The Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation is warning of a scam targeting workers’ compensation claimants, in which individuals falsely pose as judges, attorneys or government officials and request payment in exchange for benefits or claim settlements. According to a press release, scammers may contact victims by phone, email, text or video and use tactics such as spoofed email addresses, fake court documents and fabricated case information to appear legitimate. Officials emphasized that workers should never be asked to pay to receive benefits, as employers — not employees — are responsible for covering medical treatment for workplace injuries, and the bureau does not charge fees or request payments through methods such as gift cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrency. The agency urges individuals to verify suspicious communications through official state channels and report potential scams to law enforcement or the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office.

The Beacon Center of Tennessee has filed a lawsuit in federal court that seeks to repeal a sweeping ban on data centers and cryptocurrency mines that was enacted by Hawkins County late last year. The Beacon Center is representing ExoticRidge, a Kentucky-based cryptocurrency mining company which wants to build an eight megawatt bitcoin mine adjacent to a fractionation plant in the farming community of Bulls Gap, WPLN reports. People who live nearby say they do not want a bitcoin mine next door, fearing the potential for noise pollution and increased energy rates, which led the Hawkins County Commission in September 2025 to pass a resolution banning data center development. The Beacon Center’s complaint alleges Hawkins County has violated the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution and alleges the county discriminated against ExoticRidge based solely on their industry. Crypto mines are a type of data center, which is a group of computers that operate 24/7 to run algorithms, solve equations or store data for internet access.

A Knoxville man has filed a federal lawsuit against the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, alleging he was wrongly arrested and jailed for three days after deputies failed to verify his identity. According to Knox News, Justin Clark was taken into custody in March 2025 on a warrant for another man with the same name, despite differences in middle name, birth date and Social Security number. He also alleges he was without medication for a kidney disease for those days. When jail staff learned of their error Clark was released March 19 and he learned he had lost his job. Clark is suing for false arrest, false imprisonment and violations of his constitutionally guaranteed Fourth and 14th Amendment violations, and is seeking $100,000 in compensatory damages. The lawsuit, originally filed in Knox County Circuit Court in March, was transferred to U.S. District Court last week.

Belmont University has named Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Law Deborah R. Farringer as its next dean of the College of Law, making her the first woman to lead the school, with her appointment effective Aug. 1. Farringer, who joined the faculty in 2013 and has overseen curriculum planning, faculty development and student success initiatives since 2021, succeeds Dean Alberto Gonzales, who has led the law school since 2014. Before entering academia, Farringer practiced health care and regulatory law at Bass, Berry & Sims and served in legal roles at Vanderbilt University, in addition to completing a federal appellate clerkship. According to a press release from the law school, university leaders cited her academic leadership and institutional knowledge as key to continuing the law school’s growth, which has included top bar passage rates and strong employment outcomes for graduates. “I am honored to serve as dean of the Belmont University College of Law,” Farringer said. “Belmont Law has built a strong record of student success and national credibility while remaining grounded in its mission to instill the highest standards of personal and professional conduct. I am grateful to Dean Gonzales for his leadership and look forward to working with our faculty, students, alumni and partners to build on this momentum and lead Belmont Law into its next chapter.”

A new study finds that Nashville’s Eviction Right to Counsel program has delivered significant economic and social benefits, helping hundreds of residents avoid homelessness while generating a positive return on public investment, the Tennessean reports. The program, launched by the Metro Council as a pilot in 2022, provided $2.32 in fiscal impact for every $1 spent on legal representation in 2025, according to the report. The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands and the Nashville Hispanic Bar Association, which administer the program, spent about $1.8 million last year, resulting in an estimated $4.3 million in benefits to Davidson County. Researchers found the program helped approximately 429 people avoid homelessness, reduced crime and job loss linked to housing instability, and allowed clients to achieve a median financial benefit of $7,800.

Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have filed a motion to test DNA evidence they say was not previously examined in the case of Tony Carruthers, a Shelby County man scheduled to be executed next month, the Commercial Appeal reports. Carruthers, who has been on death row since his 1996 conviction in the killings of Marcellos Anderson, Delois Anderson and Frederick Tucker, was largely tied to the crime through witness statements rather than physical evidence, according to court records. The ACLU said untested DNA evidence does not match Carruthers and has not been compared to another potential suspect. The organization is urging testing before the execution, calling it an "irreversible punishment." Carruthers, who represented himself at trial amid documented mental health concerns, also has a separate competency claim pending, while a prior motion to test fingerprints from the crime scene remains unresolved.

Gov. Bill Lee has signed a bill into law that will ease the process of restoring voting rights for those convicted of felony offenses. SB336/HB687 removes a requirement that individuals returning from incarceration pay off all outstanding court fees before seeking voting rights restoration. The law also changes the requirement with regard to paying child support. The new law requires that individuals be compliant with all child support orders for the previous 12 months, including orders related to child support arrearages. The previous law required individuals to be current in all child support obligations. The new law does not change the requirement that court-ordered restitution to victims must be paid before seeking voting rights restoration. Last year, lawmakers decoupled restoration of voting rights from restoration of gun rights. WPLN looks at the history of the previous law and how the changes won bipartisan support.

President Donald Trump has announced plans to nominate former Ohio Solicitor General Benjamin “Ben” Flowers to a seat on the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Flowers is an attorney at Ashbrook Byrne Kresge Flowers LLC in Cincinnati. He previously worked for Jones Day and Sidley Austin. If confirmed, he will fill the seat currently held by Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton, who plans to take senior status on Oct. 1. As solicitor general, Flowers won three cases before the en banc 6th Circuit as well as a challenge to the Biden administration’s COVID vaccine mandate for certain businesses before the U.S. Supreme Court. He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Judge Sandra Ikuta of the 9th Circuit. Bloomberg Law has more on his career.

Tyre Nichols’ mother RowVaughn Wells has requested that Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis be dismissed from a civil lawsuit in an effort to speed the case toward trial, according to the Commercial Appeal. Last month, Chief U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman of the Western District of Tennessee ruled that she will not split the civil case. Attorneys for Wells filed a motion to separate claims against Davis from the broader case and then dismissed her as a party, a move that came one day after Wells sought to dismiss former officers who faced criminal charges related to Nichols’ beating. In both filings, Wells’ attorneys argued that stays tied to those parties have delayed proceedings and that removing them would allow the case to move forward. Attorneys for the city of Memphis have objected to the motions, while attorneys representing the officers did not.

A federal judge has denied a request by Lutheran churches seeking to temporarily block a Tennessee law that makes it a crime to harbor immigrants without legal status, according to the Tennessee Lookout. The 2025 Human Smuggling Act created a felony offense for knowingly transporting or harboring individuals without legal status and a misdemeanor offense for those who “harbor or hide” people in the country illegally. The Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church filed a lawsuit arguing the law forces churches to choose between religious values and the risk of criminal prosecution. U.S. District Judge William Campbell wrote that the law’s text is “plagued by undefined terms, quixotic comma splices and redundancies that render the precise scope of the prohibited conduct less than clear.” But, he concluded there was “no evidence” the law was intended to apply to charitable services cited in the suit. State attorneys have said church leaders and staff would not be prosecuted for providing such services.