The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) has opened an investigation into the conditions at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, a Tennessee Department of Correction facility operated by the private correctional management company CoreCivic. Trousdale Turner, located approximately an hour outside of Nashville, is Tennessee’s largest correctional facility. After an extensive review of publicly available information, state audits that have flagged dangerous understaffing and safety concerns since Trousdale Turner first opened in 2016, and insights gathered from stakeholders, the department says it found significant justification to open an investigation. The investigation will examine whether Tennessee protects those incarcerated at Trousdale Turner from harm, including physical violence and sexual abuse. Read the press release from the DOJ.

A federal judge has ruled that three Tennessee Department of Children's Services (DCS) employees can be held liable for their conduct after a traffic stop led to five small children being taken from their mother last year, reports the Tennessee Lookout. Bianca Clayborne in February filed a lawsuit alleging her constitutional rights and those of her children were violated following a misdemeanor traffic stop in February 2023. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Clifton Corker allows Clayborne’s attorneys to move forward with claims the DCS workers violated the family’s Fourth Amendment Constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizures, as well as claims of false arrest and false imprisonment under Tennessee law. The judge dismissed Clayborne’s separate claim that the actions of DCS employees, in seeking an emergency court order to remove the children, violated her constitutional guarantee to due process.

The Tennessee Bar Foundation has announced the 2025 Tennessee IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts) grants application is open. The IOLTA program generates funds that are used to provide grants to Tennessee nonprofit organizations to provide civil legal services to the poor and/or work to improve the administration of justice. The foundation especially encourages applications from organizations that are new to the IOLTA program. For the first time, the foundation's grant process will be online. Organizations may create a unique user account on a grants management portal and draft and submit their applications entirely online. The deadline for submitting this year's grant application is 11:59 p.m. CDT on Sept. 26. Get more information on the foundation's website.

Attorneys general from 10 additional states have joined the U.S. Department of Justice’s suit against Live Nation, arguing that the concert promoter and Ticketmaster illegally inflated concert ticket prices and hurt artists. The filing also added claims for triple damages on behalf of state residents. About two dozen states, including Tennessee, and a number of other plaintiffs allege that the companies monopolized markets across the live concert industry. In a statement issued today, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti welcomed the new states to the suit. “I am grateful for our ongoing partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division in this great bipartisan effort, coming on the heels of our historic win against Google’s search monopoly,” he said.

Tennessee courts are lagging behind other government agencies in adopting technology to increase transparency and accessibility, according to a report from the Nashville Banner, while public trust in the courts has declined for years, according to the National Center for State Courts. Despite calls for more open court proceedings, including live streaming and virtual options, implementation varies across the state. The paper found that while higher courts stream oral arguments, lower courts often lack such technology due to resource constraints and privacy concerns. It also found that e-filing is limited to larger counties, and the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted disparities in judges' technological proficiency. The Tennessee Supreme Court created a committee in 2023 to develop a strategic plan for broader technology adoption. However, challenges remain in balancing efficiency with public access. A spokesperson from the Administrative Office of the Courts told the Banner that “deploying scalable technology solutions is a priority.”

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) new rules barring non-compete agreements for most workers is facing a third legal challenge. A tax services firm and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, among others, have sued the FTC in Texas, and a federal judge has temporarily blocked the agency's ban pending outcome of that case. A Florida retirement community has challenged the rule, arguing it would harm its business model. And a Pennsylvania tree service has sued, contending the ban infringes on states’ rights to regulate employment laws. The cases are pending in the three states and could reach the U.S. Supreme Court, Knoxville News Net reports.

A family is suing Bristol police and paramedics after a police body camera video obtained by the Associated Press revealed their son, Austin Hunter Turner, was subjected to excessive force during a medical emergency. The family says the footage contradicts the official determination of a drug overdose death. The lawsuit alleges that officers treated Turner as a suspect rather than a patient, using physical restraint and a Taser despite his seizure, and then covered up the treatment.  A judge will decide whether the lawsuit can proceed in court. According to the Associated Press, the case highlights issues of accountability in cases of police-involved deaths where force, but not a firearm, is used.

Six criminal court judges in Nashville recently held a hearing to examine the circumstances surrounding Bricen Rivers' release on bond. Rivers is accused of killing his girlfriend, Lauren Johansen, in Mississippi. A clerical error prevented the full implementation of Rivers' bond conditions, which included restrictions on traveling outside of Davidson County. According to The Tennessean, a bondsman testified that Nashville magistrates often do not accept the surrender of defendants who violate bond conditions. A representative from Brooke's Bail Bonding explained that this was why the company did not return Rivers to court after he violated his court order by leaving the county. The judges are considering potential changes to bond procedures to prevent similar incidents in the future, the paper reports.

Missouri woman Lisa Findley has been arrested for an alleged scheme to defraud Elvis Presley's family out of millions of dollars and the ownership of Graceland through a foreclosure sale, the Daily Memphian reports. The ongoing investigation was turned over to federal law enforcement after the state Attorney General's office determined the matter was best suited for federal review. According to a press release from the U.S Attorney General's Office, Findley used multiple aliases, fabricated documents claiming Elvis Presley's daughter had pledged Graceland as collateral for a loan and “used a brazen scheme to try to defraud the Presley family of their interest in this singularly important landmark.”

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has joined a coalition of states challenging a federal court ruling that protects the rights of individuals to compete in sports that align with their gender. The coalition, led by the Alabama attorney general, filed an amicus brief with the U.S 9th Circuit Court of Appeals after that court ruled Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act likely violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, Tennessee Lookout reports. The coalition argues that biological differences between males and females necessitate separate sports teams. In 2021, Tennessee enacted a similar law, which has been challenged by the ACLU and Lambda Legal. In related news, late today the U.S. Supreme Court denied the Biden administration's request to reinstate portions of a federal rule that would extend Title IX protections to sexual orientation and gender identity. The Hill has more on the decision.