The Tennessee Bar Association has named two attorneys and a law student as the 2022 Public Service Award winners. The annual awards recognize an exceptional commitment to increasing access to justice for underserved individuals and communities. Ann Pruitt is the Ashley T. Wiltshire Public Service Attorney of the Year. Pruitt is being recognized for her tireless, innovative leadership in the ATJ community, including as executive director for the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS). The Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award recognizes a private attorney who has contributed significant amounts of pro bono work and who demonstrates dedication to the development and delivery of legal services to the poor. This year, that award goes to Ashley Goins Alderson, an attorney in the Nashville office of Stites & Harbison, in recognition of her extensive pro bono service in a complicated and extended international child abduction case. The Law Student Volunteer of the Year is Belmont University College of Law 3L Gabriella Cannone, recognized for her commitment to pro bono service including work with the Nashville Defenders and the Administrative Office of the Courts. The honorees are profiled in the March/April issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal.

The news item “Pulaski Working to Overcome Past” from Feb. 23 should have attributed advocacy for the relocation of the statute of Sam Davis and renaming of a park and sports stadium to Keidron Turner individually instead of the Community Advisory Council on Inclusive Recognition & Acknowledgement (CACIRA). CACIRA is not advocating for relocation, removal or renaming of any statue, plaque or stadium. This news item has been corrected on the TBA Today webpage.

The state Senate on Monday advanced legislation requiring U.S. House and Senate candidates to meet the same criteria imposed on state legislative candidates, who must be Tennessee residents for at least three years and residents of the county they’ll represent for at least one year “immediately preceding the election.”  The bill passed 31-1, with Republican Sen. Todd Gardenhire casting the lone no vote, the AP reports. It must still pass the GOP-controlled House. “I think y’all are trying to stop somebody from running,” Gardenhire said, without naming a specific candidate. Read more from the Commercial Appeal.

Throughout March, TEDxNashville is celebrating the contributions women are making everywhere. One of the programs features Judge Sheila D.J. Calloway, discussing forgiveness in the criminal justice system. "With a system of Restorative Justice, all of those who were harmed (victims, families, community) can achieve both accountability and restoration, moving everyone toward forgiveness," the promo says. Watch the 20-minute video here.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee performed the investiture ceremony Monday for William E. Phillips, who is the Circuit Court judge for the 3rd Judicial District in Greenville. Phillips was appointed in October by Lee to fill the vacant seat after Thomas Wright retired. Phillips, 45, is already serving as judge. A formal swearing-in ceremony by 3rd Judicial District Chancellor Douglas E. Jenkins was held in October. Phillips has been a lawyer for 19 years and served as the city attorney for Rogersville and Church Hill. The Greeneville Sun has more.

On Monday, the families who sued to force a mask requirement in Knox County Schools said they would accept tying the rule to CDC recommendations, the News Sentinel and WATE report, while on the same day Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and state Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Farragut, each pledged $5,000 to support a lawsuit against the county’s board of education aimed at ending a court-enforced mask mandate in Knox County Schools. Masks have been required in Knox County Schools since Sept. 28 when Judge Ronnie Greer said the school system must enforce the same mandate that was in place during the 2020-2021 school year. If Greer opts to go along with the families' motion, Knox County students still must wear masks, but that could change if community levels of COVID-19 go down. 

University of Tennessee College of Law Professor Ben Barton is set to release a new book next week that will provide an in-depth look at the U.S. Supreme Court. “The Credentialed Court: Inside the Cloistered, Elite World of American Justice,” combines empirical studies of every justice’s background from John Jay to Amy Coney Barrett that demonstrate how today’s justices arrive on the court with much narrower experiences than their predecessors. “One thing I learned is that these justices lived very varied and sometimes pretty bizarre lives,” Barton said. “Historically the court has included a former President, a former running back who led the NFL in rushing, America’s greatest civil rights attorney, and a justice who practiced both law and medicine.” The book will be released on March 8. Read more from the College of Law’s website.

Howard University School of Law will be hosting a free virtual screening and discussion of the documentary “In the Executioner's Shadow” on Wednesday. The event will begin at 4 p.m. EST. All are invited to attend. Email tmcivilrightscenter@gmail.com to RSVP and receive the log in instructions.

Shelby County Commissioners are set to fill the vacant District 33 state Senate seat during a special meeting on March 3, the Daily Memphian reports. The vacancy was created after former Democratic Sen. Katrina Robinson was expelled by the Senate following her conviction on four counts of wire fraud. Commissioners had debated whether to fill the empty seat given the General Assembly’s short election-year session, but decided to move forward after Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, told commissioners that filling the vacancy was urgent. The deadline to submit an application to the commission for the vacant seat ended today at noon CST.

Five applicants will be considered by the Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments for an upcoming vacancy on the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Middle Section that was created after Judge Richard H. Dinkins announced he would not run for reelection. Ashonti T. Davis, James A. Haltom, Alexander Stuart Rieger, Joycelyn A. Stevenson and Jeffrey Usman have applied for the role. The council will interview all candidates at a virtual hearing on March 18 at 10 a.m. CST. Those interested may watch a livestream of the hearing on the Administrative Office of the Courts' YouTube page or may watch the livestream in person at the office, located at 511 Union St., Nashville City Center, Ste. 600, Nashville 37219. Read more on each applicant from the AOC.