The Davidson County Mental Health Court, led by Judge Melissa Blackburn, has been awarded certification by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. It is one of the first two programs in Tennessee to receive this certification. Since its inception in 2001, the Davidson County program has been funded primarily by Metro Nashville. In 2022, legislative leaders worked with Blackburn to secure new funding for mental health courts across Tennessee, expanding access to this transformative program for those involved in the justice system and suffering from a diagnosis of severe and persistent mental illness. Read the press release from court.

Brian Kelsey, former Republican state senator from Germantown, will not be allowed to rescind his guilty plea for campaign finance violations, upholding his 21-month prison sentence. The Tennessee Journal reports that two judges on a three-judge panel on the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Kelsey’s attorney had not properly objected to an alleged breach of the plea agreement when a federal prosecutor agreed that the former lawmaker could face an enhanced sentence for perjuring himself when he tried to revoke his guilty plea. The third judge said the objection had been properly preserved, but found that the government did not breach its obligations under the plea agreement.

In May, the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) sent a letter to guardians and families of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who live in state-run homes, informing them that the homes would be decommissioned for adults and repurposed to house children in custody of the Department of Children's Services (DCS). According to child advocates, DCS is now placing children with no known disability diagnoses for months at a time in those group homes to await evaluations for potential disabilities or mental health issues that, in some instances, they do not have. Advocates explain that while a child is living in a group home awaiting an evaluation, efforts to find a foster home halt, adding they are especially concerned that the normal safeguards for adults or children placed in group homes have been set aside for children in DCS custody. The Tennessee Lookout has the story.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), a nonprofit organization that advocates for the separation of church and state, sent a letter of concern to Battle Creek Middle School in Spring Hill after a parent told the organization that the school’s principal, Mike Kinnard, led students in prayer at a May 23 graduation ceremony. According to the Tennessean, this is the second incident with Kinnard, who was challenged by FFRF in 2023 for using Bible verses and prayer to conclude an awards ceremony. Maury County Schools Superintendent Lisa Ventura responded to FFRF, in identical letters, that she spoke privately with the principal about both incidents. Despite the repeat incidents at the school, FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said she is optimistic that the school will take steps to ensure adherence to the establishment clause. “We’re pleased that Battle Creek will ensure graduation ceremonies going forward will honor the accomplishments of students instead of being misused for religious proselytization.”

The Tennessee Bar Association is conducting a survey to better understand attorneys' professional needs, and feedback is critical to ensure TBA can best support lawyers in Tennessee. Please watch your inbox July 10 for an email from President Ed Lanquist Jr. with survey instructions. On July 12, you'll receive an email invite from Avenue M Group LLC, an independent market research firm and our partner for this survey. The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete and is intended for both current members and nonmembers.

General Sessions Criminal Court Judge Sheila Renfroe has responded to allegations of bias from Assistant Public Defender Melody Carlisle, calling them an attempt to “impugn the integrity” of her court and alleging Carlisle has "knowingly made misrepresentations to the court in representation of her clients." Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Chris Craft agreed Renfroe has taken actions that are “clearly indicative of personal animosity" toward Carlisle and removed Renfroe from 28 cases on June 28; Renfroe then filed an order reinstating herself to some of the cases. Craft, who has superseding jurisdiction over Renfroe’s court, subsequently filed a motion July 1 canceling Renfroe’s motion and affirming his ruling to keep her off all 28 cases, reports the Daily Memphian. Renfroe's response states that Carlisle is "disrespectful" and "sarcastic," and that her body language has been "disruptive" in court. Carlisle has explained it is partly a result of a medical condition.

Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon on Wednesday was a guest on the WKNO-TV program “Behind The Headlines,” where he addressed the community's concerns about juvenile crime. The Daily Memphian reports that the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission data shows the number of delinquency cases filed for juveniles was down 47% during the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of 2023; however, the percentage of youth reoffenders is up 3.7% to 38.9% compared to the first quarter of 2023. Sugarmon also said 75% of the court’s work is on the child-welfare side, dealing with child support, child custody or dependency and neglect matters. Delinquency work makes up the other 25%. 

A group of mainly Black clergy and business and community leaders in Chattanooga held a press conference on Monday in front of District Attorney Coty Wamp's office, saying the indictment of Police Chief Celeste Murphy was the result of politics, reports Chattanoogan.com. Dr. Ernest Reid, pastor of Second Missionary Baptist Church, said Murphy's historic appointment as the city's first Black female police chief "was met with hostility almost from the start," adding that this "attempt to discredit an African American woman in leadership reeks of petty partisan politics with dangerous outcomes if applied uniformly." Wamp attended the press conference and stated she had referred the matter from the start to a prosecutor from another county and that her office had not brought the charges against Murphy, stating, "I cannot and will not comment on Chief Murphy's investigation or indictment, because I do not know anything about it other than what I have read in the news media."

Defense attorneys for the widow of Gershun Freeman, a Shelby County Jail inmate who died in custody in 2022, have subpoenaed Memphis attorney Allan Wade's office in the federal civil lawsuit about Freeman’s death. The Daily Memphian reports that the subpoena seeks written communications, documents and phone calls between Wade’s office and the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office and any of the nine officers who have been charged in Freeman’s death, charges which range from aggravated assault to second-degree murder. Freeman died in October 2022 after an altercation with corrections deputies at the jail, during what his widow’s lawsuit describes as a “mental health crisis.”

A new report released by the nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank Prison Policy Initiative found that Tennessee has the ninth-highest incarceration rate in the world based on population if each U.S. state were considered its own country, according to the Tennessee Lookout. Tennessee has more than 55,000 people in local jails or state and federal prisons. Seven other states, mainly in the South, and El Salvador are the only places that have higher rates of people in jails or prisons. The report analyzes prison data from various U.S. counties, states and other countries, using population data to find which ones have the most people incarcerated. Read the full report here.