The Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges today announced its support of efforts to increase the hourly rate of compensation paid to court-appointed attorneys in juvenile court. The Tennessee Supreme Court recently announced its intention to ask the General Assembly for additional funding to increase compensation for court-appointed attorneys in juvenile and criminal cases. Recent news reports from the Tennessean and WSMV have highlighted the challenges courts are facing in finding enough lawyers to take appointed cases. The TBA has long advocated for increased rates and caps for the many court-appointed attorneys who represent the indigent. It remains committed to working with the Supreme Court, the Administrative Office of the Courts, the legislature and Gov. Bill Lee’s administration to create meaningful solutions to this problem.

A Texas judge today ruled that a woman with an alleged non-viable pregnancy can get an abortion, in what her lawyers say is the first such case since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to ban the procedure. Reuters reports that the woman sought a temporary restraining order on Tuesday to prevent Texas from enforcing the state's near-total ban on abortion, saying her continued pregnancy threatened her health and future fertility. Her fetus was diagnosed on Nov. 27 with trisomy 18, a genetic abnormality that usually results in miscarriage, stillbirth or death soon after birth. The state's abortion ban includes a narrow exception to save the mother's life or prevent substantial impairment of a major bodily function.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, The Daily Wire and The Federalist filed a lawsuit in federal court yesterday alleging the U.S. State Department is funding technologies that could censor right-leaning news outlets, Reuters reports. The group argues that the technology being used by the center could "render disfavored press outlets unprofitable," specifically citing funding that went to GDI and NewsGuard. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed in October to hear arguments by two Republican attorneys general alleging the administration suppressed conservative-leaning speech and social media.

A Nashville resident is seeking an expedited ruling by the Tennessee Supreme Court after a special three-judge panel of state court judges found Tennessee state Senate district boundaries to be unconstitutional. Attorneys for Francie Hunt filed a request yesterday, Tennessee Lookout reports. Simultaneously, a West Tennessee resident is appealing the panel’s finding that the House redistricting plan was constitutional. The challenge by Trenton resident Gary Wygant also seeks an expedited ruling. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is opposing both motions. His office says Hunt has no standing to sue, while Wygant fails to show “good cause” to suspend the normal schedule since a new House map is not needed. The panel of state judges gave the General Assembly until Jan. 31 to redraw the Senate lines.

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will lie in repose in the Supreme Court’s Great Hall on Dec. 18 prior to her funeral service the next day, the court announced yesterday. A private ceremony will be held that day at 9:30 a.m. EST. The public is invited to pay respects from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST. The invitation-only funeral service will take place Dec. 19 at the National Cathedral. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to iCivics, a public education program that O’Connor supported during her life.

Megan Barry, the former mayor of Nashville, officially launched a campaign today to unseat U.S. Rep. Mark Green, a Republican from Clarksville who represents the 7th Congressional District. WKRN reports that Barry cited dysfunction in Congress, worsening opioid crisis, rise in gun violence and closure of rural hospitals as reasons for her run. Barry served as the first female mayor of Nashville from 2015-2018, when she resigned from office following news of an affair with a member of her security detail. She pleaded guilty to felony theft of property over $10,000 for using taxpayer funds to conduct the affair and received three years of unsupervised probation and had to pay $11,000 in restitution.

A group of law firms has signed a new pledge to extend diversity efforts to include attorneys with disabilities, Reuters reports. Attorneys with disabilities are underrepresented at U.S. law firms, with just 1.4% identifying as having a disability, according to the National Association for Law Placement. The new Disability Inclusion Commitments calls on firms to remove physical and digital barriers affecting lawyers with disabilities, bolster the hiring of disabled individuals, and conduct annual surveys in which employees can self-identify as disabled. Learn more from Diversity Lab, which will track firms’ progress.

For the first time, more Americans believe the death penalty is administered unfairly than fairly, according to a new Gallup survey. As reported by Axios, the survey showed the lowest level of support for the death penalty since 1972. Tennessee, like many other states, is grappling with how to handle capital punishment. Executions have been on hold for more than a year following a third-party investigation into "operational failures" at the Tennessee Department of Correction. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 29 states have abolished the death penalty or paused executions by executive action.

A previously unnamed Memphis police officer was fired from the Memphis Police Department in February for failing to intervene in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, new records show. Through a public records request, the Commercial Appeal obtained information from the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission that shows Adrian Blakes was fired on Feb. 23, about a month after the first five former officers were fired and charged. According to the paper, the records show that that Blakes lied to investigators about witnessing the beating.

The state has been awarded a federal grant to study the feasibility of establishing Amtrak passenger rail service between Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga and Atlanta, the Nashville Business Journal reports. The $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation initiates development efforts such as preparing a scope, schedule and cost estimate for the route. Chattanooga officials announced their leg of the route yesterday, Chattanoogan.com reports. Memphis officials announced their involvement today.