Five Memphis education advocates have filed suit against the Shelby County Board of Education and the district’s chief safety and security officer, alleging their First and 14th Amendment rights have been violated after they were banned from attending school board meetings. The Tennessee Lookout reports that the group, known as the “School Board Five,” was prohibited from school board meetings following a May 9 meeting focused on the search for a new superintendent of Shelby County schools. Banning the group members for an indefinite time period without giving them the opportunity to appeal violates their constitutional rights, lawyers for the group say.

Two main candidates are emerging to succeed the late state Rep. Bill Beck, D-Nashville, who died earlier this month. The Nashville Post reports that former Metro Council Member Anthony Davis could be appointed by the council as soon as next week to temporarily fill the vacancy, a move deemed necessary in the event that a special legislative session on gun control moves forward as planned in August. Davis also will run in the special election to fill the remainder of the term while Nashville organizer Aftyn Behm also has declared her candidacy. The Democratic primary is scheduled for Aug. 3, on the same ballot as the mayoral and Metro Council elections. The general election will be held Sept. 14, when Metro runoffs are scheduled. The qualifying deadline for the race is June 22.

The process of decertifying Memphis police officer Preston Hemphill for his role in the death of Tyre Nichols has been suspended, but he may not serve as an officer in Tennessee in the interim. According to the Daily Memphian, Hemphill, one of the officers involved in the Jan. 7 traffic stop that led to Nichols’ death three days later, appeared before the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (POST) Thursday. The panel was considering decertifying Hemphill at the request of the Memphis Police Department, but put the matter on hold pending completion of a federal investigation.

The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld decades-old federal standards that give preferences to Native Americans and tribal members in the adoption or foster care placement of Native American children, rejecting a challenge that claimed that parts of the law were racially biased against non-Native Americans. Reuters reports that the 7-2 ruling threw out a lower court's decision that had struck down — as a violation of the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law — a requirement that "other Indian families" receive preference in adoption and foster care after members of a child's extended family or tribe members.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law Alumni Chapter will honor five Memphis-area lawyers at its annual Pillars of Excellence event set for Aug. 26 at the Fed Ex Forum. Those receiving awards are: Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen; Robert L. Dinkelspiel, founding member of Dinkelspiel Rasmussen & Mink; Mike McLaren, shareholder at Black McLaren Jones Ryland & Griffee; David Wade, shareholder and director at Martin Tate Morrow & Marston; and Ruby R. Wharton, founder and partner with The Wharton Law Firm. U.S. District Court Judge Phipps McCalla with the Western District of Tennessee will receive the 2023 Friend of the Law School award. The event will start with a reception at 6 p.m. CDT followed by dinner, awards and an after party. Proceeds from the evening will support the law school and student scholarships.

Gov. Bill Lee recently signed a bill that gives dozens of people a chance to be removed from the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry due to a decades-old law regarding HIV exposure. ABC24 in Memphis reports that the bill amends the current law — where potentially exposing someone to HIV was a felony and required people to register as sex offenders — removing the sex offender registry requirement for people convicted of criminal exposure. People will qualify for removal if they do not have any other sex offenses on their record, although there is no clear timeline for how quickly names will be removed.

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday adopted Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 55 – Use of Technology for Court Proceedings. The rule allows the use of teleconferencing, video conferencing and other technology to conduct court proceedings remotely at the discretion of the trial or appellate court. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the court encouraged the use of technology to facilitate remote proceedings, and has since found that parties and courts benefit from remote proceedings, making the pandemic exception a permanent option.

Holland & Knight has announced that Robert Crammig will assume the newly created senior leadership roles of chair and CEO after longtime managing partner Steven Sonberg steps down. A press release from the firm states that the leadership change follows a period of transformational growth at Holland & Knight that has included the firm's combinations with Nashville-based Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis in March 2023, and Texas-based Thompson & Knight in August 2021.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has reinstated a lawsuit brought by former BlueCross employee Heather Smith, who was fired after expressing her objection to being required to take a COVID vaccination. The Chattanoogan reports that the court directed Chancellor Jeffrey Atherton to have further proceedings after he had initially dismissed the case.

The Brennan Center for Justice has released a new report noting that State Reps. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, and Justin Jones, D-Nashville, were the first state or federal lawmakers in more than a century to be expelled for their viewpoints or speaking without permission. According to The Daily Memphian, the report argues that the expulsions of Pearson and Jones were discriminatory, unconstitutional and without recent precedent, and the Tennessee House’s actions, showed “all the hallmarks of suppressing speech based on its viewpoint.”