A federal judge this week heard arguments in a lawsuit seeking to block Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order that allows parents to opt their children out of school mask mandates, the Commercial Appeal reports. The plaintiffs, two Shelby County families with immunocompromised children, told U.S. District Judge Sheryl Halle Lipman that Lee’s order creates an “unreasonably dangerous environment” for medically vulnerable children and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Jim Newsom with the attorney general’s office argued the parents had not yet exhausted the appeal process available for families of children with disabilities. He added the proper route would be to file a complaint with school and district officials and then with the State Department of Education. The state did not call any witnesses. The plaintiffs, represented by Donati Law, brought in two medical experts who spoke of the “higher burden” an unmasked child puts on other kids in the classroom. 

Chancellor Jim Kyle today begins a one-year term as presiding judge for the 30th Judicial District. Prior to joining the judiciary, Kyle represented parts of Shelby County in the Tennessee Senate from 1982 to 2014. The 30th Judicial District covers all of Shelby County.

The TBA Litigation Law Section's annual forum will take place virtually on Sept. 16. The program, produced by Todd Presnell with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings in Nashville, will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. CDT and offer four general CLE credits. Speakers include Tennessee Supreme Court justices Holly Kirby, Sharon Lee and Roger A. Page; Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge W. McBrayer; 30th Judicial District Chancellor Gadson “Will” Perry; and former TBA president and Baker Donelson shareholder George T. “Buck” Lewis III.

Mississippi attorney Phillip Gregory Meek was yesterday disbarred by the Tennessee Supreme Court. He had been disbarred in 2013 by the Supreme Court of Mississippi. In July, the high court entered a notice of reciprocal discipline ordering Meek to inform the court why the discipline imposed in Mississippi should not also be imposed in Tennessee. Meek did not file a response with the court. He must pay court costs and expenses of the Board of Professional Responsibility within 90 days of the order.  

The Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP) will pay a $103,000 civil penalty to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) after an audit uncovered a series of financial reporting issues from the 2016 election cycle, the Nashville Post reports. Regulators found that TNDP improperly reported millions of dollars in contributions and kept lax records on employee time. The FEC accepted a conciliation agreement last month, in which the state party agreed to pay $103,000 over the next eight months. The first proposed fine was $352,000. TNDP Chair Hendrell Remus, who was not head of the party in 2016, said a former compliance contractor was at fault for the issues and that he is putting “processes in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

A new report from Goldman Sachs estimates 750,000 U.S. households will face eviction in the coming months if Congress does not act to address the issue. The report says between 2.5 million and 3.5 million households are delinquent on rent and owe a combined $12 billion to $17 billion to landlords. "The end of the eviction moratorium is likely to result in a sharp and rapid increase in eviction rates in coming months unless Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funding is distributed at a much faster pace or Congress addresses the issue," the report said. About $25 billion in federal aid has been dispersed to state and local governments, but only $4.5 billion has been distributed, according to the report. Nashville’s WSMV has the full story from CNN.

The Metro Nashville Police Department has launched a new dashboard that allows members of the public to view data and information about crime and policing, WPLN reports. The data dashboard features graphs and maps of where crime occurs and how it affects different groups. It also offers a breakdown of the department by race and gender. Police Chief John Drake says the goal is to increase transparency and inform the community. “These first-ever MNPD data dashboards enhance the police department’s transparency and present timely information in an easy-to-understand format that can be accessed on a desktop computer, a tablet or a smartphone on the go,” he said in a statement.

A Shelby County judge today barred the release of a video depicting the fatal shooting of Alvin Motley Jr. at a Memphis Kroger, the Daily Memphian reports. Motley was shot and killed by a security guard at a Kroger Fuel Center after an alleged altercation over loud music. General Sessions Judge Louis Montesi issued a temporary restraining order barring the release of the video until a Sept. 7 hearing. Montesi’s order came shortly after Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk announced his office would release the footage on Friday. Funk was named special prosecutor in the case after Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich recused her office upon learning one of her criminal investigators worked for the same security company as the defendant. There are at least three videos of the shooting: two from private citizens and one from Kroger. Defense attorney Leslie Ballin had previously filed a protective order asking the court to block the video from being made public.

The investiture and swearing-in ceremony for incoming Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Page has been postponed until the fall. Page was elected to the position last week by his colleagues on the high court. He was set to be sworn in by Justice Connie Clark at a small ceremony tomorrow, the same day his term as chief justice begins, but will instead take the oath privately. Page is the first chief justice from rural West Tennessee in 27 years. Former Chief Justice Lyle Reid of Brownsville served in the role from 1990 until 1994. Page succeeds Justice Jeff Bivins, who has served in that role since 2016. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more.

A woman being held at Silverdale Jail, a facility owned by Hamilton County and run through a private third party, gave birth to a child at a local hospital shortly before passing away from apparent COVID-19 complications, the Chattanoogan reports. The Chattanooga Police Department says Morghan Jean Elmore was arrested on Aug. 13 and transported to a local hospital on Aug. 21. Her passing is considered an in-custody death and the Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office has requested the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division conduct an investigation.