A new Tennessee Inmate Disciplinary Oversight Board is taking shape two years after it was formed in the wake of the abduction and murder of Memphis school teacher Eliza Fletcher. The state legislature created the board in 2022 in response to the murder, alleged to have been committed by Cleotha Abston, who had been released from prison in 2020 after serving 19 years of a 24-year sentence for kidnapping and robbery. The board, modeled after the state's Board of Parole, will review sentence credits for good behavior and determine if credits should be revoked for infractions. Previously, each county reviewed these issues without state oversight. The nine-member board will be chaired by Vanessa Murtaugh, who previously was a prosecutor in the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office. According to the Daily Memphian, while some legislators see this as a step towards preventing similar tragedies, others question the board's $2 million annual cost and qualifications of its members.

In a reversal of policy, the Tennessee Department of Health is now allowing public health clinics to provide birth control and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing to unaccompanied teens, citing exceptions to a new state law requiring parental consent for most health care. According to the Tennessee Lookout, the department previously interpreted the law to include sexual health services. However, Tennessee law already allows minors 14 and older to access confidential disease testing and birth control without parental consent. The revised guidance applies only to sexual health services, and all other primary care still requires parental consent. Health advocates welcomed the change but some some lawmakers say there are still concerned about the broader impact and potential unintended consequences of the law, according to the Lookout.

Hemp growers are suing the Tennessee Department of Agriculture over recently enacted emergency rules impacting hemp production and sales. According to WKRN, the growers argue that the department circumvented standard rule-making procedures by implementing the rules without public input. They also claim the rules violate state law and should be declared void. According to the station, the lawsuit highlights the department's failure to meet deadlines for rule-making and inconsistencies in enforcement timelines. The growers are seeking a court order to prevent enforcement of the emergency rules.

This week, the Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated four lawyers who had been suspended for failing to complete annual continuing legal education requirements, including one in 2021 and three in 2023.

The Division of State Audit in the Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury on Sept. 5 issued its performance audit report of the Tennessee Court System, which evaluated the "effectiveness and efficiency" of the current system of indigent representation, as well as other court programs. The audit recognized that Tennessee, "like many other states," continues to face obstacles, and recommended that the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) "continue to work with the Supreme Court, the governor and the state legislature to ensure all citizens are afforded their constitutional or statutory right to legal counsel." The report discusses the need to address capacity issues and compensation of lawyers who take these difficult cases. The TBA remains committed to working with stakeholders to secure additional resources to address these issues. Read more about the report.

The race for Elizabethton municipal judge is shaping up to be the third rematch between Municipal Judge Jason Lee Holly and Teresa Murray Smith, who held the post for three months in 2020 and was the city’s first female judge. The Elizabethton Star looks at the candidates, the history of their service and Smith’s reasons for entering the race this year.

The State Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission recently announced that Crossville lawyer Hayden T. Shadden was named its new general counsel. Shadden graduated from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in 2020 and previously was in private practice focusing on civil litigation, mergers and acquisitions, employment law and estate planning/taxation. The commission is composed of 11 volunteer members who recommend textbooks and instructional materials to the State Board of Education and hear challenges to public school library books and materials.

This week, in a letter to Congress, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and 41 attorneys general called on lawmakers to pass legislation authorizing a U.S. Surgeon General warning on all algorithm-driven social media platforms. The group cites research that links young people’s use of such platforms to psychological harm, including depression, anxiety and even suicidal thoughts. They also note how platforms feature “irresistible algorithmic recommendations, infinite scrolling and a constant stream of notifications” to keep kids engaged “even at the expense of taking breaks, engaging in other activities or sleeping.” Read more in a release. Last year, Skrmetti joined a nationwide effort to sue Meta alleging many of the same harms.

Shelby County Chancellor Melanie Taylor Jefferson ruled Wednesday that gun control questions can appear on the November ballot, the Daily Memphian reports. Taylor Jefferson agreed with the Memphis City Council’s private attorney that state claims that the referendums are preempted by state gun laws were “not ripe” because the referendums are just proposals, and no amendments have yet been made to the city charter. The Memphis City Council approved the ballot measures in July but the Shelby County Election Commission ruled they would not be added to the ballot based on guidance from state officials. The council then sued the commission.

After about 13 hours of arguments over two days, a jury has been empaneled in the Tyre Nichols federal criminal case, according to the Commercial Appeal. Opening arguments also have been made in a trial that will determine whether or not former Memphis police officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith Jr. are guilty of violating Nichols' civil rights during a beating after a Jan. 7, 2023 traffic stop. Two other former officers, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., pleaded guilty before the trial to using excessive force and conspiracy to witness tamper. A number of witnesses also took the stand yesterday, including a police department trainer and the nurse who admitted Nichols to the hospital. Read more in the Daily Memphian.