Memphis attorney and former mayoral candidate Van Turner is asking for a formal investigation “into the practices and procedures” of the Shelby County Election Commission during the Oct. 5 Memphis municipal election, the Commercial Appeal reports. The request is based on a report that an election worker had her car broken into the night before the election, with items stolen including keys to ballot boxes and codes to the mayoral election. Turner also said that another set of keys had earlier gone missing from a downtown office of the election commission. The commission has said the election was not compromised in any way. Turner came in fourth in the race for Memphis mayor, losing to Paul Young.

The rate of violent crime continues to rise in Memphis, with the 83 murders committed in the past three months a 26% increase over the same period last year, the Commercial Appeal reports. Since January there have been 245 murders, a 36% increase from last year. The increase reflects the wider trend of increased violent and property crime reported by the Memphis Police Department. 

The Memphis Bar Association will hold its annual meeting Dec. 7 at the Children’s Museum of Memphis, 2525 Central Ave. The event will begin with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and a program.

The state of Tennessee will apparently not challenge a three-judge panel ruling on a state law that was found to violate the Tennessee Constitution’s Home Rule Amendment, the Nashville Post reports. The law would have lowered the vote threshold necessary to allow for major renovations at the fairgrounds, which would have led to a return of NASCAR racing at the venue. Metro is also challenging a law that cut the size of the Metro Council in half and laws that would add state appointees to the Nashville airport and sports boards.

Corporate bankruptcies in Tennessee have nearly doubled last year’s total and are reaching pre-Covid levels, the Tennessean reports. SmileDirectClub, American Physician Partners and Yellow Corp. are just some of the major companies who have filed for bankruptcy this year.

Legislation passed last year in Tennessee is helping make event ticket pricing more transparent, although some online sellers are not following the spirit of the law, Tennessee Lookout reports. The ticketing transparency bill — sponsored by Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, and Rep. Caleb Hemmer, D-Nashville — was passed in response to growing frustration over the increase in hidden ticket fees on concerts and sporting events. Tennessee Lookout’s review of online sites found Ticketmaster is following the law, while others are still marketing seats at lower prices that get more expensive as the buyer moves toward purchase.

A new report from Just City Court Watch has found a “pattern of low scores in sensitivity and neutrality, raising concerns about the fairness of case adjudications” in Memphis courtrooms. The report also highlights the length of time that cases remain unresolved and the frequency of charge dismissals. The October 2023 Court Watch Report is the culmination of a year of collaboration between Just City and the Public Data Accountability Project. Read more about the study in an email from the group.

Incumbent Franklin Mayor Ken Moore won reelection last night over Alderman Gabrielle Hanson. The race gained national attention as Hanson faced questions about her ties to white supremacists, her criminal record and past statements about the Covenant School shooting. Read more about the race from the Nashville Post and its Williamson County sister publication The News.

The Davidson County District Attorney’s office has announced the hiring of Kevin Kennedy and Eli Cheely as new assistant district attorneys (ADAs). Kennedy, a 2021 graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, will focus on domestic violence cases while Cheely, a graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law, will handle cases in general sessions court. The two were sworn in this week by 20th Judicial District Judge Steve Dozier, according to the Nashville Post.

A bipartisan group of legal experts – including a federal appeals court judge and a former U.S. solicitor general – are throwing their support behind 18-year term limits for U.S. Supreme Court justices, Reuters reports. The 11-member group includes 7th Circuit Judge Diane Wood, a onetime Supreme Court contender herself, along with Harvard Law Professor Charles Fried, who served as U.S. solicitor general under former President Ronald Reagan. Akhil Amar, a constitutional law professor at Yale Law School, also signed on. In a report released by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the group argues that Congress should end life tenure among the justices through statute to reduce partisanship and improve the judiciary’s reputation.