The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments has sent the names of three attorneys to Gov. Bill Lee to be considered for the Court of Appeals Middle Section vacancy. Alexander Stuart Rieger, Joycelyn A. Stevenson and Jeffrey Usman were selected from five candidates following public interviews with the council. Read more on each applicant from the Administrative Office of the Courts or watch a recording of the interviews on the AOC’s YouTube page.

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance yesterday voted to send its investigation of former House Speaker Glen Casada, R-Franklin, and former Casada chief of staff Cade Cothren to Williamson County prosecutors, the Tennessee Journal reports. The vote comes after former Rep. Robin Smith, R-Hixson, pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud for her role in a political consulting kickback scheme in which Casada and Cothren are also implicated. The vote will also send the registry’s probe of the Faith Family Freedom Fund PAC to prosecutors. The PAC’s treasurer, a former girlfriend of Cothren, testified in January that she had created the group at Cothren’s behest, but had no further role in its activities. The PAC then lobbed attacks at former Rep. Rick Tillis, R-Lewisburg, during his unsuccessful re-election bid in 2020. According to the Associated Press, Cothren has told the registry he’ll invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and won’t abide by a subpoena. Casada told the registry he was not involved with the PAC.  

The Chattanooga branch of the NAACP is calling on Hamilton County district attorney candidate Coty Wamp to apologize for comments she made during a women’s group meeting, the Chattanoogan reports. Speaking to the Tennessee Valley Republican women on Tuesday, Wamp remarked that she does not support the NAACP, saying that, in addition to listing how many Black people are shot by police each year, it should list “how many African Americans are shot by African Americans” or “how many police officers are shot by anybody…” to its website. Local Branch President Rev. Ann Jones Pierre on Friday said Wamp "does not understand the purpose of the NAACP and should apologize for misleading the public.”

Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R- Oak Ridge, says he will not support a new anti-abortion bill because it would conflict with the state’s “heartbeat” abortion ban currently making its way through federal court, the Tennessean reports. The new measure, House Bill 2779, would ban almost all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest. It would also allow private citizens to bring civil action against abortion providers for “each abortion that the defendant performed.” McNally said the new bill could “complicate” the state’s current abortion law. Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, said the new legislation could “really upend the current tort system of law.” A House subcommittee has approved the new bill, and it will be heard by a full House committee next week. McNally says he hopes it will not advance in the Senate.

Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Martin today announced he will run in the Republican primary for the vacant state House District 26 seat, the Chattanoogan reports. Martin served on the Hamilton County School Board from 2012 until 2016 when he was elected to the Board of Commissioners. “Over the past 10 years of public service, I’ve learned many things which will help me represent the voters of House District 26, such as balancing a budget, making hard decisions about competing priorities and working towards one goal – what is best for the people I represent,” Martin said in a statement. Former Rep. Robin Smith vacated the House District 26 seat following her indictment on federal wire fraud charges.

Congress has approved a $1.5 trillion spending plan that includes a 6.1% boost in funding for federal judiciary security, Reuters reports. A total of $704.8 million was allotted for court security. Included in the funding is money for the creation of a program aimed at identifying and pursuing the voluntary removal of judges' personal information from the internet. The judiciary is also seeking approval of the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, which would allow federal judges to redact personal information on government websites and bar people and businesses from publishing such information online if written requests are made not to do so. The measure is named after the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered in an attack at the New Jersey judge’s home in 2020 by a disgruntled lawyer.  

U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Bernice Bouie Donald is the featured guest on a new podcast episode from Littler Mendelson. Littler’s Inclusion, Equity & Diversity podcast series is hosted by Littler Principal Cindy-Ann Thomas, who talks with Donald about President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court. Donald reflects on lessons from her own personal journey as a pioneer in U.S. judicial history, why diversity of SCOTUS is so important, why Black women have not equally benefitted from women’s movements and much more. Read more and stream the podcast on Littler’s website.

Former Nissan U.S. executive and Williamson County resident Greg Kelly yesterday returned to Tennessee after a nearly four-year legal battle, the Nashville Post reports. A Japanese court found Kelly guilty of underreporting pay for his former boss, Carlos Ghosn. He was acquitted of several other charges. He was allowed to return home to Tennessee following his suspended sentence. Kelly maintains his innocence and plans to appeal the conviction in a Japanese court, arguing that he was targeted by some Nissan executives out of fear of a potential merger with a French company. “This was a case where a trial showed there was no crime,” Kelly said. He was welcomed home by U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty who called Kelly’s situation “very regrettable.”

The Tennessee House yesterday approved a bill that would implement residency requirements for all Republican or Democratic U.S. House or Senate candidates, the Associated Press reports. The legislation would require candidates be state residents for at least three years and residents of the county they would represent for at least one year – the same criteria imposed on state legislative candidates. The bill would only take effect after the November midterm and would not apply to incumbents. The state Senate last month passed a slightly different version of the bill, so both chambers must now decide on which version to adopt. It’s unclear if the legislation is legal under the U.S. Constitution, which says candidates be a citizen for at least seven years, at least 25 years old and an “inhabitant” of the state in which they want to be elected.

Judge Suzanne M. Lockert-Mash has announced she’s running for reelection to the 23rd Judicial District Circuit Court, Division III, the Cheatham County Exchange reports. Lockert-Mash was elected to the bench in 2014. She has presided over criminal, civil, probate and chancery cases throughout the district and is currently the presiding judge of the district’s Drug Court program. Prior to being elected as judge, Lockert-Mash was in private practice before becoming an assistant district attorney in 1990. “Being elected as a Circuit Judge was a great honor for me and a culmination of the hard work I have put in as an attorney in this district. I would like to continue my service to the citizens of this district,” she said.