A group of 25 state attorneys general, including Tennessee's Jonathan Skrmetti urged the Biden administration on Thursday to abandon a proposal to sharply cut vehicle tailpipe emissions, reports Reuters. In April, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed new standards for 2027-2032 vehicles that would cut emissions by 56%. The attorneys general, led by Daniel Cameron of Kentucky and Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia, said the EPA proposal "would damage our economy, tax our electrical grids and the families and businesses who depend on them, and threaten our national security." Read the AG's press release.

The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Service (TALS) has announced a new grant partnership with the Tennessee Department of Human Services to provide more access to free, civil legal services for families and children throughout Tennessee, reports Channel 9 in Chattanooga. The new statewide network, Family Centered Legal Solutions (FCLS), will reach out to all 95 counties in Tennessee to help identify and address the core legal issues that often lead to poverty and family instability. Families with children can access the FCLS’s free legal services either by calling the helpline at 1-844-HELP4TN or by contacting the legal aid firm in their area.

The City of Memphis, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis and other defendants in a $550 million civil case filed in the wake of the death of Tyre Nichols joined attorneys for Nichols' mother Wednesday in opposing recent motions filed by former Memphis police officers to pause the civil proceedings, reports the Commercial Appeal. In June, TBA Today reported that attorneys for four former officers are requesting that the civil lawsuit filed by Nichols’ family be halted until the criminal case is finished. In their motions, attorneys claimed that the civil case could be prejudicial to the criminal case.

The Justice Department filed notice of appeal Wednesday regarding a federal court ruling that would limit the Biden administration’s communication with social media companies, reports The Hill. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty of Louisiana directed the Biden administration to limit contact with social media companies. The appeal will go to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals which based in New Orleans. A Justice Department official said the agency expects to request a stay of the district court’s decision. Read more about the ruling. 

Former state Sen. Roy Herron was injured on Saturday during a jet ski accident at Kentucky Lake, WBBJ-TV reports. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, which responded to the incident, said it is investigating the crash of two personal watercraft. Herron apparently was riding with another person, who also was seriously injured. Both were airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. According to WSMV-TV, Herron’s family says he has broken bones, internal bleeding and a badly injured arm, but is improving. Herron, a Democrat, was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1986. He was elected to the Senate in 1996 and served through 2012. Since retiring from the legislature, he has been practicing law in Dresden.

Chancellor Jeff Atherton today upheld a contract between Hamilton County Attorney Rheubin Taylor and the County Commission that extended his term until 2025, the Chattanoogan reports. County Mayor Weston Wamp had earlier tried to fire Taylor and said he was "disappointed by the court’s ruling" and believes "this high-profile case should have been handled outside Hamilton County by a judge who does not personally know the parties."

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett is offering free “Baby in the Back” hangtags to remind parents and caregivers that there is a baby in the back seat. The effort is designed to prevent heat-related child deaths by reminding drivers there is a child in the car before they leave the vehicle unattended. Sign up online to receive a hangtag. For questions about the program email communications.sos@tn.gov.

Three civil rights groups filed a complaint against Harvard on Monday, claiming its preferential policy for undergraduate applicants with family ties to the school overwhelmingly benefits white students, and therefore violates a federal law banning race discrimination. The complaint, which asks the Department of Education to investigate the matter, comes just days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions policies at the university. The groups said the high court’s decision made it even more imperative to eliminate policies that disadvantage non-white applicants, Reuters reports. In related news, UT Law Professor Ben Barton recently talked about how the Supreme Court’s decision will affect colleges in an interview with WVEC-TV Channel 13 News Now.

U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty of Louisiana directed the Biden administration on Tuesday to limit contact with social media companies, Bloomberg Law reports. The preliminary injunction affects large swaths of the government, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Doughty said the government could not talk to social media companies for “the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.” The case was brought by Louisiana and Missouri attorneys general who claimed the government was trying to silence posts that questioned COVID policies and the validity of the 2020 election.

A conservative nonprofit legal group, American First Legal, is warning law schools that give preferences to minorities and women that it will sue over those policies following last week's U.S. Supreme Court decision on affirmative action at two undergraduate schools. According to Reuters, the group sent letters to 200 U.S. law schools warning them not to give preferences in admissions, hiring or law journal selection. The group also said decisions based on factors in an applicant's biography that could serve as a proxy for race — such as socioeconomic status — also would be challenged. Read the letter.