The Immigration Law Section will present its annual forum this Friday at Casa Azafran in Nashville. This is one CLE you want to attend in person! The agenda is packed with speakers from government agencies, but their session will not be recorded or made available later due to government agency policy. Don't miss hearing from representatives from the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) Nashville, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement & Removal Operations, ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), and the USCIS Asylum Office. Other speakers will provide updates on the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program and F-1 and J-1 programs.

Gov. Bill Lee has signed SB2763, a preemption bill that blocks any local Tennessee municipality from passing its own version of an extreme risk protection order or "red flag" law, which could remove guns from individuals deemed a threat. The bill passed in the final days of session, a year after Lee failed to pressure lawmakers into a vote over his version of an extreme risk measure following the Covenant School shooting. The Tennessean has the story.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) along with the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference last week announced they will pay nearly $2.8 billion to settle several antitrust claims that could force schools to share athletics-related revenue with their athletes, reports the AP. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti on Friday released the following statement: "While our case is a little different than House v. NCAA, it seems like by and large we all want the same thing: for the NCAA to follow the law and for our student-athletes to have a clearly defined set of rules that give them a fair share of the revenue they generate. For decades, the NCAA and adjacent entities have made billions of dollars from the tireless work of kids playing sports, while fighting to keep these student-athletes from negotiating market compensation. The NCAA’s behavior has been illegal and unfair, which is why we filed our suit and why a federal judge ruled in our favor and issued a preliminary injunction to stop the NCAA’s illegal behavior. We will run every legal play in the book to protect Tennessee’s student-athletes."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch on Tuesday urged Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts and Utah to stop using juries with fewer than 12 people in some criminal trials as the high court declined to revisit a 50 year old precedent that has allowed them to do so. The court declined to hear an appeal that raised the question of whether the U.S. Constitution bars juries with as few as six people from deciding felony cases. Williams v. Florida was a 1970 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the 6th Amendment does not require 12-member juries. Reuters has more.

State Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Eads, asked Gov. Bill Lee to hire William Bratton, a former two-time New York Police Department commissioner known for his enforcement of petty crimes, to have him study Memphis’ crime problem. In a letter to the governor, Taylor described the city as a "warzone" with a diminishing quality of life, noting that businesses are closing and people are leaving because of the crime rates. The Daily Memphian reports that according to data released last week, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city lost 5,200 residents from 2022 to 2023. Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis, said "Yes, we need to hold criminals accountable, but, more importantly, we need to break the cycle of violence with initiatives that prevent crime before it happens ... This isn’t rocket science. When people’s basic needs are being met and you target illegal guns, crime goes down."

Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, filed a collusion complaint with the Registry of Election Finance against the East Tennessee Conservatives PAC. The Registry has now referred the complaint to the Tennessee Attorney General's Office for investigation. The Tennessee Journal reports that the complaint states the treasurer of the PAC, which has published ads attacking incumbent Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, is also the treasurer for U.S. Rep. Diane Harshbarger, a Kingsport Republican. Harshbarger's son, Bobby, is challenging Lundberg for the District 4 seat.

The TBA’s Court Square Series will be in Cookeville on the afternoon of May 30. The program will include an ethics update with Beverly Sharpe with the Board of Professional Responsibility; a legislative update with Nathan Ridley; and a judicial panel with Circuit Court Judge William Ridley from Crossville and Circuit Court Judge Caroline Knight and Chancellor Ronald Thurman from Cookeville.

Virginia-based IT staffing firm Arthur Grand Technologies Inc. (AGT) has reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Labor (DOL) over a job posting that read "whites only." NPR reports that under the arrangement, AGT will pay a civil penalty of $7,500, along with a total of $31,000 to 31 people who complained about the posting. The company — which is minority-owned and a federal contractor designated as a disadvantaged business — also will be monitored to ensure compliance with anti-discrimination laws. "Arthur Grand Technologies vehemently denies any guilt or wrongdoing in relation to the discriminatory job posting," AGT CEO Sheik Rahmathullah said, adding that the job notice was an "unauthorized posting" by disgruntled employee.

Nashville Metro Arts Executive Director Daniel Singh has agreed to resign after less than two years in the position, reports WPLN. The arts funding agency has been under intense scrutiny over the last several months after it failed to distribute millions of dollars in promised grant funds. Singh’s resignation was approved by the Metro Arts Commission at a specially-called meeting on Friday. In return, he’ll receive a $200,000 settlement payment from the city government, which will prevent Singh from suing Nashville, Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz said during the meeting. Housing activist and former Metro Arts Commission Chair Paulette Coleman has been appointed as interim executive director.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has rejected a request for a hearing on a motion to dissolve a temporary suspension. The court said that Knox County lawyer Mark Steven Graham had failed to establish “good cause” warranting a hearing. Graham was reinstated to the practice of law in January 2022 with the condition that he comply with a Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) monitoring agreement. In May 2022, the court temporarily suspend Graham for noncompliance with his agreement. Graham filed a petition to dissolve the suspension and seek a hearing on the motion arguing that the agreement “terminated by its own terms” with the court’s action in January 2022. The court rejected that argument saying it is “belied by the plain language” of its January 2022 order.