Eleven residents of Sumner County have been charged with illegally registering to vote and illegally voting. While performing a routine check of registered voters in the county, officials found 15 individuals who had registered to vote after felony conviction but four of them have since died. District Attorney Ray Whitley says the individuals committed a felony crime when filling out the voter registration form and when voting. “On those papers the question is: Have you ever been convicted of a felony in the state of Tennessee? … And they had apparently checked the box that they were not convicted of any felonies when in fact they were,” said Whitley. Nashville Public Radio has more on the story.

This year's Federal Practice Forum, presented virtually via Zoom, will offer three sessions beginning at 9 a.m. CDT on July 26. Topics will include ADR in federal district court, ramifications of the Chevron decision and more! Be sure to sign up by 8:15 a.m. CDT the morning of the program to receive the link to watch by email.

The TBA’s 2024 Convention gets underway Wednesday with a meeting of the TBA House of Delegates, training for new section chairs and a welcome reception for all attendees. Pre-registration for the event is now closed but those still interested in attending may register on site at TBA Registration, which will be located in Grand Ballroom Salon C on the Mezzanine Level of the Peabody Hotel,  beginning at 1 p.m. CDT Wednesday. Those unable to attend this year’s convention in person are invited to join us for a livestream of the annual Lawyers Luncheon at noon CDT Friday on TBA’s Facebook page. Watch as President Jim Barry closes out his year of leadership, Tennessee lawyers are recognized for their contributions to the profession and TBA President-elect Ed Lanquist Jr. is sworn into office. Questions about this year’s event? Visit the event webpage or email convention@tnbar.org.

A spokesperson with Carter Malone Group, a public relations firm that works for the Shelby County Juvenile Court, told the Daily Memphian that court officials expect the juvenile court building to reopen in July. The building closed "indefinitely" in April while asbestos, mold and lead issues were abated. The Daily Memphian reports that officials are waiting on a formal announcement from Shelby County government about the reopening.

A Celebration of Life service for former Judge R. Leon Jordan will be held June 28 at 10 a.m. CDT in the Howard Baker Jr. Courthouse, 800 Market St., Knoxville 37902. Jordan was confirmed to the federal bench in 1988 and served as senior U.S. district judge from 2001 until late 2023. He died in February at age 89.

Financial disclosures for 2023 from eight of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices were released today. Justice Clarence Thomas listed luxury travel paid for by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow. Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Brett Kavanaugh reported six-figure advances on book deals. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor reported royalty income from their books of $250,000 and nearly $90,000, respectively. Jackson also reported the gift of four Beyonce concert tickets, from Queen Bey herself, valued at more than $900 each. The Associated Press and The Hill have more on the disclosures, which include rental properties, teaching fees and artwork.

State Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, and Rep. Greg Vital, R-Harrison, co-sponsored an appropriation request in Gov. Bill Lee's $52.8 billion budget to secure $200,000 in state funding to support the McNabb Center. The Hamilton County Herald reports that the funds will allow the center to expand into Chattanooga and provide outpatient mental health services for military service members, veterans and their families in southeast Tennessee. “The McNabb Center provides vital mental health resources to those who have served our nation,” Hazlewood says. “This funding will ensure these potentially life-saving services are available to these heroes in Hamilton County.”

A new episode of the NashVillager Podcast from Nashville Public Radio highlights the Tennessee Supreme Court and how it works. Listen to it here.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on Tuesday released its annual report on hate and extremism, reports the Tennessee Lookout. The report, which has been published since 1990, found a record increase in white nationalist and anti-LGBTQ+ groups in the United States last year, documenting 835 active antigovernment groups, up 133 from 2022’s count, and 595 hate groups, an increase of 72 over the previous year’s figure. The report also found that Christian "dominionism" and antisemitism are on the rise. One area in which the report documented a decline is in the militia movement, which diminished after hundreds of prosecutions following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) has announced the hiring of Justin Bailey as general counsel. Bailey was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee from September 2008 to October 2013. He then spent four years as litigation counsel for International Paper, before joining FedEx Freight as a senior attorney in June 2017. In December 2020, he was named senior counsel at FedEx Freight. In April 2022, he was made associate general counsel of compliance at Varsity Spirit. The Commercial Appeal has more.