Criminal justice reform advocate and former public defender Keeda Haynes will discuss and sign copies of her book “Bending the Arc: My Journey from Prison to Politics” on Sunday at the Williamson County Library. The event will run from 3-4:30 p.m. CST, the Williamson Herald reports. Arrested while in college, Haynes spent four years in prison for helping her boyfriend traffic drugs. She has maintained that she did not know the nature of the work. After her release, Haynes earned a law degree. The book traces her journey through the prison system and into politics while also exploring criminal justice reform, racial justice, solution-based change and community activism. The book is available at www.keedahaynes.com.

Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk Vince Dean recently announced that his office has streamlined the process for criminal expungement, Chattanoogan.com reports. Beginning Jan. 3, 2022, residents of Hamilton County can go to one office for an expungement regardless of whether the original case was in the Circuit Criminal Court or General Sessions Criminal Court. Currently, residents must visit the court in which the crime was adjudicated. Dean said the move is part of an effort to make court processes more efficient. The office also recently opened a one-stop payment center where county residents can pay fines and court costs for both criminal courts.

The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday approved legislation aimed at safeguarding the security and privacy of federal judges and their families, Reuters reports. The legislation was prompted by a deadly attack last year in which a disgruntled lawyer killed Daniel Anderl, the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas. The committee voted unanimously to send the “Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act” to the full Senate for its consideration. The legislation would make it illegal for data brokers to knowingly sell, license or purchase the personally identifiable information of federal judges or their immediate family, including addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers. It would also allow federal judges to remove personal information of judges from government websites and fund security training for judges and their immediate family members.

Knock out a day of CLE programming with the TBA’s Year End CLE Watch Party on Dec. 15. Watch some of the most popular online courses from 2021, including ethics and legislative updates and sessions on attorney wellness, diversity and inclusion, creating a hybrid law office, and other law technology and office management topics. Throughout the day, we also will be giving away several prizes. The program runs from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. CST. The watch party is presented as part of the TBA’s Year End CLE event, which offers CLE your way throughout the month of December. And remember, those who purchase a course in December will be entered in our weekly drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card.

Gov. Bill Lee today granted executive clemency to 17 people, marking the first time the governor has used clemency power, the Tennessean reports. Lee issued 13 pardons to people who are no longer incarcerated and three commutations to immediate parole eligibility. He also fully exonerated a Grundy County man who was convicted of a 2006 murder the state now recognizes he did not commit. The governor also announced a new clemency process for people who were convicted of drug offenses in school zones before September 2020. Drug offenses within 1,000 feet of a school, library, park, daycare center or recreational center were subject to harsh mandatory minimum sentences until 2020 legislation changed the radius to 500 feet and required mandatory minimums only be used when children were exposed during the offense. Lee’s office released data showing 335 people currently incarcerated "drug-free school zone offenses" and are now eligible to have their cases reviewed under the new process.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee, the Wharton firm and Memphis advocacy group Just City are demanding that Shelby County fix its cash bail system or risk a lawsuit, the Commercial Appeal reports. In a letter addressed to multiple judicial and government officials, including Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich, the groups ask for a mediated discussion to be held prior to the end of January 2022. The letter proposes reforms of the bail system, including ensuring those arrested receive individualized bail hearings within 24 hours of arrest, that an inquiry be made into the person’s financial circumstances before the hearing and that unaffordable financial conditions only be imposed when there is no other alternative.  

Learn how to better manage your email workload during a one-hour webinar on Dec. 6 from noon until 1 p.m. CST. How to Better Manage Your Workload: Email Management explores how to efficiently batch process emails to get them out of your inbox without losing important messages. Attendees are encouraged to have their laptops or other mobile devices handy to try out proposed solutions. The program is part of the TBA’s annual Year End CLE Event, which offers a variety of live virtual or on-demand programs, CLE packages and much more to help meet your last minute CLE needs.  

Community leaders and criminal justice advocates in Nashville are pushing back against a program from the District Attorney’s office called “Safe Surrender,” the Tennessean reports. The two-day program, also hosted by the criminal court clerk and several general sessions judges, allows those with outstanding warrants to turn themselves in at a local church to receive “favorable consideration.” Advocates and community leaders say they’d like clarification on what the favorable considerations would be and claim the program lacks real incentives. The goal of the program is to clear a backlog of 33,000 outstanding warrants in Nashville, 11,000 of which are for failure to appear according to the DA’s office. “The program has good intentions," said Dawn Deaner, executive director of the Choosing Justice Initiative. “But they aren't doing anything that a good lawyer can't help someone do."

The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office yesterday announced it will no longer grant exemptions to a new state law that abolishes all vaccine mandates, the Tennessean reports. State legislators passed a law banning all vaccine mandates during the COVID special session in October, but entities at risk of losing federal funding for not complying with federal vaccine requirements were allowed to apply for exemptions from the Comptroller’s Office. In a statement, the Comptroller’s Office said it “can no longer find that compliance with Public Chapter 6 would result in a loss of federal funding” after two federal judges issued preliminary injunctions blocking the federal vaccine mandate. Sixty nine exemptions that were granted to entities like the University of Tennessee System and Blue Cross Blue Shield are now suspended, but the Comptroller’s Office notes they could be reinstated if the injunctions are lifted.

Deborah Taylor Tate recently announced she will be leaving her post as director of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) in early 2022. During her seven years of leadership, Tate is credited with increasing the stature and funding of the AOC, overseeing the implementation of 12 Safe Baby Courts, working to stem the impact of the opioid and addiction epidemic, coordinating two Eviction Summits, expanding access to justice programs and more. Tate assisted the Supreme Court with establishing the first business docket pilot project in state history and steered legislation to allow e-filing statewide. “As an attorney, this appointment has been the highest honor and privilege of my career,” Tate said. Read more from the AOC.