An investiture ceremony and reception for newly appointed U.S. Magistrate Judge Luke A. Evans of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee took place last Thursday in Nashville. Evans, who was appointed to the bench in February, previously practiced with Evans, Bulloch & Parker and handled criminal defense, civil rights and family law matters across Tennessee. Remarks during the ceremony were delivered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffery S. Frensley and former Federal Public Defender Henry Martin, while TBA President Heidi Barcus represented the TBA. See photo from the event.  

Retired U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla died May 15 at age 79. McCalla was born in Memphis and graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1969. He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army until 1971 and, upon his return, enrolled at Vanderbilt University Law School, where he earned his law degree. McCalla later returned to Memphis and practiced law privately until he was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee by President George H.W. Bush. He was confirmed in 1992 and served as a full-time judge until taking senior status in 2013. Read more about McCalla’s career in the Daily Memphian. A burial liturgy will be held at Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Memphis sometime in June, the church announced.

Several laws affecting Tennessee’s LGBT community were passed this year by the 114th General Assembly. Among the bills were a TennCare ban on gender-affirming care, a gender-transition malpractice liability law, restrictions on health care providers from asking minors about gender identity and the designation of June as “Nuclear Family Month.” The General Assembly passed 10 total LGBT-related laws, eight of which have been signed by Gov. Bill Lee. The remaining two are expected to be signed soon. The Tennessean has more.

This year’s TBA LGBT Forum will take place in person on June 26 at the new Tennessee Bar Association office. Kicking off Pride weekend, the program will offer one dual and two general hours of CLE. Topics include conversion therapy, Chiles v. Salazar, constitutional rights and more. Nashville Metro Council Member at-Large Olivia Hill will also join to discuss her campaign to become the city's first trans council member.

The first 10 registrants will receive a reserved seat on Nashville’s Big Drag Bus for a two-hour tour of the city with LGBT Section leadership and some of the city’s top drag performers! Learn more and register below.

When: Friday, June 26, 10 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. CDT
Where: Tennessee Bar Association, 3010 Poston Ave., Nashville
Drag Bus Tour: 6 – 8 p.m., Tribe

REGISTER NOW

The next legal clinic for veterans in Knoxville will take place June 10 from 9 a.m to 12 p.m. EDT at the Knox County Public Defender's Community Law Office, 1101 Liberty St., Knoxville 37919. This is a general advice clinic sponsored by the Knoxville Bar Association (KBA), KBA Barristers, Legal Aid of East Tennessee, Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law, the University of Tennessee Winston College of Law, the Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office and the local Veterans Affairs office. Attorneys and law students are needed for the in-person clinic. Attorneys also may help clients by phone. Sign up to volunteer.

U.S. appeals court judges in Washington, D.C., yesterday questioned whether President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting four law firms were a defensible use of his authority. Paul Clement, representing the firms, argued the orders violated the First Amendment and the separation of powers clauses of the constitution. Government lawyers argued that law firm decisions to hire attorneys, who in the president’s view had acted improperly, were not constitutionally protected. Four lower courts earlier struck down the orders against Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey as unconstitutional. The orders targeted lawyers’ access to government buildings and security clearances as well as law firm clients’ government contracts. Bloomberg Law reports on the proceeding.

TBA Director of Access to Justice and Strategic Initiatives Chelsea Bennett, along with members of the TBA Access to Justice Committee and representatives from Tennessee legal aid organizations, attended the 2026 Equal Justice Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hosted annually by the American Bar Association and the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, the conference brings together legal services and pro bono advocates from across the country to share developments, strategies and innovations in providing legal services to low-income individuals. Through plenary sessions, workshops, networking opportunities and special programming, the event provided a wide range of learning and sharing experiences for all attendees.

LARSEN, Circuit Judge. Alexandre Ansari was convicted in Michigan state court of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to commit murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. But a review conducted by the local prosecutor’s office later concluded that Ansari was not guilty of the crimes. In response, the state court vacated Ansari’s convictions and sentence pursuant to a stipulated order. Ansari then filed this federal action against Moises Jimenez, the detective who investigated the crimes. Ansari alleged that Jimenez failed to disclose material exculpatory evidence in violation of Ansari’s constitutional rights. A jury found for Ansari and awarded him $10 million in damages. Jimenez now appeals. We AFFIRM.

In April of 2024, the Defendant, Justin James Cruger Wendricks, pleaded guilty to two counts of evading arrest in a motor vehicle, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of resisting arrest, and one count of driving on a suspended license, stipulating to the facts contained in the warrant. The Defendant agreed to a sentence of eight years, suspended to supervised probation after the service of twelve months of incarceration. In September of 2024, the trial court filed a probation violation warrant alleging that the Defendant had absconded. After a hearing, the trial court revoked the Defendant’s probation and ordered him to serve the balance of his sentence in incarceration. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred when it ordered him to serve his sentence in confinement. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Defendant, Scott Bradley Price, was convicted by a Madison County Circuit Court jury of theft of property valued at $2,500 or more but less than $10,000 and was sentenced by the trial court as a Range II offender to eight years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence and argues that the trial court erred in not instructing the jury on unauthorized use of a vehicle as a lesser-included offense. We conclude that the evidence is sufficient to sustain the jury’s verdict. We further conclude that the trial court erred in not instructing the jury on the unauthorized use of a vehicle as a lesser-included offense, but that the failure to charge the lesser-included offense was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because no reasonable jury would have convicted the Defendant of the lesser-included offense under the facts of this case. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.