Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Chris Craft will retire July 1, according to the Daily Memphian. In a letter notifying Gov. Bill Lee of the decision, Craft said, “It has been an honor to have been entrusted by the citizens of Shelby County with the responsibility of serving in this capacity for the last 32 years.” Craft first took the bench in 1994. Prior to that, he worked in private practice and as a prosecutor with the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office. For more than 30 years he served on the Tennessee Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions Committee, including more than 20 years as chair. He also served as president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference and as chair of the state board responsible for handling ethics complaints against judges. Craft received the TBA’s Justice Frank F. Drowota III Award in 2025 for his leadership in judicial education, ethics and professional well-being.

TBA’s Legislative Updates podcast is new this week with attorneys and TBA lobbyists Berkley Schwarz with Pier Strategies and Brad Lampley of Adams & Reese. This week they discussed SB1958/HB1971, a sovereign immunity bill; SB1731/HB1791, an interlocutory appeals bill; and SB609/HB590, which covers parental contact rights. Tune in to the podcast on the TBA website or through this link.

Belmont University College of Law alumna Sarah Ingalls was admitted to the bar of the U.S Supreme Court last November, a rare early-career milestone achieved just six years after earning her law degree. Ingalls, now an associate at Thompson Burton in Nashville, worked on a case that reached the nation’s highest court, which agrees to review fewer than 1% of the roughly 8,000 petitions it receives each term. A former journalist who enrolled at Belmont Law in 2017, Ingalls gained experience through moot court and judicial clerkships before joining the firm after graduation, where she focuses on complex commercial and appellate litigation. She traveled to Washington, D.C. to observe veteran Supreme Court advocate Lisa Blatt present oral arguments in the case and was admitted to the Supreme Court bar under Blatt’s mentorship, allowing her to argue before the court in the future. Belmont University has more on Ingalls’ story.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee is asking a federal appeals court to revive a lawsuit filed on behalf of Blount Pride, alleging the group’s First Amendment rights were violated after the Blount County District Attorney’s Office warned organizers they could face prosecution over certain acts at the group’s 2023 festival. According to WBIR, District Attorney Ryan Desmond said his office would prosecute organizers if “adult cabaret” performances occurred, citing Tennessee’s Adult Entertainment Act, which prohibits performances on public property or where minors can view them if they are deemed harmful to minors. The ACLU sued Desmond and Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp in federal court, and U.S. District Judge J. Ronnie Greer issued a temporary order blocking enforcement of the law before later dismissing the case. On Feb. 19, the ACLU announced it had filed an appeal with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that Desmond and Crisp violated Blount Pride’s free speech rights by threatening enforcement tied to a drag performance advertised for the event.

A federal court on Feb. 12 dismissed a desegregation case that has held Dyersburg City Schools accountable to federal monitoring for nearly 60 years. The United States sued the West Tennessee district in 1966, alleging it violated the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by maintaining a dual school system of separate schools for white students staffed by white personnel and a 12-grade school for Black students staffed by Black personnel, the Tennessee Lookout reports. After the district reneged in 1967 on a plan to integrate students into previously white-only schools, the court approved a new plan and oversaw its implementation. In an order dismissing the case, Chief U.S. District Judge Sheryl H. Lipman wrote that the district had “complied in good faith with the desegregation decree since it was entered.” The dismissal followed a joint motion filed in February by the U.S. government and the Dyersburg City Board of Education asking the court to declare the district no longer intentionally segregates students by race.

Attorneys in the civil lawsuit stemming from the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols were in court this week, arguing a motion to split up the trial for the parties involved in the case. According to the Commercial Appeal, the motion involves whether to split the trial into two proceedings, one against the city of Memphis and another against the five former Memphis police officers who were criminally charged, along with two officers who were not charged. Lawyers for Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, said that if the motion to split up is granted, they would dismiss claims against Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis, whose involvement has been on hold while the city appeals her qualified immunity status, a move that would allow plaintiffs to depose her. The judge overseeing the case did not rule on bifurcating the case, but agreed to leave the current trial date of Nov. 9 in place.

The American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates adopted almost 30 policy matters on a wide variety of issues when it met during the 2026 ABA Midyear Meeting in San Antonio earlier this month. The resolutions address judicial independence and safety, executive-branch integrity, military involvement in domestic matters, immigration enforcement, Medicaid protections, and improvements to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Key measures included opposing violence against the judiciary, calling for safeguarding the independence of the U.S. Department of Justice, limiting domestic use of military and National Guard forces, and reinforcing due-process protections in Medicaid administration. Additional resolutions supported bar-exam reforms, protections against misuse of generative AI, and efforts to foster open and civil debate within the legal profession. Read more in a press release.

As part of its ongoing effort to gather feedback from Tennessee attorneys on the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Sept. 16 order seeking public comment on seven areas of potential regulatory changes to the legal profession, the TBA’s Legal Access and Regulatory Reform Task Force is hosting a series of virtual town halls. Monday's event will start at noon CDT and focus on ABA Accreditation; Thursday's session will also begin at noon CST and cover Interstate Mobility and Reciprocity. There is no cost to attend but registration is required to receive the meeting link. Attorneys also are encouraged to review the TBA’s Legal Access & Regulatory Reform resource page before attending.

Judge Zachary R. Walden will serve as the TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) president in 2028-2029. His election to the post was uncontested. After taking office as vice president at this summer's TBA Convention, Walden will become president-elect in June 2027 and president in June 2028. He has served as YLD secretary; YLD East Tennessee governor; Mock Trial chair, vice chair and long-range planning chair; Rural Judicial Fellowship co-chair; and member of the TBALL class of 2025. He earned his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law and presides over the 8th Judicial District Criminal Court, Recovery Court and Veterans Treatment Court. Walden has been recognized with the American Bar Association’s On the Rise Award, Knoxville News Sentinel’s 40 Under 40 and the University of Alabama School of Law’s Rising Young Lawyer Award.

The Tennessee Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the Attorney General’s Office to take up a case involving a lawsuit challenging the state’s abortion ban, meaning the case is now likely to go to trial, the Nashville Banner reports. The plaintiffs in the initial lawsuit included several women who suffered medical complications during their pregnancies but were unable to receive medical care and doctors who were unable to give care under the law. The plaintiffs initially sued the state in September 2023. In October 2024, a three-judge panel ruled the state could not discipline doctors for giving medically necessary abortions. In October 2025, a three-judge panel declined to dismiss the suit. A two-week non-jury trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on April 27.