The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office has released footage of a fatal encounter between 20-year-old Jaylin McKenzie and Memphis police in December 2022. Three videos, from a combination of dashboard and body-worn cameras, show the events immediately before McKenzie was shot, the Commercial Appeal reports. The footage shows a car chase giving way to a foot chase, during which McKenzie fired a weapon and was shot and killed. Less clear, the paper reports, is whether McKenzie was the first person to fire.

Two national law firms, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Morrison & Foerster, have changed the description and criteria for their diversity scholarships after a group opposed to affirmative action filed suits, Bloomberg Law reports. The American Alliance for Equal Rights sued Morrison & Foerster and Perkins Coie over DEI programs in August. Morrison & Foerster changed its program to remove references to historical underrepresentation in eligibility criteria. Gibson Dunn changed criteria for its $50,000 DEI scholarship, making it available to students “who have demonstrated resilience and excellence on their path toward a career in law” instead of those “who identify with an underrepresented group.” Perkins Coie, which has not changed its program, said it would “vigorously” defend itself against the suit.

Gov. Bill Lee yesterday announced that long-time legislative director Brent Easley will step down next month to return to the private sector. Liz Alvey will succeed Easley in the role, effective Oct. 16. Alvey currently serves as legislative counsel. She previously worked with the Tennessee State Senate and was senior policy advisor to state Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris. Lee praised Easley, one of the longest-serving members of his senior team, for his work expanding access to education, boosting economic development, and modernizing transportation and infrastructure. Easley also served as a member of the COVID-19 Unified Command, coordinating the state’s response across executive branch agencies during the pandemic.

Federal courts will allow remote public access to certain proceedings to continue as they did during the COVID-19 pandemic, but with new restrictions, Reuters reports. The new policy adopted by the U.S. Judicial Conference allows judges presiding over civil and bankruptcy cases to provide live audio access in non-trial proceedings and those that have no witness testimony. The policy falls short of calls by lawmakers and advocates to go further in allowing remote access to other court proceedings, including former President Donald Trump's criminal trials, but goes beyond what the judiciary had generally allowed before the pandemic.

Nashville Police are seeking information about a shooting that occurred last Friday, which is being described as a random act of road rage, the Tennessean reports. Davidson County Chancellor I'Ashea Myles was driving west on Interstate 440 at about 8:50 p.m. when a suspect fired at her vehicle. Myles was struck by broken glass from the shooting, but was not injured, according to police. A passenger in the car sustained non-life threatening gunshot wounds to her hand and leg. Investigators said the suspect vehicle involved in the case was a white, late model sedan with glossy paint and a temporary tag. Nashville Crime Stoppers is offering $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and indictment of those responsible.

Three Tennessee women and two doctors have filed a lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court claiming the state's abortion law is too restrictive and vague about when doctors can legally terminate a pregnancy with serious complications, reports the Tennessean. The Center for Reproductive Rights, a New York-based legal firm, is representing the women. The firm has made similar legal filings in Oklahoma and Idaho and is looking to build on a recent decision in a Texas lawsuit that temporarily ruled the state's abortion law is too restrictive.

The U.S. Justice Department has filed criminal charges against five former Memphis police officers for violating the civil rights of Tyre Nichols in addition to conspiracy and obstruction charges, reports the Commercial Appeal. Nichols was pulled over by the officers for reckless driving on Jan. 7 and was subsequently tased and beaten. He died three days later due to blunt-force trauma. The former officers face one count of excessive force and failure to intervene under the color of law, one count of deliberate indifference under the color of law, one count of conspiracy to witness tamper and obstruction of justice through witness tampering in federal court. The officers already face murder charges. Read the full indictment and press release. A civil lawsuit filed on behalf of the Nichols family's attorneys is seeking $550 million in damages.

OpenAI and partner Microsoft are facing a new round of class action lawsuits in federal court for allegedly breaking privacy laws in developing OpenAI's popular ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence systems, reports Reuters. The complaint, filed last week on behalf of two unnamed software engineers, accuses the companies of using stolen personal information from hundreds of millions of internet users to train their fast-growing AI technology. The two engineers who brought the lawsuit are concerned that the companies have incorporated their "skills and expertise" into products that could "someday result in [their] professional obsolescence."

The Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council is now accepting applications for community grants, reports the Nashville Post. Proposed projects must fit into approved remediation strategies organized into six categories: research/evaluation of abatement strategy efficacy, primary prevention, education, treatment, harm reduction and recovery support. Applications close Oct. 9. The council is set to receive more than $600 million over the next 18 years to distribute from various lawsuits against companies that made, distributed, or sold opioid painkillers, including Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Walmart. Learn more about the community grants.

A Tennessee appeals court recently ruled that a Jewish couple’s lawsuit challenging a 2020 law that allowed private adoption agencies to reject placement on religious beliefs can continue, reports Associated Press. The ruling overturns a lower court’s decision that the couple had no legal standing. The law has been criticized for shielding adoption agencies that refuse to serve prospective LGBTQ parents.