West Tennessee Legal Services (WTLS) has named Jackson lawyer and former TBA president Jonathan Steen as its new medical legal partnership director. Medical-legal partnerships focus on collaboration among lawyers, physicians, case managers and social workers to address structural barriers that impact health outcomes. Steen joins the nonprofit after more than 30 years of civil legal experience in both trial and appellate courts, most recently with Spragins, Barnett & Cobb PLC. While he was TBA president, Steen established a Medical-Legal Partnership Working Group as part of the TBA’s Access to Justice Committee. Of his new position, Steen says, “I look forward to serving the community through my new role at WTLS in developing and supporting medical-legal partnerships that integrate legal expertise into health care settings to improve the health of those in our community.” Read more in a release from the organization.

Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Anthony Buckner says the doors at the Shelby County Jail began failing in March 2024 and now the facility has 636 that need replacing. Buckner says the project will cost $6.2 million and take two years to complete, the Daily Memphian reports. The doors, which operate on a sliding mechanism, have failed repeatedly throughout the last year, leading to a rise in inmate-on-inmate assaults and assaults against jail staff according to Buckner. He also says that “inmates learned strategies on defeating the doors or taking the doors back offline,” including kicking the doors in certain spots to keep them off their rails. Repairs have started and crews will be working on two pods at a time. The sheriff’s office received funding for door repairs at least twice last year, most recently a $10 million tranche from the Shelby County Commission in September. Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. has repeatedly stated his desire for a new jail, which could cost upwards of $1 billion.

LARSEN, Circuit Judge. Appellant John Hale moved for early termination of supervised release four years and four months into his ten-year term of supervision. The district court denied his motion. For the reasons stated, we VACATE and REMAND for reconsideration of Hale’s motion. We VACATE and REMAND in accordance with this decision.

A Knox County jury convicted Defendant, D’tearius Carvell Southern, of second degree murder, aggravated assault, two counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, tampering with evidence, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Defendant received an effective sentence of twenty-three years to be served in confinement. On appeal, Defendant contends that the evidence was not sufficient to support his conviction for second degree murder and that the trial court erred by declining to instruct the jury that Defendant had no duty to retreat before using deadly force as part of the self-defense instruction. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

A Dyer County jury found the Defendant, Daniel McCaig, guilty of unlawfully possessing methamphetamine and a firearm. The trial court imposed a total effective sentence of twenty-six years to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant asserts that the evidence is legally insufficient to support his convictions. He also argues that the trial court erred by denying his right to represent himself and imposing consecutive sentences. Upon our review, we respectfully disagree and affirm the trial court’s judgments.

Defendant, Kurt Franklin Luna, was convicted after a jury trial of driving without a license, driving an unregistered vehicle, and violation of the financial responsibility law. The trial court sentenced him to serve forty-eight hours in the county jail. On appeal, Defendant raises a variety of claims. After a thorough review of the record, we conclude that Defendant has waived his issues for failure to create an adequate record and failure to comply with the Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Defendant, Detarus Brown, appeals from the Maury County Circuit Court’s order partially denying his motion to correct his sentence, and Defendant contends that the trial court should have treated his motion as a petition for post-conviction relief. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

This appeal concerns whether a railroad employee’s negligence claim brought under the Federal Employers Liability Act, 45 U.S.C. § 51, et seq. (“FELA”) is precluded by the Federal Railroad Safety Act, 49 U.S.C. § 20101, et seq. (“FRSA”). Troy L. Rouzer (“Plaintiff”), a locomotive engineer, sued CSX Transportation, Inc. (“Defendant”) in the Circuit Court for Hamilton County (“the Trial Court”) under FELA for injuries he sustained in a collision. Plaintiff alleged insufficient training. Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that FRSA precludes Plaintiff’s FELA claim. Defendant argued that national uniformity in safety rules requires this result. The Trial Court granted Defendant’s motion. Plaintiff appeals. We hold, inter alia, that in view of the United States Supreme Court’s holding in POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co., 573 U.S. 102, 134 S.Ct. 2228, 189 L.Ed.2d 141 (2014), exemplified in its statement that “[w]hen two statutes complement each other, it would show disregard for the congressional design to hold that Congress nonetheless intended one federal statute to preclude the operation of the other[,]” id. at 115, Plaintiff’s FELA claim is not precluded by FRSA as both federal statutes complement one another toward the goal of rail safety. We, therefore, reverse the Trial Court’s grant of summary judgment to Defendant and remand for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion.

The University of Tennessee College of Law has awarded its Tom & Elizabeth Fox Faculty Award for Service to the Bench & Bar to assistant professor of law Sherley Cruz. The award recognizes a faculty member for significant contributions to the work of national and local bar associations and the judiciary. “Professor Cruz maintains a very close connection to the Bench and Bar,” said Dean Lonnie Brown. “She actively engages practicing lawyers and judges in providing essential pro bono legal services to underserved citizens in our community, while at the same time exposing her students to an unparalleled learning experience.” Cruz explained her drive saying, “My service to the bar is one way for me to give back. My expertise and research can help Tennesseans across the state by influencing the work of lawyers, advocates and community organizers.” Read more in a news release from the school.

In this action filed pursuant to 42 United States Code § 1983, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendant law enforcement officers had violated one plaintiff’s constitutional rights by using excessive force when the officers shot and injured him at the scene of a “road rage” incident that did not involve the injured plaintiff. The defendants subsequently moved for summary judgment, arguing that the officers’ use of deadly force was objectively reasonable under the totality of the circumstances because the injured plaintiff had appeared at the scene of the road rage investigation suddenly and without warning, had approached the officers rapidly, and had been armed with a rifle. Following a hearing, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants and dismissed the action with prejudice, determining, inter alia, that the officers’ use of deadly force had been objectively reasonable. The plaintiffs timely appealed. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm.