliable by the state. Read more about this case, Escobar v. Texas.

A nearly $2 billion tax and refund for businesses passed the Senate last week on a vote of 25-6, the Associated Press reports. “This bill will put this issue behind us and address it in a responsible way,” said Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, adding that doing so could make the state more competitive in attracting businesses to move to Tennessee. At issue are concerns that the state’s franchise tax violates a U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause provision, which bans states from passing laws that burden interstate commerce. Further adding to the legal woes is a 2015 case involving the U.S. Supreme Court striking down down Maryland’s tax that the justices ruled had the effect of double-taxing income residents earn in other states. The proposal is designed to prevent threats of a potential lawsuit. Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, told reporters that the House version will be different.

Make plans now to join us on May 2 for a one-hour webcast with Jeff Foster from the Tennessee Department of Revenue about Tennessee's franchise and excise tax. This informative program will feature an overview of the basic legal principles of Tennessee franchise and excise tax. The overview will include a brief history of the tax, its importance to the state’s revenue, and an examination of the very significant legal changes to the tax that have occurred in the last decade or so. The webcast begins at noon CDT and offers one hour of general CLE credit. As a reminder, your section membership provides a discount on all Tax Law Section-sponsored CLEs, so be sure to take advantage of that before the bar year is over!

The Defendant, Andre Anthony, appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion to correct a clerical mistake pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36. The Defendant contends that his two consecutive sentences at issue were originally ordered to run in a specific order but that the challenged corrected judgment forms indicate that each sentence runs consecutively to the other, in no particular order, and should once again be corrected. The State responds that the trial court correctly denied the Rule 36 motion because the order of the consecutive sentences is immaterial and because the corrected judgments accurately reflect the Defendant’s sentence. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge. This appeal centers on the habeas petition of Lafayette Deshawn Upshaw, a state inmate in the custody of the Michigan Department of Corrections. In 2014, the State charged Upshaw with crimes associated with two separate incidents that occurred on the same day: a gas station robbery and a home invasion. Upshaw entered a plea deal in the home invasion case but went to trial and was convicted on counts stemming from the robbery. Michigan’s state courts affirmed his robbery conviction on direct appeal. After exhausting his state court remedies, Upshaw filed a petition for habeas relief in federal court. The district court granted relief on two of Upshaw’s claims: an ineffective assistance of counsel claim based on trial counsel’s failure to investigate alibi witnesses and a Batson claim deriving from the State’s use of peremptory challenges to strike six Black jurors. The Warden now appeals. We AFFIRM.

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. In a previous proceeding, we enforced a National Labor Relations Board Order finding that respondent Bannum Place of Saginaw, LLC engaged in unfair labor practices in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(1), (3), and (4) when it interrogated employees, threatened to close its facility, and terminated two union supporters. The National Labor Relations Board now seeks to enforce its supplemental decision and order directing Respondents to pay specific backpay amounts to the two discriminatees, and Respondents petition for review of the supplemental decision and order. For the reasons that follow, we GRANT the National Labor Relations Board’s application for enforcement and DENY Respondents’ cross-petition.

JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge. Thurman King sued Officers Zachary Abbate and Jason Bradley, the City of Rockford (“City”), the Rockford Public Safety Department (“Department”), and other municipal officers (collectively, “defendants”) under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law for events arising out of a 2019 traffic stop. The district court granted partial summary judgment in favor of defendants, but denied their motion for summary judgment on qualified and governmental immunity grounds for King’s federal and state tort claims against Abbate and Bradley, and denied their motion as to King’s Monell1 claim against the City and Department. Defendants appealed this denial. On review, we affirm in part, and reverse in part, the district court’s denial of qualified and governmental immunity to Abbate and Bradley. We dismiss the City and Department’s appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction.

The Tennessee Bar Association this year will again honor the work of Tennessee journalists through the Fourth Estate Award: Honoring Courageous Reporting on Justice and the Law. This year's prize, honoring reporting in 2023, includes a $250 honorarium for the winner. The TBA strongly supports freedom of expression under the First Amendment, as exercised by lawyers on behalf of their clients and by journalists on behalf of the public, and particularly wants to recognize and encourage journalists who promote public understanding of the rule of law and our system of justice through vigorous exercise of their First Amendment rights. The deadline for entry is April 25. Attorneys who have relationships with reporters or observed a particularly compelling piece of journalism in 2023 are encouraged to submit a nomination. Read about past recipients here and read the TBA's full press release.