The annual Bench Bar Luncheon will take place June 13 as part of the TBA’s Convention. Lawyers and judges from across the state will gather to recognize judicial service and hear from Memphis lawyer Charles Newman, who served as one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s lawyers during the sanitation workers strike in the spring of 1968. It was the strike that brought King to Memphis, where the day after addressing workers, he was felled by an assassin’s bullet. Also at the lunch, Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Kirby will be recognized with the TBA’s Justice Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award and Senior Judge J. Daniel Breen will receive the Judge Pamela L. Reeves Tennessee Professionalism Award, given jointly by the TBA and the Tennessee American Inns of Court. Make plans now to join your colleagues at this annual favorite!

A Knoxville woman arrested during pro-Palestinian protests on the campus of the University of Tennessee College of Law says her religious freedoms were violated by the Knox County Sheriff's Department, Knox News reports. According to Layla Soliz, officers forced her to remove her hijab for a booking photo and then posted a photo of her without the head covering, despite assurances that it would not be publicly viewable.

University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law third year student Ashlie Gozikowski recently won first place in the National Crime Victim Law Institute's 2024 Law Student Victims' Rights Writing Competition for her paper, "Scrutinizing Feres After Spletstoser: Military Sexual Assault Victims’ Continued Need for a Civil Remedy."

Defendant, Lamiracle Scott, appeals from her Shelby County conviction for first degree premediated murder, for which she received a life sentence. Defendant contends: (1) that the evidence is insufficient to support her conviction; (2) that the trial court abused its discretion by denying her request for a continuance; and (3) that she is entitled to plain error relief due to a juror allegedly sleeping during trial. Following a thorough review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Camille R. McMullen gave the commencement address at her alma mater, the University of Tennessee Law School, on May 16, according to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). McMullen said her goal was to emphasize to graduates that the legal profession is one of the most important and impactful in the world. She told graduates, "You have the power to make a real difference in your client’s lives and — by extension — society. But to do so, you must remain genuinely engaged, passionate and committed to your work. When you feel apathy begin to set in, fight it. Your law degree has given you immense power to change the world, don’t waste it." McMullen says she believes it is important for judges to share their experience and wisdom with the next generation of lawyers. She was appointed to the court in 2008 by then-Gov. Phil Bredesen and elected presiding judge in 2023.

The Shelby County Commission on Monday approved emergency funding for repairs to cell doors at the Shelby County Jail. The Daily Memphian reports that more than 100 cell-door motors on the fourth floor of the jail are broken and 340 other cell doors on the third floor operate only manually. The jail was found to have "deficiencies" in two inspections over the last six years, with the broken locks being just one concern. Estimates indicate that a new facility would cost around $1 billion and take 10 years to complete.

BLOOMEKATZ, Circuit Judge. Douglas Milczak is a longtime General Motors (“GM”) employee who works at one of its plants near Detroit, Michigan. In 2018, GM announced that it was retooling that plant to produce electric vehicles. From then on things seemed tenuous for Milczak, who was in his late fifties. While he remained employed, and still is, he claims that his managers harassed him because of his age, and let his subordinates do the same, to push him into early retirement. After several years of enduring this alleged degradation, he filed an action against GM claiming it violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. After discovery, GM moved for summary judgment, arguing the record did not support any of his claims. The district court granted the motion, and we affirm.

NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judge. Emmanuel Merritt pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of firearms and was sentenced to 120 months in prison. But two twists underlie this seemingly straightforward case. First, before Merritt pleaded guilty, he spent several months evading authorities. So the district court faulted him for not accepting responsibility and denied him a two-point reduction in his total offense level, which Merritt challenges as an error. Second, the district court gave Merritt a three-point increase in his criminal history score because one of his past state offenses included a total prison sentence of 870 days. But Merritt believes that his sentence was for only 330 days, because of credits he received, and the district court was thus wrong in calculating his score. Both claims fail, however, so we AFFIRM.

A majority of the Judges of this Court in regular active service has voted for rehearing en banc of this case. Sixth Circuit Rule 35(b) provides as follows:

The effect of the granting of a hearing en banc shall be to vacate the previous opinion and judgment of this court, to stay the mandate and to restore the case on the docket sheet as a pending appeal.

Accordingly, it is ORDERED, that the previous decision and judgment of this court are vacated, the mandate is stayed, and this case is restored to the docket as a pending appeal.

The Clerk will direct the parties to file supplemental briefs and will schedule this case for oral argument as soon as possible.

Gov. Bill Lee today signed the Smart Heart Act, legislation that requires automatic external defibrillators (AED) in schools and establishes response protocols for cardiac-related medical emergencies. The bill received unanimous, bipartisan legislative support. The Smart Heart Act requires each public and nonpublic school serving grades nine through 12 to maintain an AED that is accessible during the school day and during all school athletic activities. Additionally, schools must establish, review and annually practice an emergency action plan for responding to students who sustain cardiac arrests or other life-threatening injuries while participating in athletic activities. The legislation also ensures that appropriate personnel on and off the field, including coaches, are trained in CPR and AEDs. Read more from the governor's office.