The 2022 Equal Justice University will be held Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro. Registration is now open for the conference, which will include 30+ learning sessions, basic skills sessions for those new to specific practice areas or who want to refresh their knowledge base, networking opportunities and presentation of the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Service’s Access to Justice Awards. Get hotel details here.

The Shelby County Election Commission has withdrawn its lawsuit against Shelby County Government, according to Linda Phillips, administrator of elections. The withdrawal comes after the Shelby County Board of Commissioners, whose members were sued, voted to fund new voting machines for the November election. The end of the lawsuit and the upcoming purchase of new voting machines ends a years-long standoff between the majority-Democrat County Commission, which prefers hand-marked paper ballots, and the majority-Republican Election Commission, which prefers ballot-marking devices. The two bodies have clashed in public and private over which method is most cost-effective, least susceptible to hacking and easier to audit, the Commercial Appeal reports.

Former Republican state representative Sheila Butt, now a candidate for Maury County mayor, has been sued for defamation of character by another mayoral candidate, Tennessee Lookout reports. David Baker, a minister and former volunteer chaplain at the Maury County Jail, filed suit Wednesday, alleging Butt defamed him through text messages, knowing the allegations were false. Baker’s attorney submitted as evidence a screenshot of a message allegedly sent by Butt that insinuates Baker was involved in “something about fraud and a man committing suicide.” He argues that the messages damaged Baker’s reputation and standing in the community. Baker and Butt, along with former Maury County Mayor Charlie Norman, are running to replace Mayor Andy Ogles, who is running for the Fifth Congressional District seat.

Memphis Law student Wai-Lin Danieley recently won first place in the American Bar Association’s 2021-22 Mendes Hershman Writing Contest. She will have her piece published in an upcoming issue of the ABA's The Business Lawyer, the school reports.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 today in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that no constitutional right to abortion exists and that previous court rulings in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey were decided in error. The ruling returns the issue of abortion access to the states, where it was decided before the Roe case in 1973. The ruling came in a case challenging a Mississippi law outlawing abortions after 15 weeks. Under Roe, abortions were protected until the “point of fetal viability” or around 24 weeks. In a separate opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts supported the Mississippi law but said he would have preferred a more incremental approach that would not have required overturning Roe outright. In another separate opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas urged the court to use the same logic it used in the Dobbs case to overturn precedents on contraceptives and LGBTQ rights. The court’s three dissenting justices wrote in their opinion that the majority decision means that “from the very moment of fertilization, a woman has no rights to speak of.” The Hill has more on each of these stories.

Under a trigger law previously enacted by the Tennessee legislature, abortions in the state will be banned “within weeks,” Axios Nashville reports. Under the law, performing or attempting to perform an abortion will become a Class C felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Exceptions would be allowed if the pregnancy puts the mother's life in jeopardy or if there is a "serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function." Mental health threats, including the threat of self-harm, would not qualify, and there are no exceptions for rape or incest. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III held a press conference this afternoon to announce he will notify the Tennessee Code Commission in writing that Roe and Casey have been overruled, and has asked the full 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the district court’s injunction of the state’s heartbeat abortion law, so that law can go into effect as soon as possible. Read his full statement.

Gov. Bill Lee has appointed Knoxville attorney Meredith B. Weaver as judge on the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board for the Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC). Weaver is an attorney with Peterson White and has practiced in workers’ compensation and employment law for 18 years. She will replace retiring Judge David Hensely on the Appeals Board. Weaver is a TBA member, a member of the East Tennessee Legal Association of Women and has served on the board of CASA of East Tennessee. She will be sworn in tomorrow. Read more from the BWC. 

Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery today announced that Tennessee, alongside 45 attorneys general, has joined a $1.25 million multistate settlement with Carnival Cruise Line following a 2019 data breach. About 180,000 Carnival employees were impacted by the breach, which included included names, addresses, passport numbers, driver’s license numbers, payment card information, health information and some Social Security numbers. The state will receive $19,855.20 from the settlement. Read more on the story from the AG’s office.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission is now accepting applications for a vacancy on the 6th Judicial District Criminal Court, which covers Knox County. The vacancy was created after the appointment of Judge Kyle A. Hixson to the Court of Criminal Appeals – Eastern Section. Attorneys 30 years of age or older, who have been residents of the state for five years and are currently residents of the 6th Judicial District, can submit the Trial Court Vacancy Commission Application by noon CDT on July 7. Candidates will be publicly interviewed on Aug. 2. Read the vacancy notice.

Gov. Bill Lee has announced he will reappoint David Rausch to serve a second term as director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), the Tennessee Journal reports. Rausch’s new six-year term will begin on July 1 and will expire on June 30, 2028. A U.S. Army veteran, Rausch has been TBI director since 2018. Before that he spent 25 years with the Knoxville Police Department, serving on the SWAT Team and as chief of police for seven years.

The Tennessee Historical Commission last week ruled that Confederate memorabilia inside a Giles County jury deliberation room could be moved to a Maury County museum, the Tennessean reports. The room came into the spotlight in 2020 when a Black man argued in court filings that his conviction by an all-white jury that deliberated in the room violated his right to a fair trial. He was granted a new trial in December. The Confederate items have long been on loan to Giles County from the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), causing the UDC to take the question of their removal to the Historical Commission. The UDC and Giles County filed a joint petition to move the items to the National Confederate Museum in the Elm Springs mansion outside of Columbia. The petition was approved by the commission on Friday.