The Nashville Bar Association has released the results of a member poll of applicants being considered to serve as Davidson County Fourth Circuit Court judge. Members were given the names of applicants who are being considered for the position as of Jan. 19, through an online survey ballot. The NBA reports that 292 responses were received by the deadline of Feb. 7. All results are reported as raw data with no attempt to extrapolate results. NBA President Bahar Azhdari explained why the poll is conducted saying, "Releasing our membership’s assessment of the candidates offers valuable insight to those casting their ballots and helps to ensure voters have the information necessary to make an informed choice.”

Three legal clinics will take place Saturday across the state. In Knoxville, Legal Aid of East Tennessee will hold a Faith and Justice Legal Advice Clinic from 9 a.m. to noon EST. In Nashville, the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will hold its McHugh Clinic from 9:30-11:30 a.m. CST. And in Memphis, the Memphis Bar Association will hold its second Saturday clinic at the Benjamin Hooks Central Library from 10 a.m. to noon CST.

The Smith County Board of Education and Board of Commissioners recently reached a settlement in a lawsuit that was filed last November. The suit alleged that the county violated the Open Meetings Act by not giving proper public notice of meetings and that certain commission members met and/or deliberated privately regarding county finances, reports the Smith County Insider. In a joint statement, the two parties said, "Throughout the process, it has been the Board of Education’s goal to be in a position to continue to provide outstanding educational opportunities to Smith County students. Likewise, the county commissioners sought to find a solution that allows county services to be delivered in a manner that creates the least burden on the taxpayer. The resolution of the issues provides a mechanism for both public bodies to 'have a seat at the table,' for the implementation of policies and procedures, and to move forward."

The Tennessee House of Representatives today passed a bill that requires the “safety of the community” be a magistrate’s first consideration in determining whether a defendant is released on bail. According to the Daily Memphian, the bill, HB1642/SB2562, sponsored by House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, and Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, is one of several related to bail under consideration in the General Assembly this session. Present law requires a magistrate to consider several factors in determining bail in order to ensure the defendant’s appearance in court. Those factors include the amount of time they’ve lived in the community, their employment status and financial condition, the severity of the alleged offense and the probability of conviction. “All the other factors will still be considered by the judge or the magistrate, but it makes public safety the first factor,” Lamberth said Thursday. The bill passed by a vote of 80-13, with three abstaining. “The safety of the community is already the priority of the criminal justice system,” said Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville. State Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, said that “instead of attacking bail, we need to address the root causes of the problems, such as poverty, the lack of opportunity, gun violence."

ALICE M. BATCHELDER, Circuit Judge. Robert Whipple appeals the denial of his motions to suppress evidence. Whipple argued that law enforcement violated his Fourth Amendment rights when officers subpoenaed Walmart for his purchase history, searched his phone after the expiration of the warrant for his phone, and impermissibly seized his car. The district court denied Whipple’s motions. Finding no merit to these claims, we AFFIRM.

RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge. Insight Terminal Solutions, LLC (Insight) brought an adversary proceeding in bankruptcy court against all the defendants named in this lawsuit, alleging claims that were dismissed with prejudice by the bankruptcy court based upon the parties’ stipulation to do so. Autumn Wind Lending, LLC (Autumn Wind) was not itself a party to the adversary proceeding, but it became the parent company of Insight prior to Insight initiating its lawsuit in the bankruptcy court.

The question before us is whether the doctrine of res judicata bars Autumn Wind from now bringing these same claims against the same defendants who were absolved of liability to Insight as part of the bankruptcy court proceedings. For the reasons set forth below, we REVERSE the judgment of the district court dismissing Autumn Wind’s claims on the basis of res judicata and REMAND the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

A Georgia woman, Bianca Clayborne, has filed a lawsuit alleging her constitutional rights and those of her children were violated by Tennessee law enforcement officers and state social workers following a misdemeanor traffic stop last February. The lawsuit names four Tennessee Highway Patrol officers involved in the traffic stop, three Department of Children’s Services (DCS) caseworkers who obtained a court order to take the children, 10 Coffee County Sheriff Department officers who detained the family at the county’s jail and Coffee County, which is responsible its officers’ supervision and training, reports the Tennessee Lookout. The traffic stop for “dark tint and not actively passing” on Interstate-24 culminated in the arrest of Clayborne's partner, Deonte Williams, and all five children being placed in foster care for 55 days. In a search of the car, troopers found fewer than five grams of marijuana — a misdemeanor offense which typically receives a citation, according to the news source.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has declared that calls made with AI-generated voices are illegal. The decision comes after a fake robocall imitating President Joe Biden sought to dissuade people from voting for him in New Hampshire's Democratic primary election. Reuters reports that the FCC noted that state attorneys general previously could target the outcome of an unwanted AI-voice-generated robocall, but the new action makes the act of using AI to generate a voice in these robocalls itself illegal. On Tuesday, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined 50 other bipartisan attorneys general on the nationwide Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force in sending a warning letter to Life Corporation (Life Corp), the company allegedly behind the New Hampshire robocalls. “Using AI to spam voters’ phones with robocalls and inaccurate election information is illegal and fundamentally anti-American. Not to mention, it’s creepy,” Skrmetti said in a statement.

MATHIS, Circuit Judge. Under the Bank Secrecy Act, individuals with foreign bank accounts containing $10,000 or more must annually file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) with the U.S. Department of the Treasury. An individual who fails to file an FBAR by the deadline risks civil penalties. If the failure to file was accidental, the government can assess a penalty of up to $10,000. If, however, the failure to file was willful, the civil penalty grows exponentially.

The government sued James Kelly to recover civil penalties, claiming that Kelly willfully failed to timely file FBARs for 2013, 2014, and 2015. The district court granted summary judgment to the government. Because Kelly’s failure to file was a willful violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, we affirm.

McKEAGUE, Circuit Judge. Gina Moegle and her supervisor Susan Shaw, both employees of the Children’s Protective Services program in the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, appeal the district court’s partial denial of qualified immunity for eleven claims filed against various State of Michigan defendants by Mark Bambach and his minor children under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

We find that no clearly established law put the state defendants on notice that they were violating the Bambachs’ Fourteenth and Fourth Amendment rights. Accordingly, we REVERSE the district court’s denial of summary judgment and REMAND for entry of an order dismissing the Bambachs’ claims against the state defendants.