New court records show the City of Memphis is denying or objecting to several claims in a negligence lawsuit filed against them by rape victim Alicia Franklin. In the 25-page document filed yesterday, attorneys for the city object to the claim that the abduction and murder of jogger Eliza Fletcher could have been avoided if police had properly investigated Franklin’s 2021 rape. In the new filing, called an answer to the plaintiff’s request for admissions, the city admits it didn’t dust for fingerprints at the Franklin scene, didn’t seek to interrogate the alleged rapist and murderer Cleotha Abston and didn’t request expedited DNA testing. The Daily Memphian has the full story.

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper last week announced that a bill to name a Nashville post office after late state Sen. Thelma Harper had cleared the House and Senate and was headed to President Joe Biden’s desk. Harper was a Nashville Democrat who became the first African-American woman elected to the state Senate. She died in April 2021 at the age of 80. According to the White House, Biden signed off on the bill today and the U.S. post office at 2245 Rosa L Parks Blvd. has been renamed as the Thelma Harper Post Office Building.  

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti last week joined 13 state attorneys general in calling on U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the U.S. Department of Justice to speak out against threats posed by foreign third-party litigation funding (TPLF). The coalition penned a letter to Garland expressing significant concern over foreign adversaries leveraging the U.S. judicial system to undermine the nation’s interests. They’re asking Garland to communicate what steps are being taken to preserve the independence of the court system and protect the U.S. against hostile foreign entities. Read more from the Attorney General’s Office.

Shelby County Pretrial Services has expanded its simple summons program, which sends defendants text message reminders about their court dates, the Commercial Appeal reports. All defendants released from custody pending court disposition are placed in the program if they provide a valid cellphone number. Before the program’s 2021 pilot, 73% of those eligible showed up for their court dates. As of this month, that number has risen to 97%. Pretrial services is now looking to add new features to the text messaging service, like allowing defendants to text back with questions that would be answered by staff.   

Disability Rights Tennessee has released a new report with recommendations on fixing the “broken youth justice system” at the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, Nashville’s WKRN reports.  The 17-page report's key recommendation proposes a "families not facilities" framework as the most successful and cost-effective way to prevent children from getting into the youth justice system in the first place—and to rehabilitate those already there. According to WPLN, the report gives six recommendations, including addressing racial and geographic disparities, creating community-based mental health services for youth and families, stopping the transfers of youth to the adult criminal justice system and more. Read the report.

Nashville firefighter Joshua Lipscomb is set to receive a $450,000 settlement after he was suspended from his city job for calling Nashville Council members “white supremacists” in a social media post, the Tennessean reports. Lipscomb was suspended for 16 days after a Nashville Fire Department panel determined his post violated policy. He then filed suit against the fire department in August, claiming the suspension was an unconstitutional restriction of his right to free speech. Lipscomb was represented by Tricia Herzfeld of Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings and Nashville civil rights attorney Abby Rubenfeld of Rubenfeld Law Office. “You don’t give up your rights to free speech just because you work for the government,” Herzfeld said in a release. Per the conditions of the settlement, Lipscomb must resign from his job, and the fire department policies at issue in the suit have been changed.  

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said yesterday that the decision on whether to file charges against police officers who shoot someone will no longer be made by assistant district attorneys, the Commercial Appeal reports. Instead, that decision will now fall to the county’s new Justice Review Unit – an independent body assembled to look at previous convictions and sentences to make sure they were correct and justly given. Mulroy announced the change during a speech marking his first 100 days in office. Mulroy also rebuked the idea that the Shelby County justice system is a “revolving door” during the speech, citing longer prison sentences and more juveniles tried in adult court as causes of people being repeat offenders.

Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon G. Lee recently presented awards to employees in the Tennessee Appellate Court’s Eastern Division for their years of service. The following employees were recognized: Missy McConkey, 25 years; Renee Hammond, 20 years; Jennifer Rosser, 15 years; Sally Goade, Tammy Capps and Rebekah Bradley, 10 years; and Daniel Parkhurst, Amy Sosinski and Lilas Taslimi, 5 years. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more pictures.

Throw on your best holiday sweater, grab some eggnog and settle in for a special holiday episode of the TBA BarBuzz podcast! Nashville attorney Courtney Leyes of Fisher Phillips co-hosts this month’s episode to discuss upcoming events at the TBA, legal news and special holiday traditions. BarBuzz is part of the TBA Podcast Network and is available on the TBA’s website or wherever you listen to podcasts.

The last of the so-called T-14 law schools has made its decision about participating in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, Law.com reports. The University of Virginia School of Law will also boycott participation in the process. A number of other schools also have announced they will follow suit. These include Campbell University Law School, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, NYU School of Law and University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law. Law.com reports on each of these. (Subscription required)