A Germantown attorney filed a lawsuit Monday claiming the city failed to fulfill a public records request for documents related to last month’s diesel fuel spill, reports the Commercial Appeal. Residents first reported smelling diesel fuel in their water on July 20. Shortly after, the city issued an alert warning all residents to avoid city tap water. Officials initially said the diesel spill was around 100 gallons but later upgraded to "no more than 300 gallons.”

Julian Mann III, a former chief administrative law judge for North Carolina, today was named chair of the American Bar Association’s Judicial Division. Mann previously served 32 years as the state’s chief administrative law judge and director of the office of administrative hearings. In 2021, Mann received the Friend of the Court Award, the highest award bestowed by the state’s judicial branch, and the Order of the Longleaf Pine, the highest award for state service.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that a law prohibiting users of illegal drugs from owning firearms was unconstitutional, reports Reuters. Citing a landmark 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision, the panel concluded that the original 1968 law violated the defendant's right to "keep and bear arms" under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment.

University of Tennessee College of Law Dean Lonnie Brown has announced three new appointments to the school's leadership team. Michael Higdon, the W. Allen Separk Distinguished Professor of Law, has been named interim associate dean for academic affairs. Teri Baxter, the Williford Gragg Distinguished Professor, will serve as the interim associate dean for faculty development. And Brad Morgan, who joined the college in 2011, was named assistant dean for student affairs. Read more about the new appointees.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has joined a bipartisan coalition of 34 attorneys general in sending a letter to congressional leaders expressing support for legislative proposals included in the Governing Unaccredited Representatives Defrauding (G.U.A.R.D.) Veterans Affairs Benefits Act. The legislation would hold unaccredited and unregulated actors accountable for preying upon veterans who apply for federal VA benefits.

Seven in 10 Black women lawyers have experienced discrimination or bias in the workplace, or personally witnessed it, according to a new survey. Additionally, 47% of the lawyers who participated in the first-ever State of Black Women in the Law 2023 DEIB Assessment Report “feel the burden” of having to educate people on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. And while the majority of Black women lawyers surveyed said their workplace is committed to improving diversity, 66% said they would not stay at their organization for two more years because of a lower-than-average “sense of belonging.” Read more from survey creators Kanarys Inc., the National Bar Institute and the the Women Lawyers Division of the National Bar Association.

The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals yesterday rejected Starbucks' challenge to a ruling requiring the coffee chain to rehire seven employees at a Memphis store who allegedly were fired for supporting a union, Reuters reports. The court said that by firing the workers, Starbucks likely discouraged other employees from exercising their rights under U.S. labor law. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the court is the first appellate decision involving a nationwide campaign that has seen workers at more than 300 Starbucks locations vote to unionize.

The American Bar Association (ABA) has launched a task force aimed at bolstering public trust in elections. The effort will be headed by former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, now a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and former U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals judge J. Michael Luttig. Other task force members include former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, former NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund President Sherrilyn Ifill, conservative commentator Bill Kristol, and the deans of the Yale and Stanford law schools. The 31-member ABA Task Force for American Democracy will look at ways to depoliticize how elections are administered, educate the public on democracy, and try to foster election innovations that address the causes of politicization.

Former state Sen. Brenda Gilmore has joined with a group of Tennessee voters in a lawsuit over Tennessee's newly drawn congressional maps, the Tennessean reports. The group alleges that last year’s redistricting intentionally discriminates against Black voters and dilutes the voting power of communities of color. The lawsuit, filed today in federal court, focuses on efforts to divide Davidson County into three districts and split state Senate District 31 in Shelby County. Organizations supporting the suit include The League of Women Voters of Tennessee, Equity Alliance, African American Clergy Collective of Tennessee and Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has issued a proclamation calling for a special legislative session beginning on Aug. 21 to address public safety. In addition to his previously unveiled proposal to provide authority for courts to issue mental health orders of protection — which would temporarily remove guns from those deemed dangerous to themselves or others — Lee identified 17 other areas for legislative action focusing on the safe storage of firearms, mental health services and school safety policies. House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, has said he would like to see the legislature use the special session to focus on juvenile crime, mentioning bills that would raise the age at which youth can have their records expunged and lowering the age at which they can be tried as adults. WPLN has more on his comments. House Minority Leader Karen Camper, D-Memphis, said she was disappointed with the scope of the special session, saying she was hoping for a "serious discussion about gun reform in Tennessee." The Tennessean has more on reaction from the capitol.