In an unanimous vote Tuesday, the TSSAA rejected a proposed high school “transfer portal.” The Tennessean reports that a motion to deny the measure passed 12-0, despite lawmakers urging the TSSAA to amend its long-standing transfer rule, which requires athletes who transfer to a school in a different zone to be ineligible for one calendar year from their last varsity game unless they have a bona fide change of address. The proposal would have allowed one transfer without residency requirements. The council pledged to discuss potential changes to transfer rules in the future and has requested a special meeting before its regularly scheduled April session to address the issue further.

The American Bar Association (ABA) urged the presidential administration to roll back its executive order calling for federal investigations into diversity and inclusion efforts by bar associations, citing the groups' First Amendment rights, Reuters reports. The ABA's resolution, adopted Monday, asks the administration to modify the executive order to clarify that it will not be enforced in a manner that infringes on constitutional rights. “The First Amendment prohibits the federal government from interfering with the expressive rights of bar associations and others by threatening them with investigation and prosecution for adopting or promoting [diversity and inclusion],” reads a report supporting the resolution. Last year, attorneys general from 21 states, including Tennessee, sent a letter to the ABA opposing efforts to impose race-based admissions and hiring requirements on law schools through the accreditation process.

Legal challenges continue to be filed against President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders. A Maryland federal judge has issued a nationwide injunction blocking the administration from curtailing birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented parents. The move comes after a judge in Seattle imposed a temporary halt on the policy. In addition, the ACLU has filed suit in D.C. federal court challenging the president’s ban on asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. With regard to transgender care, a suit has been filed over orders that curtail federal funding and support for medical transitions for those under age 19. Tennessee’s law banning such care for minors is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Tennessee Lookout reports that two teens who left Tennessee after the state ban went into effect are part of the group suing over the federal ban. Finally, in other news, a suit has been filed against two executive orders seeking to end federal diversity programs; a federal judge in Washington, D.C., has blocked efforts to move transgender women to men's prisons; and FBI agents have sued to protect their identities from Department of Justice leaders who are seeking information about those who worked on Jan. 6 cases. Bloomberg reports that the FBI has shared titles and offices but not names. Reuters has more on all of these suits.

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Public speaking can be nerve-wracking. In Mari Jasa's "Why Speaking in Court is Terrifying (and 5 Tips to Survive it)," she offers practical advice that can take you from fear to enjoyment. Jasa, a native of Tirana, Albania, is an assistant public defender for the 6th Judicial District. She earned her bachelor of arts degree in Global Studies from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and her law degree from Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law. She is a recipient of the Napier-Looby Bar Foundation Scholarship. She was a member of the TBA YLD'S Diversity Leadership Institute Class of 2022 and she actively promotes diversity in the legal field. Jasa serves on the Tennessee Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division Board as a district representative.

The Tennessee Bar Association was honored to recently represent the lawyers of Tennessee by sending delegations to the American Bar Association's Midyear House of Delegates Meeting as well as the ABA Young Lawyer's Assembly in Phoenix, AZ. The House of Delegates and YLD Assembly debated important issues related to the practice of law as well as policies affecting lawyers and judges across the country. TBA YLD President Sean Aiello led Tennessee's young lawyer delegation at the ABA YLD Assembly, and TBA YLD President-elect Alex McVeagh served as Tennessee's YLD representative to the ABA House of Delegates. TBA member, former ABA YLD president and Baker Donelson attorney Jonathan Cole presided over the ABA's House of Delegates as its speaker. Read more about the ABA YLD Assembly, the ABA House of Delegates Meeting, and ABA HOD Chair Jonathan Cole. Click here for photos from the meeting.

Defendant, Tony Stafford, was convicted by a Shelby County jury of aggravated rape. The trial court sentenced Defendant as a Range I offender to twenty-five years. On appeal, Defendant claims that the State’s pre-indictment delay constituted a due process violation and that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. Defendant filed a motion requesting waiver of his untimely notice of appeal; however, he failed to file a timely motion for new trial before the trial court. We elect to waive the untimely notice of appeal in the interest of justice. However, because Defendant’s motion for new trial was not timely filed, we address only Defendant’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Upon review of the record, legal authority, and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

After being convicted by a jury of multiple drug charges, possession of a firearm during the commission of or attempt to commit a dangerous felony, and three alternative counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, Torsaunt Lamont Shanklin, Petitioner, was sentenced to an effective sentence of thirty-five years in incarceration. His direct appeal challenging the denial of a motion to suppress was unsuccessful. State v. Shanklin, No. M2019-01896-CCA-R3-CD, 2021 WL 1082043, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Mar. 22, 2021), perm. app. denied (Tenn. May 12, 2021). Petitioner sought post-conviction relief primarily based on ineffective assistance of counsel. After a hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The Defendant, Edwin Reeves, was convicted by a Knox County Criminal Court jury of criminally negligent homicide and possession with the intent to sell or to deliver a schedule II controlled substance in a drug-free zone. He later pleaded guilty to a second count of possession with the intent to sell or to deliver a schedule II controlled substance in a drug- free zone. The trial court imposed an effective nine-year sentence. The Defendant filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1, which the trial court summarily dismissed for the failure to state a colorable claim. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying relief. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Defendant, Michael Richard Penley, appeals from the Hamilton County Criminal Court’s probation revocation of the effective six-year sentence he received for his guilty- pleaded convictions for misdemeanor theft, two counts of evading arrest, reckless endangerment, driving while in possession of methamphetamine, attempted possession with the intent to sell methamphetamine, and reckless aggravated assault. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion by revoking his probation and ordering him to serve the remainder of his sentence in confinement. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.