Former Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) Director Mark Gwyn, the first Black man to hold the position, has died at the age of 61. Gwyn led the TBI for 14 years and was pivotal in enhancing the agency's capabilities, including the establishment of the Technical Services Unit and Cyber Crimes Unit, The Tennessean reports. TBI Director David Rausch praised Gwyn for his profound impact, stating, "Mark had a profound impact on the Bureau, contributed to its growth and innovation." Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk called Gwyn's death a profound loss for the state. "As leader of the TBI, he was a tremendous resource and advocate for law enforcement across the state," Funk said. "His dedication to the public and their safety in every community was an inspiration to all of us in law enforcement."

Belmont College of Law is pioneering a new holistic approach to legal education to help students build resilience and self-awareness, the school writes. The approach uses Enneagram, a personality typing system, to guide students in understanding their professional identity, communication styles and stress management. Current second year law students will be the first class to experience the entire "Extended Enneagram Training” series, which is integrated into student orientation and continues throughout law school. The initiative comes in response to the American Bar Association's emphasis on cultivating professional identity in law students. By focusing on student wellness and whole person formation, Belmont says it aims to prepare graduates for the demanding and potentially stressful legal profession and address the high rates of substance abuse among lawyers.

Tennessee has fined private prison operator CoreCivic nearly $15 million since 2019 for contract violations at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, The Tennesean reports. The revelation comes amid news of a new civil rights investigation into the facility by the U.S. Department of Justice. Over the years, CoreCivic has been found to have chronic staffing shortages, improper use of force and other safety issues according to reports. While it has implemented measures to address these problems, including increased wages and recruitment efforts, it continues to face challenges in meeting standards. In response to these findings, Gov. Bill Lee stated, “It’s important that they do live up to them and that we continue to hold them accountable when they don’t live up to the standards.”

Tennessee's unemployment rate of 3% persisted in July, according to a recent release from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce. The state has maintained this rate since May, with Sevier and Williamson counties at 2.5%. While most counties experienced a decrease in unemployment, Weakley and Houston counties faced higher rates at 6.2% and 5.5%. In the northeast region, Washington County had the lowest unemployment at 3.5%, followed by Sullivan, Hawkins and Carter. Unicoi County had the highest rate at 4.2%. The state added over 2,000 new jobs in July, primarily in construction and health care, contributing to the overall economic stability, according to the Johnson City Press.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti last October sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over millions of dollars in family planning funding the state lost after it violated federal requirements for clinics to counsel clients on all reproductive health options, including abortion. The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals now has ruled that the federal government does not have to reinstate those funds as a legal battle plays out over the state’s abortion policy. According to the Associated Press, the court stated: “Tennessee was free to voluntarily relinquish the grants for any reason, especially if it determined that the requirements would violate its state laws.” In other news from the court, last week it found that Tennessee properly denied convicted felon Erik Williams’s attempt to dismiss his gun possession indictment. According to Bloomberg Law, Williams was indicted for being a felon in possession of a firearm after Memphis police stopped him for speeding and found a loaded pistol in the trunk. He previously robbed two people at gunpoint and was convicted of attempted murder. Williams argued that the law violated his Second Amendment rights. The court found that Congress may disarm people they believe to be dangerous as long those individuals have the opportunity to show they are not actually dangerous. The court found that Williams was given that opportunity.

JOHN K. BUSH, Circuit Judge. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”1 So too, it seemed, for a house of worship in this case. Off-duty police made the mistake of involving themselves in that division, which is the genesis of this suit. Because Couzens fails to meet his burden of establishing that the Forest Park Defendants deprived him of his constitutional rights, we affirm.

GRIFFIN, Circuit Judge. Two young African American boys died after two City of Flint firefighters failed to properly sweep a burning house. Then-City Fire Chief, plaintiff Raymond Barton, tried to discharge the firefighters for gross misconduct, but Flint’s Mayor, defendant Sheldon Neeley, intervened and allegedly covered up the firefighters’ malfeasance to advance his support from the firefighters’ union in an upcoming election. When Chief Barton refused Mayor Neeley’s directives to cover up the malfeasance, Neeley fired Barton. In this lawsuit, Barton claims that his termination constitutes retaliation in violation of his First Amendment rights. The district court denied Neeley’s motion to dismiss on qualified-immunity grounds, spurring this interlocutory appeal. Because Barton plausibly pleaded a violation of his First Amendment rights, and it is clearly established that public employees cannot be compelled to make false, politically motivated statements on matters of public concern in response to threats of retaliation, we affirm the district court’s denial of qualified immunity to Neeley.

This is an accelerated interlocutory appeal as of right. The petitioner seeks review of the trial court’s denial of his motion for recusal. Discerning no error upon our review of the petition for recusal appeal, we affirm.

The juvenile court terminated a mother’s and a father’s parental rights. The mother challenges the juvenile court’s finding by clear and convincing evidence that grounds for termination of her parental rights existed and that termination of her parental rights was in the child’s best interest. The father asserts that the juvenile court erred in terminating his parental rights because his due process rights were violated. Because the juvenile court erred in allowing the father’s attorney to withdraw from representation, we vacate the court’s termination of his parental rights on all grounds and remand for a new trial. We affirm the juvenile court’s termination of the mother’s parental rights.

The issues in the former underlying action and the present controversy pertain to an easement dispute that arose from a joint driveway agreement. A final judgment in the underlying action, titled “Consent Agreement and Order” (hereinafter “the Consent Order”), was entered in July 2013, from which there was no appeal. The final judgment was also duly recorded in the office of the Washington County Register of Deeds on August 5, 2013. The only parties to the former action were the plaintiff, Bobby MacBryan Green (“Mr. Green”), and the defendant, Michael John May (“Mr. May”). In 2021, Daniel Anthony (“Mr. Anthony”) purchased the property previously owned by Mr. May. In December 2023, Mr. Green obtained and filed an order of extension with the Washington County Circuit Court to extend the judgment entered in 2013. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Green filed a motion to show cause alleging that Mr. Anthony had violated the Consent Order and personally handed the motion to Mr. Anthony. One week later, Mr. Green filed a motion for joinder of Mr. Anthony pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 19, which was also hand delivered to Mr. Anthony. Mr. Anthony’s counsel made a limited appearance opposing the relief sought on multiple grounds. Following a hearing on Mr. Green’s motions, the trial court found that Mr. Anthony was not a proper or feasible party capable of being joined in the former 2013 action. Based on this finding, the court denied Mr. Green’s motion for joinder and dismissed the show cause motion as moot. Mr. Green appeals. Finding no error, we affirm the trial court in all respects. In his brief, Mr. Anthony asks this court to award him the attorney’s fees and expenses he incurred in defending this appeal, contending that the appeal is frivolous. Finding that the appeal is devoid of merit and, therefore, frivolous, we remand this matter to the trial court to award Mr. Anthony his reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees and expenses incurred in defending this frivolous appeal.