A federal judge on Sunday blocked the Biden administration from fully implementing a new rule that would require gun dealers to obtain licenses and conduct background checks when selling firearms at gun shows and online. Amarillo-based Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk temporarily restrained the so-called “gun show loophole” rule from being enforced in Texas or against members of several gun rights groups, Reuters reports. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti recently joined 21 states in a similar suit opposing the new rule. That action was filed in an Arkansas federal court ..read more

The Tennessee Access to Justice Commission’s Justice Bus traveled to McMinnville earlier this month to provide legal advice to local residents. The bus is designed to be a mobile law office that brings technology to rural and underserved communities. Pro Bono Attorney Coordinator Kyle Stack and Justice Bus Coordinator Alyvia Bush, both with the Administrative Office of the Courts, were on hand to oversee the legal clinic, the Southern Standard reports ..read more

The American Bar Association’s (ABA) Council of the Section of Legal Education adopted a new policy statement that urges states to "create diverse pathways to licensure." That move deviates from more than a century of backing the use of bar exams for lawyer licensing, Reuters reports. The bar exam has come under fire in recent years for creating racial disparities in testing outcomes. The new policy statement also calls on states to create licensing structures that “mitigate the disparate exclusion from the profession of racial and ethnic minorities and individuals of low socioeconomic status ..read more

The Shelby County Commission is set to meet with county attorneys in a closed session today to seek legal advice before meeting to consider cuts to vacant positions in the county sheriff’s office, the Daily Memphian reports. Last week, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. said he would sue the commission if it cuts funding for 441 unfilled positions in his budget. Bonner argues that state law prevents the commission from cutting the positions ..read more

A lawsuit filed by a Jewish couple alleging religious discrimination in Tennessee adoption law will now move forward after the Tennessee Supreme Court declined to hear the state's appeal, the Tennessean reports. Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram sued the state arguing they were unconstitutionally discriminated against after a state-funded Christian adoption agency refused to work with them. The case was initially dismissed but an appellate court overturned that ruling. The Supreme Court’s decision not to review the appellate ruling allows the suit to go forward ..read more

A new documentary "STAX: Soulsville U.S.A." tells the story of the rise and fall of the iconic Memphis record label. The four-part series, which will air on HBO, is a “story of groundbreaking music, hard truths and unhappy endings,” according to the Commercial Appeal. Spoiler alert: the series concludes — not with the launch of the Stax Museum (the site of a past TBA Convention event) or the success of the Stax Music Academy or Soulsville Charter School — but with the original studio razed, an empty lot serving as a painful reminder of what once thrived in the heart of South Memphis. “I wanted ..read more

The Nashville government is asking a judge to throw out the remainder of a law that cuts the size of its Metro council in half. Part of that law was invalidated last year by a three-judge panel, which decided the law was enacted too late to go into effect before the 2023 council elections. Attorneys for the city argue that the remaining part of the law cannot work without the blocked element. The state is arguing for the law to be upheld, saying a blanket limit on metro governments should proceed. Tennessee Report has more on the case ..read more

The annual Bench Bar Luncheon will take place June 13 as part of the TBA’s Convention. Lawyers and judges from across the state will gather to recognize judicial service and hear from Memphis lawyer Charles Newman, who served as one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s lawyers during the sanitation workers strike in the spring of 1968. It was the strike that brought King to Memphis, where the day after addressing workers, he was felled by an assassin’s bullet. Also at the lunch, Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Kirby will be recognized with the TBA’s Justice Frank F. Drowota III Outstan ..read more

If you plan to attend the 2024 TBA Convention but have not yet booked your hotel, time is running out! The TBA hotel room block at the historic Peabody Hotel in Memphis will close Wednesday. Book now to take advantage of our special discounted rate ..read more

ABA President Mary Smith is asking the ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence to study the prevalence and impact of bar admission questions that require survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking to disclose their involvement in legal and administrative proceedings. The ABA Journal reports that three U.S. senators raised the issue in a letter to Smith, saying that character and fitness questions on bar applications often require would-be lawyers to disclose whether they have been a party to legal or administrative proceedings. The letter also points out that in some ..read more