Judge Steve Sword was honored at an investiture ceremony on June 2 following his appointment to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals by Gov. Bill Lee. The ceremony, held in the historic Supreme Court Building in Knoxville, celebrated Sword’s transition to the appellate bench after 14 years of service with the Knox County Criminal Court, WBIR reports. Surrounded by fellow judges, lawmakers and family, Sword reflected on the honor of continuing his judicial service and paid tribute to his wife, children and late predecessor, Judge James Curwood Witt Jr. Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Kirby called Sword “one of our state’s finest.” He was appointed by Lee on Feb. 28 and confirmed by the General Assembly in March.

Federal sentencing dates have been set for the five former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols, the Daily Memphian reports. Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith will be sentenced on June 16. Both were convicted of one count of obstruction of justice for witness tampering during the 2024 federal trial and face up to 20 years in federal prison. Demetrius Haley and Desmond Mills Jr. will be sentenced on June 17. Haley was convicted of four charges, including violating Nichols’ civil rights resulting in bodily injury, and faces up to 60 years in prison. Mills pleaded guilty before the trial and prosecutors are recommending 15 years for both his federal and state charges to be served concurrently. Emmitt Martin III, who also pleaded guilty, will be sentenced on June 18. Prosecutors have recommended a 40-year sentence on his federal charges, while Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy says he will wait until after federal sentencing to consider state charges. The sentencing dates come less than a month after Bean, Haley and Smith were acquitted of all state charges.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up two challenges to gun control laws in Maryland and Rhode Island, according to SCOTUSblog. In each case, three justices indicated they would have granted the petition for review, leaving the challengers one vote short of the four needed for the court to hear arguments. In Snope v. Brown, the court declined to decide whether Maryland’s ban on semiautomatic rifles, such as the AR-15 and AK-47, violates the Second Amendment. In Ocean State Tactical v. Rhode Island, the justices rejected a challenge to Rhode Island’s ban on large-capacity magazines, which state law defines as devices capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition for a semiautomatic weapon.

Gov. Bill Lee appointed Judge Jennifer Peck to the 11th Judicial District Circuit Court on May 9. She recently was sworn in by former Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge Brandon Gibson, now chief operating officer in the governor’s office. Peck, a Chattanooga native, earned her law degree from Regent University in 2007 with the goal of becoming a judge. “I actually wanted to be a judge when I applied for law school,” she said. “It felt like a calling, a tug in my spirit, and that’s ultimately why I went to law school. It’s always been the goal.” Peck began presiding over cases in Hamilton County on May 12. Read more in Chattanoogan.com.

A wellness-focused CLE program, “Attorney Wellness Hour: Movement, Mobility and Mindfulness,” will take place June 13 during the TBA's 2025 Annual Convention. The session will highlight the importance of self-care in maintaining competent legal representation, as outlined in Tennessee Rule of Professional Conduct 1.1. Presenters Brad Bald of Lifestyle Communities and Laura Hull of the Tennessee Court of Appeals will guide attendees through mobility exercises, posture-improving movements and mindfulness techniques designed to counteract the physical and mental stressors common in the legal profession. Learn more about this session and all CLE convention programming on the TBA website.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office nearly doubled its number of immigration detainees in May compared with January, marking the second consecutive month the jail has held more than 300 people on immigration-related matters, according to Knox News. The increase was driven in part by a surge in arrests in Middle Tennessee by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Last month, ICE and the Tennessee Highway Patrol conducted 468 traffic stops and made 200 arrests in Nashville and surrounding areas. The Knox County Sheriff's Office partners with the federal government to detain those arrested in other counties. The Knox County Jail reported 303 immigration detainees in May, including a single-day high of 53 on May 9.

Following its departure from downtown Nashville in May 2022 and a period in temporary offices, the TBA has found a new permanent home. The new building, officially closed on June 4, is located in the heart of Nashville’s West End Avenue corridor, providing convenient access and ample parking for members. Over the next six months, interior renovations will be planned to create modern office spaces, a state-of-the-art multimedia studio and a cutting-edge CLE and seminar classroom. The TBA is expected to begin operations at the new location in early 2026. In announcing the acquisition, TBA President Ed Lanquist Jr. said, “The Building Committee has worked tirelessly for the last few years to find TBA’s new home and I’m grateful for their time and expertise. This new space will help us meet the changing needs of our members as we look to the next several decades of practicing law in Tennessee.” Former TBA President Jim Barry, president of The Tennessee Legal Community Foundation (TLCF) — which purchased the building — said, “This investment ensures that TBA has a long-term home to serve our members and the broader legal community. The new space will facilitate top-notch legal education, member engagement opportunities and a stronger sense of community in our profession.” Special thanks to the committee of TBA leaders, members and real estate professionals whose thoughtful and comprehensive search led to the successful acquisition of this new home for your state bar association.

The U.S. House passed legislation last month designed to enact President Trump's domestic policy agenda. According to Reuters, the 1,100-page bill includes a one-sentence provision that could weaken the power of U.S. judges to enforce contempt when the government defies court orders. Specifically, the provision prevents federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, from enforcing contempt orders unless the plaintiffs have posted a monetary bond. According to critics, this rarely happens in cases against the government and would leave judges powerless to enforce orders if they are not followed. The legislative provision follows a White House memo from March that directed heads of government agencies to request that plaintiffs post a bond when seeking injunctions against agency policy. The administration said the directive was aimed at deterring frivolous lawsuits. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to take up the bill this week, NPR reports, though some senators suggest that inclusion of the provision would not survive a challenge under that body’s rules. Bloomberg Law reports on that angle.

The TBA Criminal Justice Section recently hosted a unique and successful murder mystery CLE. Led by Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law (LMU Law) professors Melanie Ried and Syd Beckman, LMU Law students played characters in a 1920s themed event where participants used Tennessee’s latest criminal laws to unravel the mystery and bring the killer to justice. The winning team consisted of lawyers Jade Peters, Nicholas Poe-Jones and Tim Fowler. Keep your eyes peeled for more fun events to come from the TBA Criminal Justice Section. View photos from the event here.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week unanimously ruled that a federal agency that regulates rail transportation had properly considered the environmental impact of a proposed 88-mile railway in Utah. The Surface Transportation Board of the U.S. approved the project in 2021 after a review concluded with a 3,600-page report. Environmental groups and a Colorado county sued, saying the report did not consider ways in which the railway could do harm to the environment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled for the challengers, saying the agency had not considered all the “reasonably foreseeable” results of the project. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh penned the opinion saying that many lower courts had found the environmental impact statements required by the National Environmental Policy Act to be needlessly elaborate. “The goal of the law is to inform agency decision making, not to paralyze it,” said Kavanaugh. The railway would connect oil fields in northeast Utah to a rail network that runs next to the Colorado River and then to refineries on the Gulf Coast. The New York Times has more.