The Tennessee Bar Association is accepting nominations through tomorrow for its Fourth Estate Award, which honors courageous reporting on justice and the law. Nominees must be Tennessee-based journalists who have shown exemplary courage in exercising First Amendment rights in the promotion of public understanding of how the law and our legal system works, or how it should work, as demonstrated by a story or series of related stories published in 2025. Read more about the award in TBA's press release. Submit nominations for the Fourth Estate Award online by April 30. Access the submission form at the link above.

The annual Robert Ballow Excellence in Writing Awards were presented to Nashville School of Law (NSL) 4L students on March 25. Eight students were recognized for their performance in the Rigorous Writing Exercise (RWE) program. The RWE is a project all NSL students embark on as a requirement of graduation. Working with a volunteer mentor from the legal community, students research and write a 15-20 page paper on the topic of their choice. See the list of winners and read their work. The school also named NSL alumna Kate Nyquist as the 2025 Mentor of the Year. The honor is conferred in recognition of a mentor’s exceptional service to the program.

Madison County has received $10 million through the General Assembly's approved budget as an initial investment toward building a West Tennessee Regional Juvenile Justice Center that would serve all West Tennessee counties outside of Shelby County. The planned pre-adjudication facility aims to house and support justice-involved youth in a structured environment emphasizing dignity, early intervention and wraparound rehabilitation services. Local and state leaders celebrated the milestone while acknowledging that the $10 million is just a starting point. Full development will require additional state and regional funding to be secured. WBBJ has the story.

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals is seeking comments on the reappointment of Jimmy Croom, bankruptcy judge for the Western District of Tennessee, to a 14-year term that would begin on March 20, 2027. Members of the bar and the public are invited to submit comments to be considered during the reappointment process. All comments will be kept confidential and should be mailed to Circuit Executive Marc Theriault, 503 Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse, 100 East Fifth St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 or be submitted via email. All comments must be received no later than June 11. Contact the Office of the Circuit Executive at 513-564-7200 for more information. Read the full announcement from the court.

Gov. Bill Lee has appointed lawyer Mark Stapleton of Rogersville to the 3rd Judicial District Circuit Court, the Administrative Office of the Courts announced today. Stapleton fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge William Phillips to the Court of Appeals, effective immediately. Stapleton currently serves as founding attorney at Stapleton Law Office. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Tennessee and his law degree from the Cumberland School of Law. The 3rd Judicial District covers Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins and Greene counties.

Richard Bean, the 85-year-old former superintendent of a Knox County juvenile detention center named for him, has filed a federal lawsuit seeking $5 million from Knox County, County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and Juvenile Court Judge Tim Irwin. Bean alleges his constitutional rights were violated through forced resignation, age discrimination and reputational damage from public statements made by county officials, Knox News reports. The lawsuit claims Irwin and Jacobs conspired against Bean after he fired two employees — a nurse and an IT specialist — who had exposed medical malfeasance at the facility, and that the officials pressured him to rehire those workers before he resigned three days later. Bean says the ordeal cost him lost wages and earning capacity and caused emotional pain and suffering.

A three-judge panel of the Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled that Gov. Bill Lee's October 2025 deployment of the National Guard to Memphis is legal, reversing a judgement from Davidson County Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal. The Commercial Appeal reports that three questions were brought by the state to the appeal: whether plaintiffs invoked an available waiver of the government's immunity (known as sovereign immunity) from being sued, if they have standing and if Lee violated state law in deploying the National Guard to Memphis. According to the Daily Memphian, the panel weighed whether or not the plaintiffs had standing to sue — holding that they did not — and did not address whether Lee's deployment order was legal. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a press release that the ruling "recognizes that an elected official who disagrees with this effort does not have the right to veto the Governor by filing a lawsuit. When elected officials disagree about policy, we resolve that at the ballot box, not the courts." Read the appellate opinion.

A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of a Memphis high school student who had been held in immigration detention since February, finding his continued detention without bond violated his due process rights, the Daily Memphian reports. Yasser Jose Lopez Soza, a junior at Memphis Business Academy, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Feb. 20 while traveling to a school soccer game. In a ruling issued April 23, the court rejected the government’s argument that Lopez Soza could be held without bond as an “applicant for admission” who could be treated for constitutional purposes as if he had been stopped at the border. The judge said that argument was based on a recent ICE policy and not the “plain text” of the law. The judge also noted his lack of criminal history in ordering his release from the West Tennessee Detention Center. Lopez Soza's attorney had filed a habeas corpus petition in March challenging his detention.

Acting Attorney General (AG) Todd Blanche signed an order last week to immediately reclassify state-licensed medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug, according to The Hill. The order would shift state-licensed medical marijuana from a Schedule I drug to Schedule III drug and provide tax relief for licensed operators. The change would not legalize marijuana under federal law but would affect the 40 states that have approved medical marijuana programs. The order also is expected to expedite the process for state-licensed operators to register with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and affirms that cannabis researchers will not face legal repercussions for using state-licensed marijuana. Finally, the order directs the DEA to hold an expedited hearing to fully reschedule marijuana, according to a social media post from Blanche. The DEA plans to hold a hearing on June 29.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board of Directors has selected Mike Skaggs, a former chief operating officer (COO) who retired in 2022, to serve as interim chief executive officer (CEO) for one year, effective immediately, Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. Skaggs will replace CEO Don Moul, who joined TVA in 2021 and recently informed the board of his plan to retire July 1. Skaggs worked for TVA from 1994 until his retirement and oversaw the $4.7 billion completion of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2, which in 2016, became the first nuclear unit to come online in the United States in the 21st century. According to his offer letter, the board and Skaggs may agree to extend his term beyond the initial year.