Memphis-Shelby County Schools will not allow teachers to carry weapons on school property, the Daily Memphian reports. The district delivered the news in a joint public-service announcement with the Memphis Police Department and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. School Superintendent Marie Feagins, interim Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis and Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner say that only trained security officers should oversee school safety. The announcement comes after the Tennessee General Assembly passed a law allowing districts to arm educators. Several suburban school districts in the county, including Arlington, Lakeland and Millington, already have announced they would not allow staff to carry guns on campus.

As parallel criminal and civil cases move forward against the Johnson City Police Department over its interactions with alleged serial rapist Sean Williams, new accusations have emerged that a co- conspirator laundered money to make extortion payments to police. The payments, according to women suing, came from Williams’ business partner, who made weekly payments of $2,000 using a complicated scheme to disguise the source of the funds. Police are accused of protecting the business partner and Williams in exchange for the payments. The new claims come as part of a suit filed last year alleging that officers failed to investigate sexual assault complaints against Williams. Tennessee Lookout has more.

Tennessee is joining with 29 other states and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to sue Live Nation Entertainment Inc. for antitrust violations related to Ticketmaster’s unrivaled control of concert ticket sales. The suit, which is to be filed in a New York court this week, comes almost 15 years after the two entities merged in 2010, Bloomberg Law reports. According to a press release from Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, Live Nation controls two of the most important parts of Tennessee’s live entertainment industry: ticketing and artist tours. “Since Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift ticketing debacle in 2022, my AG colleagues and I have relentlessly sought justice for Americans wanting to attend concerts without having their pocketbooks pillaged by Live Nation’s monopoly,” Skrmetti said. “I am glad to partner with the DOJ in the bipartisan effort to break up the Live Nation/Ticketmaster monopoly.”

Memphis lawyer Miles Mason will receive the TBA’s prestigious Justice Joseph W. Henry Award for Outstanding Legal Writing on June 14 during the group's Annual Convention in Memphis. The award, which will be presented at the Lawyers Luncheon, was established more than 40 years ago and is given each year to the lawyer who writes the most outstanding article published in the Tennessee Bar Journal for the preceding year. Mason will be recognized for his article “You Are the Father!: Untangling Custody Rights in Tennessee Between Unmarried Parents,” which appeared in the November/December 2023 issue of the Journal. Mason is the founder of Miles Mason Law Group PLC and a certified public accountant. He is a nationally recognized speaker who presents continuing education seminars across the country. His father-in-law, the late Judge Joe B. Jones, was the first recipient of the Joe Henry Award in 1981. Read the TBA's press release for more information.

Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) Duncan School of Law hosted its second annual moot court competition in honor of LMU Law alumnus Matthew B. Long last month. The annual competition serves as the tryout for rising second-year law students to become a member of the school's moot court team. Moot court accepts no more than 15 students each year based on their oral advocacy and legal writing skills. This year, 30 students participated in the competition. The winners were Halie Higgins of Erwin and Carly Ebersberger of Mount Juliet. Read more in a release.

Dozens of officials and community members gathered in front of the Hamilton County Juvenile Court recently to celebrate the launch of a Safe Baby Court, the Times Free Press reports. Under the program, parents work with a team of professionals, including case managers, welfare workers, developmental specialists and attorneys to find the best placement for their infants and toddlers. In 2017, Tennessee passed legislation to create the "Zero to Three Court Initiative" to improve the outcome for children under age four. About 1,000 children have been involved in the program across the state since its creation.

A conservative group in Wisconsin has filed complaints against the American Bar Association (ABA), a federal magistrate judge in Minnesota and three law schools alleging bias in hiring programs for students. According to Bloomberg Law, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed the complaints with the U.S. Justice and Education departments, claiming that the programs violate federal law by targeting applicants based on race, age and sexual orientation. The law schools targeted were South Texas College, the University of the Pacific and Willamette University.

Naussany Investments, the company trying to foreclose on and sell Graceland, is dropping its effort, according to the Daily Memphian. The move comes after Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins this morning postponed a planned auction. Naussany claims that Lisa Marie Presley failed to repay a $3.8 million loan she took out in 2018 using the property as collateral. Elvis Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough sued Naussany after news of the sale broke. She claims the loan documents involving her mother had been forged.

A new Vanderbilt University poll, which surveyed 1,003 registered voters in Tennessee, found that those who favor a woman’s right to an abortion slightly outnumber those who do not — a change from recent years, Axios reports. The poll also found that voters on a bipartisan basis support in vitro fertility treatments. With regard to gun control legislation, most Tennesseans favor keeping guns away from people who are a danger to themselves or others, but are split on allowing teachers to carry concealed guns on school campuses. Other notable findings show low approval for state government and majority approval for legalizing recreational cannabis. WKRN reports on that finding.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission met yesterday in Gallatin to consider nine applicants for a circuit court judge vacancy in the 18th Judicial District, which serves Sumner County. After holding a public hearing and conducting public interviews, the commission selected the following three nominees to forward to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration: 18th Judicial District Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer S. Nichols and Tara A. Wyllie, and Sumner County Circuit Court Clerk Kathryn Strong. The new judicial position was created by the Tennessee General Assembly through Public Chapter No. 600, enacted on March 27. The position will be effective as of Sept. 1.