Gov. Bill Lee has announced a special legislative session to convene on Jan. 27. The session will focus on advancing his school voucher bill, as well as disaster relief funding and immigration issues, The Tennessean reports. This will be Lee’s seventh special legislative session since taking office in 2019, more than any other governor in state history according to the paper. Lee’s voucher proposal failed last year. A special session, which allows lawmakers to focus solely on topics designated by the governor, could clear the way for the bill’s passage. Regarding immigration issues, the governor’s office said he is asking the General Assembly to consider “public safety” measures to ensure the state is prepared for federal policy implementation. Read the governor's full statement.

Pornhub blocked website visitors in Tennessee on Tuesday after an appellate court allowed a new state age-verification law to go into effect. A message on the site encouraged users to contact their elected representatives. The Protect Tennessee Minors Act requires websites with content deemed harmful to minors to proactively verify that users are 18 or older. After the ruling, an adult industry group leading the legal challenge against the state advised adult businesses that the state could begin enforcing the law immediately, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. The company has said that laws like these are an ineffective, haphazard and dangerous approach to protecting minors, arguing they will force users to more dangerous sites. In related news, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a similar Texas law today. SCOTUSblog looks at those arguments.

KPMG is one step closer to becoming the first of the Big Four accounting firm to open a law firm in the United States, leveraging loosened law firm ownership rules in Arizona and accelerating the accounting industry's push into U.S. legal services, Reuters reports. A new subsidiary, KPMG Law US, persuaded a court committee on Tuesday to recommend approval by the Arizona Supreme Court to practice law in the state. The new unit could give corporate legal departments more options to outsource work and could also serve clients outside of Arizona. The full court will weigh KPMG’s bid on Jan. 28.

Knox County District Attorney Charme Allen on Monday announced that two Knoxville police officers were justified in the shooting of Christopher Arons in late 2024 after Arons charged at them holding an axe. According to KnoxNews, Allen wrote that she had reviewed evidence collected by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the "force utilized in this incident amounted to a necessary response to thwart the threat involved." Arons survived the shooting and is charged with aggravated assault, domestic assault and vandalism.

Davidson County Chancellor Anne Martin on Monday ruled that Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell's transit plan could go forward. Voters approved the $3.1 billion plan nearly two-to-one in November. The Tennessean reports that the plan outlines major changes to the city’s bus systems, sidewalks and traffic signals over several years, funded by a sales tax increase from 9.25% to 9.75% and other sources like grants. Former Metro Council member Emily Evans and the opposition group she formed, Committee to Stop an UnFair Tax, had filed the lawsuit to block the plan and its accompanying half-cent-per-dollar sales tax before the tax increase goes into effect Feb. 1.

The Tennessee Commission on Children & Youth recently released its 2024 annual report, which finds the average cost of infant child care centers in Tennessee — at just over $13,000 per year — is now higher than in-state tuition at almost all of the state's public universities. That figure has steadily increased over the past five years, as has Tennessee's child poverty rate, despite a slight decline in child poverty nationwide. The study also found that more than half of Tennessee’s children are covered by TennCare; that since 2017, all measures of suicidal ideation have increased among Tennessee high school students; and that from April 2023 to March 2024, Tennessee had 5,026 children enter foster care, a rate of 3.20 per 1,000. Access the full report and data highlights here.

A three-judge panel from the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday ruled that Tennessee's new age verification law — which requires websites with content deemed "harmful to minors" to verify the age of each user — can take effect while a legal challenge to it continues. The decision overturns Chief U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl Lipman's decision in early January to block the law, citing free speech protections. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti released a statement in response, saying, “We’re glad that the unanimously-passed Protect Tennessee Minors Act remains in effect while this case proceeds ... [T]his law seeks to stem the flow of toxic content to kids and keep adult websites adults-only.” The Associated Press has the story.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law recently announced the development and funding of the David Pickler Dean’s Professorship at the law school, thanks to a donation of $250,000 from law school alumnus and Memphis-area attorney David Pickler. The gift will be 100% matched by the University of Memphis through a grant received from the state of Tennessee as part of Gov. Bill Lee’s efforts to support the retention of the University of Memphis’ Carnegie R-1 designation. According to a press release from the law school, the $500,000 endowment will allow the school and the dean to support both students and faculty, and presents the dean with additional funds necessary to assist with priority items throughout the year, in perpetuity.

Newly appointed 22nd Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Jessica Parrish, who was sworn in Aug. 5, 2024, describes herself as a reader and analytical thinker since childhood. Although those are great traits for the legal profession, she had no idea what she wanted to pursue until attending a summer school program. “I went to Junior Statesmen of America Summer School when I was in high school,” says Parrish. “I got to go to the capitol, the embassy and take government classes at Georgetown University. I remember coming home and telling my family ‘I think I want to become a lawyer.’” From that point forward, she was headed straight to law school. Parrish succeeds retired Circuit Court Judge David Allen. Read more about her career in this profile from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The Knoxville City Council approved a $27.6 million expansion of its police surveillance contract last week, the Tennessee Lookout reports. The agreement extends the Knoxville Police Department’s partnership with Axon Enterprises for the next decade. Axon currently provides the department with body cameras and taser equipment. The new proposal includes expanding the agreement to incorporate a records management system, services to support the department's new Real Time Information Center and additional citywide cameras. It also will include adoption of Axon’s Fusus software, which, according to the company, integrates various data sources, allowing officers to stream video monitoring, respond to incidents more efficiently, and share real-time updates with other first responders. The city council approved the contract by a 7-2 vote, a month after Nashville rejected a similar proposal.