Nashville Chancellor I'Ashea Myles late Thursday ruled that the Covenant School shooter's writings should not be made public "at this time." The Tennessean reports that in her 60-page ruling, Myles was swayed in part by the argument brought by a group of Covenant School families, who said that materials created by the shooter, including the shooter’s journals, were protected by copyright laws and should not be treated as public records. The shooter’s parents transferred ownership of these materials to a group of Covenant families, allowing them to assert a copyright interest in them. Following the shooting in March 2023, reporters and others requested that the Metro Nashville Police Deprtment (MNPD) release records related to the shooting, which MNPD denied. In response, six groups sued the city about a month after the shooting, seeking a court order to grant them access to several different records, most notably a pair of journals found in the shooter’s home and car.

A federal court in Mississippi has issued a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule that would extend federal prohibition of sex discrimination, part of the Affordable Care Act health insurance law, to discrimination against transgender people. The rule would have gone into effect on July 5. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced the lawsuit in May. Read Skrmetti's statement on the ruling.

President Joe Biden awarded posthumous Medals of Honor to two Civil War veterans whose remains are buried in Chattanooga for their role in the "Great Locomotive Chase." The Times Free Press reports that Pvt. Philip G. Shadrach and Pvt. George D. Wilson were members of Andrews' Raiders — a group that attempted a daring train hijacking behind Confederate lines in Georgia in 1862 before the participants were caught and most of them executed. Nearly all of them received the then-newly created Medal of Honor not long after. But because of what advocates say was an administrative error, Shadrach and Wilson did not. "Today's decision rectifies a historical oversight that has deprived Privates Shadrach and Wilson from receiving our nation's highest military honor for valor on the battlefield," David Currey, the executive director of Chattanooga's Medal of Honor Heritage Center, said in a statement.

The University of Tennessee (UT) at Knoxville will give honorary degrees to former Sen. Lamar Alexander and civil rights leader Rita Sanders Geier. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that a date for conferring the degrees has not been set, but UT has announced that Alexander will receive an honorary Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy from the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, while Geier will receive an honorary Doctorate of Laws. Alexander, originally from Maryville, was Tennessee's governor from 1979 to 1987 and served as the 18th UT president from 1988 to 1991. He helped set some groundwork for UT to move forward with his vision for connecting with Oak Ridge National Lab. Geier, a Memphis native, attended Fisk University, then received her master's degree from the University of Chicago and her law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School. Along with four other plaintiffs, Geier filed a class action lawsuit against the state of Tennessee in 1968, saying Black students and faculty members were segregated from equal higher education opportunities. The lawsuit brought systemic change to higher education systems across the South, including through the 2001 Geier Consent Decree, which provided $77 million from the state of Tennessee to help diversify institutions and fund scholarships.

Shelby County General Sessions Criminal Court Division 8 Judge Lee Wilson, who also runs the county’s drug court program, will now manage Shelby County’s 14 judicial commissioners, taking over for General Sessions Division 7 Judge Bill Anderson who has led the commissioners for the last two years. The Daily Memphian reports that a new law that took effect on July 1 requires an annual rotation of management of judicial commissioner programs in counties with more than one General Sessions judge. Shelby County has nine.

Effective July 1, West Tennessee Legal Services (WTLS), which is headquartered in Jackson, will be funded by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) to provide people in the greater Memphis metropolitan area with free legal help on civil matters. LSC is a federally funded agency that provides financial support to civil legal aid programs like WTLS nationwide, ensuring access to civil legal assistance for low-income individuals and families across the United States. WTLS’ work in Shelby, Tipton, Fayette and Lauderdale counties will be funded for the remainder of 2024 with a $940,301 grant from LSC. WTLS’ annual budget is supplemented with grants from individuals, foundations, the state of Tennessee and federal grants. “Our team is eager to get work providing these crucial services to individuals and families across this region,” says WTLS Executive Director Ashley Holliday. “As we grow, our focus will remain constant: to ensure that people in need have access to justice and the support they deserve.” Read the press release from the organization.

The TBA will be closed tomorrow, July 4, for Independence Day. The office will reopen Friday at 8 a.m. CDT. As always, our TBA.org website has plenty of continuing legal education options and other information available to you 24/7. Reach out to staff directly using contact information posted on our online staff directory.

Civil rights activists have decided not to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a federal appeals court's ruling that would sharply curtail lawsuits in parts of the country seeking to enforce a landmark voting rights law's protections against racial discrimination. The Arkansas Public Policy Panel and the Arkansas State Conference NAACP had faced a Friday deadline to ask the justices to hear an appeal of a lower-court's decision holding that only the government and not private plaintiffs can pursue cases enforcing Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The groups — which are challenging a redistricting plan for the Arkansas State House of Representatives — said they instead will use “an alternative mechanism” to pursue their goals, namely an 1871 law enacted in the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. Reuters has more about the decision.

KMW Legal and Swan Law have merged to form Keller Swan Injury Attorneys. The Florida-based firm, with offices in Memphis and Nashville, provides personal injury, property damage, personal injury protection, worker's compensation, wrongful death and criminal defense representation. Other offices are located in Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia and Mississippi. The new firm is headed by managing partners Christopher Keller, founder of KMW Legal, and Blake Swan, founder of Swan Law. Read more about the merger from Business Wire.

Davidson County General Sessions Judge Rachel L. Bell recently was recognized by three organizations for her leadership. Over the summer, Bell completed a three-week program at the Harvard Kennedy School for Executive Education for Senior Executives in State & Local Government. In addition, the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute named her its 2024 David Bohnett Leaders Fellow. And the National Bar Association’s (NBA) LGBTQ+ Division has named her one of two recipients of the group’s first-ever Judge Deborah A. Batts Vanguard Award. The award, which recognizes contributions to the LGBTQ+ community, will be presented at the NBA’s National Convention and Awards Gala. Read more about these honors.