Tensions between community members and the Fayette County School Board have increased as the district continues efforts to push toward dissolving the consent decree that has held the school system accountable to the federal government for integrating public schools since 1965. According to the Tennessee Lookout, an order from U.S. District Court Judge S. Thomas Anderson in 2023 found the school system had worked to eliminate discrimination practices. He revised the consent decree to narrow desegregation obligations to a few remaining areas. Community members who attended school board meetings indicated a lack of trust in the school board’s decision-making processes and consideration of public feedback. Some also criticized the racial makeup of the board as six of the eight members are white, while more than half of the district’s students are Black. Advocates have urged board members to improve communication and public engagement as the district considers its next steps in the federal case.

A woman has filed a $6 million lawsuit against FedEx, alleging she was fired for repeatedly reporting a coworker’s racist comments. The lawsuit was filed in federal court on July 26, with an amended complaint submitted on July 30. According to the Commercial Appeal, Barbara Blake, a Black former security guard, claims she was wrongfully terminated in March 2024 after reporting that a white coworker used racial slurs and made references to police brutality. Blake said she initially reported the comments to her supervisor, who took no action. She says she was twice suspended in retaliation for reporting the behavior and reporting her supervisor’s inaction. The coworker also filed a complaint against Blake. FedEx later fired Blake citing complaints about her conduct and alleged use of threatening language. In a statement to the Commercial Appeal, FedEx said it “is committed to maintaining a workplace that is free from discrimination of any kind.”

The TBA’s Adoption Law Section will host its 2025 Adoption Law Forum on Sept. 19, offering a full day of programming on legislative and case law updates, child development and a judicial panel. The forum will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT at the Tennessee Bankers Association in Nashville. More details about the event and speakers will be announced soon on the TBA website.

A proposal to build a new jail and relocate all criminal and civil justice institutions in Shelby County to the former Firestone plant site in north Memphis recently was presented to the Shelby County Commission. According to the Daily Memphian, the first phase of the estimated $1.3 billion plan would move the county jail and criminal courts from downtown to the 71-acre site. Future phases could include relocating civil and federal courts. The second phase would build new facilities for chancery, circuit, general sessions and probate courts, while the third phase would add the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office training facility, the Mark Luttrell Transition Center, the Shelby County Corrections Facility and the Federal Correctional Institution of Memphis. Kemp Conrad, who presented the proposal, said leaders have met with community advocates and stakeholders over the last seven months to discuss the new site, which could be completed in three years.

Do you want to read a Tennessee Bar Journal article from 30 years ago? Did you miss an issue of TBA Today or a section Connect newsletter? You can access the archives of all TBA publications online. Journal issues going back to 1965 are available as PDFs; TBJ Select, which was launched in 2020, can be viewed as an online publication; nearly 20 years of TBA Today issues are available for viewing; and section Connect newsletter archives are available on each section's homepage in the right hand column under "Group Menu." Log in to your MyTBA account for full access to all of these great publications.

Combining existing law firms into a single business involves a lot of moving parts and personalities. Use this list to make sure you don’t overlook anything important. Find this and more in the Opening a Firm section of TBA’s Law Firm in a Box.

Indiana lawyer Carla Sheree Johnson was reinstated to the practice of law in Tennessee on July 25. She had been placed on inactive status more than five years ago on Dec. 23, 2019. The Board of Professional Responsibility reported that it found the petition for reinstatement to be satisfactory.

California lawyer Emily D. Fulham was reinstated to the practice of law in Tennessee on July 31. She had been placed on inactive status more than five years ago on May 27, 2020. The Board of Professional Responsibility reported that it found the petition for reinstatement to be satisfactory.

Tennessee state Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, has announced that 30 state inmates will be moved from the Shelby County Jail to state facilities this week. That is in addition to 41 inmates who were moved last week, according to Local Memphis. Taylor said he toured the jail earlier this year and was asked by the sheriff’s office to help get a “high number” of state inmates moved to state facilities to cut down on overcrowding. Recent reports have shed light on crowded conditions at the jail.

The city of Chattanooga intends to appeal a judge’s finding that laws were violated during nonpublic meetings on redrawing local voting districts, the Times Free Press reports. According to the paper, the move comes after a judge found that an ad hoc redistricting committee met on three occasions without any public notice or minutes taken. Finding in support of the paper — which had brought suit — the court directed the city council to follow the state’s Open Meetings Act, submit to one year of oversight and write a semiannual report regarding its compliance. The paper is represented by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a nonprofit group focused on First Amendment issues.