The U.S. House of Representatives voted today to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to turn over audio recordings of a special counsel interview with Democratic President Joe Biden. The measure passed 216-207 on a party-line vote with one Republican joining Democrats in voting no. Garland is the third attorney general to be held in contempt: both Eric Holder (under President Barack Obama) and Bill Barr (under President Donald Trump) were held in contempt, but the Justice Department did not pursue charges in either case. Reuters has the story.

Circuit Court Judge Michael Dumitru on Tuesday ruled that Demetrus Coonrod, a Chattanooga City Council member representing District 9, lives within her district and can continue to represent it. Chattanoogan.com reports that a residency challenge was made after Coonrod purchased a house in Harrison, but she testified that she lives primarily in District 9. The judge directed the city to reimburse Coonrod's legal bills.

The chair of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance, Hank Fincher, told the Tennessee Journal in a text message that the registry's referral of a collusion complaint to the state attorney general is "very serious." The complaint states the treasurer of the East Tennessee Conservatives 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. The chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger said such referrals "happen all the time," but Fincher maintained that referrals reflect "probable cause" that violations occurred.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law will host the eighth annual Strategic Code Enforcement Management Academy (SCEMA) this Wednesday through Friday. The two-day SCEMA program focuses local teams of government managers, attorneys and community partners on the core principles and practices of strategic code enforcement tailored to the priorities and challenges confronting each team's community. This year, a record 11 cities will take part in the law school-hosted academy, with teams from Memphis; St. Louis, Missouri; Dallas, Texas; Rockford, Illinois; Syracuse, New York; Baltimore, Maryland; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Chandler, Arizona; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Washington, D.C.

Belmont’s College of Law classes 2024 and 2025 received back-to-back 100% pass rates for the fall and spring administration of the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, known as the MPRE. Required by the American Bar Association and administered three times a year by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the MPRE measures a candidate’s knowledge and understanding of established standards related to the professional conduct of lawyers. The exam covers a variety of topics including conflicts of interest, how to handle clients’ money, keeping a client’s confidence and other subjects meant to indicate an individual’s knowledge of rules that govern the profession. Read more in a release from the law school.

A Meigs County woman has filed a federal lawsuit against Judge Casey Stokes, Sheriff Jackie Melton, Probation Officer Carol Petitt and Deputy Ben Christian, reports Chattanoogan.com. The complaint alleges that Stokes saw the woman, Hannah Ashbrook, in the hallway of the Meigs County Courthouse and ordered a drug test without probable cause. Ashbrook's suit says she was taken into a bathroom and given 30 seconds to give a urine sample and the sample was then tossed. According to the complaint, Stokes then entered a judgment that she be held in the jail for 10 days for "contempt" and denied her the right to counsel.

The Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) on May 6 sent a letter to guardians and families of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who live in state-run homes. The letter informed them that the homes would be decommissioned for adults and repurposed to house children in custody of the Department of Children's Services (DCS). “They are using the plight of young people in DCS custody to encourage the conservators and families to get these people to move,” said Zoe Jamail, policy director for Disability Rights Tennessee, which has written its own letter to the families saying they are under no obligation to move their loved ones out of the homes. DIDD officials said in a statement last week that “no one is being evicted from their homes and we have stated that in conversations with family members.” The Tennessee Lookout has the story.

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.