Car booting will remain largely prohibited in Tennessee after a judge ruled in favor of the state, saying the law restricting the practice benefits the public, WVLT-TV reports. In recent years, multiple booting companies in Middle Tennessee have been accused of operating without licenses and failing to remove boots from vehicles in a timely manner. Concerns about predatory practices prompted the Tennessee General Assembly to pass a law last year making car booting illegal in most situations. One company, Nashville Booting, then sued the state, arguing the law destroyed its business. The judge said that while the law may harm booting companies, it protects the public from reported industry abuses. Current law allows booting only under specific circumstances. New legislation pending this session could ban the practice outright statewide.

The University of Memphis School of Law has launched the Transformative Justice Initiative, a new student organization dedicated to "reimagining justice beyond incarceration, punishment and surveillance." According to the school, the group will serve students interested in movement lawyering, public defense, decarceral legal strategies and building alternatives to the criminal legal system. Through events, panels, workshops and collaborations with advocates and impacted communities, the initiative aims to engage law students, attorneys and others who want to promote a legal system focused on healing, accountability and liberation. Attorneys who want to get involved or learn more can contact Tyler.Foster@memphis.edu or visit the school's website.

Gerald Powers, a Tennessee man sentenced to death 26 years ago, died Saturday while on death row, the Tennessean reports. The official cause of death is pending a medical examiner’s report, but the Tennessee Department of Correction confirmed Powers had advanced metastatic cancer at the time of his death. He was one of 45 male death row inmates housed at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Attorneys with the Federal Public Defender for the Middle District of Tennessee allege that the state failed to provide adequate treatment for Powers' illness. His death comes as Tennessee resumes executions following a five-year pause, with four executions scheduled this year. Powers was not among that group.

Tennessee ranks second in the nation for economic outlook, according to the 18th annual Rich States, Poor States Report from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative organization that drafts model legislation for state governments. The News Herald reports that Tennessee moved up from sixth place in 2024 and 13th in 2023, receiving high marks for its tax policies — including no income or estate taxes — and a minimum wage at the federal level of $7.25 per hour. Tennessee ranked 12th in overall economic performance, with a 76.25% growth in gross domestic product from 2013 to 2023. The state also saw an influx of 405,833 new residents between 2021 and 2023, ranking seventh in population growth.

A federal judge has struck down a U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that capped credit card late fees at $8, after the agency argued the regulation, enacted under the Biden administration, was unlawful. U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman granted a joint request by the CFPB and a coalition of six business and banking groups to vacate the rule, Reuters reports. Pittman agreed the rule violated the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, which allows issuers to charge fees that are "reasonable and proportional to violations." In a March 2024 lawsuit, CFPB was accused of overstepping its authority.

Charles Stephen "Steve" Weaver died April 12 at age 76. In his early years, he was a musician, songwriter, guitar instructor, entertainment agent and a member of several regionally popular groups based in Memphis. After graduating from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in 1977, Weaver relocated to Atlanta and was an assistant professor and director of the Commercial Music/Recording Program at Georgia State University. He began his private practice in 1983, with offices in Memphis and Nashville, moving all offices to Nashville's Music Row in 1995. Weaver was a member of the American Bar Association, Tennessee Bar Association, Nashville Bar Association and Country Music Association, among others. Memorial gifts may be made to Alive Hospice of Nashville or Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue. A private memorial will be scheduled at a later time.

The Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law (LMU Law) hosted its annual Student Public Interest Fellowship (SPIF) Auction in March, raising nearly $20,000 to support students pursuing public interest legal work. The SPIF funds stipends for students interning in public interest roles, helping alleviate financial burdens associated with unpaid or low-paid positions. The funds raised will provide essential financial assistance for students working in roles that serve underrepresented communities, allowing them to gain valuable experience without the hardship of covering travel and living expenses. “The new Student Public Interest Fellowship at LMU Law will help ensure that financial need does not prevent our students who prefer public interest work from seeking out and accepting those opportunities,” said LMU Law Vice President and Dean Matt Lyon. Read more in a press release from the law school.

Houston-based Susman Godfrey is the latest "Big Law" firm to be targeted by an executive order from the Trump administration. The firm represented Dominion Voting Systems in defamation cases related to the 2020 election, according to Reuters. The new executive order suspends any security clearances held by Susman Godfrey's 170 lawyers, restricts access to government buildings and threatens to cancel federal contracts held by firm clients. Bloomberg Law reports that the firm on Monday challenged the executive order, and that today a judge temporarily barred the administration from enforcing the order. In other legal actions, five firms — Kirkland & Ellis, Allen Overy Shearman Sterling, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Latham & Watkins, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft — reached deals with the administration to provide upwards of $600 million in pro bono work. The Hill has more details of those agreements.

The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury is investigating Knox County Trustee Justin Biggs office's high-end hotel expenses and questionable use of county vehicles. Knox News reports that Biggs and his staff incurred $4,716.59 in costs that exceeded the county rate for hotel rooms on 10 trips from August 2023-November 2024 totaling $17,314.58. Trustee staff also have driven county-leased trucks for personal use, according to GPS records obtained by the paper. In the five years of the lease agreement, the trustee's office will pay $397,968 for the trucks, $200,000 more than the cost of vehicles used by other county offices according to the paper. Biggs fired Director of Operations Jason Dobbins after the paper reached out with questions about the investigation, saying in a statement: "Over the past two weeks, [the Comptroller's office's] thorough examination has revealed an unfortunate breach to our policies. Due to this, we have terminated one employee at this point."

As a result of the severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding that began on April 2, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a disaster declaration for the entire state of Tennessee. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) then extended various federal due dates to Nov. 3 for taxpayers located in the disaster area. Consistent with the IRS’s decision to extend federal due dates, the Tennessee Department of Revenue will approve, on a case-by-case basis, extension requests from affected taxpayers who are unable to file returns for Tennessee taxes because of the impact of the storms and flooding beginning on April 2. If the department grants the extension request, it will apply to filing and payment due dates that occur between April 2 and Nov. 3. Affected taxpayers will have until Nov. 3 to file returns and make any payments (including quarterly estimated franchise and excise tax payments) originally due during this period. Read more from the department.