The next legal clinic for veterans in Knoxville will take place June 12 from 12-2 p.m. EST at the Knox County Public Defender's Community Law Office in Knoxville. This is a general advice clinic sponsored by the Knoxville Bar Association, KBA Barristers, Legal Aid of East Tennessee, Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law, the University of Tennessee College of Law, the Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office and the local Veterans Affairs office. Sign up to volunteer here.

The Shelby County Sheriff's Office said a man incarcerated at the Shelby County Jail at 201 Poplar was found "unresponsive" in his cell Friday morning, and later died at the hospital. According to a statement from the sheriff’s office, the man, identified as Kevin B. Wright, was being housed individually and was found just after 7 a.m. Friday. A statement from the office said that "Corrections deputies immediately implemented life-saving measures, and Memphis Fire transported him to Methodist University Hospital in critical condition, where he was later pronounced deceased." The inmate was in the midst of his criminal trial, the Commercial Appeal reports. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy has asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate.

A trial date for the two men accused of fatally shooting Memphis rapper Young Dolph in 2021 has been reset for Sept. 23, the Commercial Appeal reports. The trial, originally set for March, was to have started today in Memphis. In extending the date, Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Jennifer Mitchell said, "I was extremely upset when the lawyers came to me, asking for a motion to continue this case. I was really anxious to get this case over and done with starting this week, but they both expressed to the court the desire to get experts in. So I allowed the continuance to occur." Mitchell also set a new date of Aug. 9 for oral arguments over expert witnesses.

Former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton has been appointed by Metro Nashville to lead an investigation into the Metro Nashville Police Department after details of a 61-page complaint by a former lieutenant were made public, the Nashville Banner reports. The complaint, a copy of which was obtained by WPLN, alleges a lack of accountability, inconsistent enforcement of policies, interference with investigations and biasing outcomes in favor of higher-ranking officers. Stanton, who served as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee from 2010-2017 and is now an attorney in the Memphis office of Butler Snow, has overseen a number of other critical investigations. In 2018, a federal court appointed him as a monitor of the Memphis Police Department following violations of the city’s consent decree. In 2022, he was appointed by Gov. Bill Lee to investigate the state’s death penalty protocols.

Nashville Public Radio reporter and producer Meribah Knight will receive the TBA’s Fourth Estate Award for her podcast series “The Kids of Rutherford County,” which brought to light abuses in the juvenile court system in Rutherford County. The award, which was established to recognize and encourage journalists who promote public understanding of the rule of law and improvements in our system of justice through their vigorous exercise of their First Amendment rights, will be presented at the TBA Annual Convention in Memphis on June 14 during the Lawyers Luncheon. Read the TBA's full press release.

Can't join us for the full TBA Convention later this month? Or maybe you need to add a guest ticket? Individual tickets are available for purchase for Thursday's Public Service Breakfast, University of Tennessee College of Law Breakfast, University of Memphis School of Law Breakfast, Bench Bar Luncheon, Legal Community Reception and Dinner & Entertainment with the judges; as well as Friday's Lawyers Luncheon. Buy tickets here now through June 9. Tickets to individual CLE programs will be available for purchase on site at the TBA registration desk in the Peabody Hotel.

Did you miss the TBA Women in the Profession Committee's well-being webcast in April? If so, then join colleagues tomorrow for a rebroadcast at noon CDT. The speaker for this one-hour webcast will use research associated with increased alcohol and drug use; increased stress, anxiety and depression; and feelings of isolation to provide real world strategies to achieve wellness while facing daily professional challenges. Sign up for "Shift Happens — Surviving the Law Profession."

Belmont University College of Law announced a two-year pilot health care clinic that will be embedded at the Tennessee Justice Center (TJC). Funding for the “Healthcare Justice Clinic” will be provided by a $260,000 grant from the Speer Foundation. The clinic will be coordinated by a TJC staff attorney and staffed by Belmont law students who will be selected for the externship. Students will receive academic credit for the experience, which will also include a class focused on managing client cases. The effort is designed to expand TJC’s work of advocating for vulnerable Tennessee families. “There are way more Tennesseans who need help than our small staff can handle, so this new resource will make a powerful difference,” said Michele Johnson, TJC co-founder and executive director. Read more in a news release from the school.

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. To get a proposed constitutional amendment on the Ohio ballot, petitioners must submit their amendment, a summary of their amendment, and one thousand qualified supporting signatures to the Ohio Attorney General. The Ohio Attorney General must then determine if the summary is a fair and truthful statement of the proposed amendment and, if so, certify the summary. Only once the Attorney General certifies the summary may petitioners begin collecting the approximately 400,000 signatures necessary to put the proposed amendment on the ballot.

Plaintiffs-Appellants (“Plaintiffs”) are Ohio voters who, together, seek to amend the Ohio Constitution through a ballot initiative. Pursuant to Ohio law, Plaintiffs drafted their amendment and summary, collected their one thousand qualified supporting signatures, and filed it with the Ohio Attorney General, David Yost. On at least six occasions, Yost declined to certify Plaintiffs’ summary. After Yost’s most recent decision denying certification, Plaintiffs turned to the Supreme Court of Ohio for review. When the state supreme court declined to grant expedited review, Plaintiffs filed a complaint in federal district court seeking injunctive relief. In their complaint, Plaintiffs alleged that Yost’s enforcement of Ohio Revised Code § 3519.01 functions as an unconstitutional obstacle to their ballot access and their ability to speak about and advocate for their proposed amendment as they wish, in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The district court denied Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunctive relief. For the reasons that follow, we REVERSE the district court’s order and GRANT Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunctive relief. We also DENY as moot Plaintiffs’ motion for an injunction pending appeal.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) selected Kandiss Brown as its 2024 CASA Volunteer of the Year. During the four years that Brown has volunteered with CASA of Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County, she has won praise as a dedicated volunteer who never hesitates to take on a new case, regardless of its level of complexity. "Mrs. Brown conducts each investigation in a professional manner without letting emotions overcome her judgement," CASA Executive Director Michelle Childs said in her nomination of Brown. The CASA Volunteer of the Year Award was presented at the YLD Board’s annual dinner on June 14 in Memphis as part of the TBA’s Annual Convention. Read more in the TBA's press release.