The University of Tennessee (UT) at Knoxville has cut ties with the China Scholarship Council after the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party urged administrators to assess security concerns, Knox News reports. The program funds study abroad scholarships for Chinese college students. UT Provost John Zomchick sent a letter of termination July 10, ending an agreement the institutions signed in 2024. UT said the agreement was not an “enforceable legal document.” In a July 8 letter, the committee called the program a tool for advancing China’s military and scientific goals. The university is now assessing the decision's impact on three students enrolled in the program. Six other U.S. universities received similar warnings. The University of North Texas previously ended its partnership with the group in 2020.

The man accused of carrying out a Memphis shooting spree in 2022 is set to go to trial early next year.  According to the Daily Memphian, Ezekiel Kelly's trial will begin on Feb. 9, 2026. Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Jones Jr. set the date during a preliminary court hearing Tuesday. Kelly, who is facing the death penalty, is accused of killing three people and wounding three others in multiple shootings that created crime scenes across the city. He originally was set to go to trial last week, but that date was delayed in May after Kelly’s attorney argued he needed more time to prepare. The attorney also said he plans to file a motion to have an out-of-town jury try the case. Kelly is scheduled to return to court Sept. 16, which also will be the last day he can plead guilty before trial.

Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Robert E. McGuire on July 18 announced that the U.S. has reached an agreement with Knights Inn Nashville to resolve allegations the hotel violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The hotel is alleged to have refused to allow a family with a service animal to stay because it was against hotel policy. As part of the settlement, the hotel has agreed to post a large sign in a conspicuous area accessible by the public that reads “Service Animals Welcome.” The owner of the hotel also will establish and implement a written policy specifically addressing the provision of services to individuals with disabilities who require a service animal for all hotels that he owns, and will provide ADA training to all hotel staff who have contact with guests. Read more.

The Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR) reportedly has dismissed an ethics complaint against Nashville attorney Cynthia Sherwood, who represents former House Speaker Glen Casada’s ex-chief of staff, Cade Cothren. The complaint, filed by the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance, alleged misconduct after a private investigator working for Sherwood visited the home of Bill Young, the registry’s executive director. Sherwood, who called the complaint "frivolous," provided the Tennessee Lookout with a copy of the BPR's confidential letter. The BPR has not made the decision public, pending an opinion from the Attorney General’s Office. Resolution of the complaint comes as Cothren and Casada, both convicted of federal bribery charges, are seeking new trials. In addition, the registery said it would revive a 2020 request for a criminal investigation into Cothren and the Faith Family Freedom Fund PAC based on new evidence from the trials.

The U.S. Department of Justice and Kilmar Abrego Garcia's lawyers agreed to keep Abrego Garcia in U.S. custody in Tennessee for 30 days if the court denies the government's motion to revoke his bond, again delaying his transfer to immigration authorities. Fox 17 News reports that Abrego Garcia's lawyers requested the delay to assess legal options amid potential deportation. The government did not oppose, noting it would not impact trial preparations or the current January 2026 trial date.

The Trump administration on Monday released over 240,000 pages of FBI surveillance records on Martin Luther King Jr., despite opposition from his family and civil rights groups who called for empathy and historical context in reviewing them. King’s two living children, Martin III and Bernice, reiterated in a statement their belief that James Earl Ray was not solely responsible for their father's assassination and emphasized the FBI’s efforts under J. Edgar Hoover to discredit King and the Civil Rights Movement. While the release was framed by officials as a step toward transparency, critics — including civil rights leaders — view it as a political distraction. The files, which were intended to be sealed until 2027 and were unsealed early by court order, are expected to offer researchers new material, though it remains unclear whether they will shed significant new light on King’s life, work or death. The Associated Press has the story.

Last week, committees in both chambers of Congress voted on appropriations legislation that includes varying levels of funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee included $566 million in LSC funding as part of its Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies FY 2026 Appropriation, according to a press release from LSC. This represents a $6 million increase from FY 2025's $560 million appropriation. Earlier in the week, an appropriations subcommittee in the House of Representatives included $300 million in funding in its version of the legislation. That funding represents a 46% cut from LSC’s FY 2025 level. The full Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider the bill on Thursday. Neither bill follows the White House’s May 30 proposal, which included $21 million for an "orderly closeout" of LSC. Read more from Bloomberg Law.

The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) on Monday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review a federal judge’s order that struck down a presidential executive order targeting the law firm of Jenner & Block. The firm sued over the order in March. Judge John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found the order violated the firm’s First Amendment rights by retaliating against Jenner for its work in court and ties to certain lawyers. Bloomberg Law has more on the development.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee recently announced that Alec Richardson will depart the governor’s office at the end of the month after serving for nearly seven years in multiple roles, including his most recent position of senior advisor and director of external affairs. Richardson will transition to the role of state director for U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty. As one of the longest-serving members of Lee’s team, Richardson played an instrumental role in achieving the governor’s agenda to champion rural advancement through the creation of the Governor’s Rural Opportunity Summit. "Alec’s passion for rural Tennessee has contributed greatly to our administration’s work to expand opportunity across economically distressed and at-risk counties, and I am grateful that Tennesseans will continue to benefit from his leadership in a new role," Lee said. Casey Sellers has been appointed to serve as senior advisor to the governor, in addition to her current role as director of communications and a member of Lee’s cabinet. Read more in a press release from the governor's office.

The federal trial for Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. — who has been accused of involvement in a county grant scheme — is now scheduled for January 2026.  Commissioner Lynn Crum, who is representing the government in the case, said the trial is expected to last two weeks. According to The Commercial Appeal, Ford’s attorney said in court Tuesday that there is still “lots to go through” in the discovery process. The government turned over thousands of pages of evidence and hundreds of gigabytes of data in March. Ford, who was federally charged with bribery and tax evasion, was placed on leave from his job with the city of Memphis in March.