The Trial Court Vacancy Commission will consider 16 applicants for two circuit court judge positions. The commission will meet July 11 in Sevierville to select nominees for a circuit court judge in the 4th Judicial District, which covers Cocke, Grainger, Jefferson and Sevier counties. The applicants are Jeremy D. Ball, Jeremy D. Churchwell, Brad L. Davidson, Jeffery S. Greene, R. Alexander Johnson, Melissa Moore, Adrienne Waters Ogle and Nella R. Vargas. Then on July 17, the commission will consider eight applicants when it meets in Charlotte to select nominees for a circuit court judge in the 23rd Judicial District, which includes Cheatham, Dickson, Houston, Humphreys, and Stewart counties. Those applicants are Jack Arnold, Leonard G. Belmares II, Erin D. Bryson, Marion C. Fordyce, Jennifer F. Noe, David C. Risner, Joshua Turnbow and Talmage M. Woodall. Information on the candidates, plus hearing locations and times, is available at the links above.

The autopsy report on Courtney Wilson, a 19-year-old Memphis man who died while in police custody last year, shows his death was caused by complications of cocaine, methamphetamines and alcohol mixed with heat exhaustion and the contribution of sickle cell trait. The Daily Memphian reports that Ross ran from police officers before he was apprehended and placed in the back of a squad car. Officers noticed he was “out of breath and exhausted from running,” so they called for an ambulance to transport him to the hospital, where he died. District Attorney Steve Mulroy has said his office will not pursue charges against the officers.

The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office is implementing a diversion program for felons charged with unlawful possession of a firearm. District Attorney General Steve Mulroy on Monday told the Daily Memphian that the program will apply to defendants who do not have violent criminal histories and whose gun-related charges are non-violent. The program is part of an effort to address racial disparities in the local criminal justice system. Between 2017 and 2023, Black Memphians were 11.6 times more likely than white citizens to be charged with unlawfully carrying or possessing a weapon, according to data from the Vera Institute of Justice. Mulroy said Monday that although no system will ever be perfect, the goal is to get prosecution numbers closer to Memphis’ racial make-up. The city is 64.4% Black and 26.5% white, according to 2023 Census data.

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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.