Chattanooga lawyer Justin B. Faith has been appointed as the State Membership Chair for Tennessee by American Bar Association (ABA) President Deborah Enix-Ross. Faith will work with bar leaders and delegates to promote ABA membership growth and engagement in Tennessee. Faith practices civil business litigation and estate litigation at Gearhiser, Peters, Elliott & Cannon PLLC  and currently serves in the Tennessee Bar Association’s House of Delegates and on the TBA Young Lawyers Division Board. For more information, or if you have any questions about ABA membership, email Faith or call him at 423-756-5171.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said Tuesday that three of four men who say they were wrongly arrested by the Memphis Police Department in late May have had their charges dropped, reported the Commercial Appeal. Brothers Jamil Ibrahim, Moamen Saad Hijaz, Ibrahim Mahmoud and Salim Ibrahim were arrested May 27. Hijaz, Mahmoud and Salim Ibrahim were charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct while Jamil Ibrahim was charged with two counts of misdemeanor assault on a first responder. Mulroy said the charges against Jamil Ibrahim could be dropped in the future and that an internal investigation is underway into "the way the various police officers involved handled that incident."

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled 11-4 on Tuesday that the government cannot ban people convicted of non-violent crimes from possessing guns reported Reuters. The decision stems from a 2020 lawsuit by Pennsylvania man, Bryan Range, who was barred under federal law from possessing a gun after pleading guilty to welfare fraud. He claimed the prohibition violated his right to bear arms under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Range pleaded guilty in 1995 to committing welfare fraud in Pennsylvania in order to obtain $2,458 of food stamps, a misdemeanor punishable by up to five years' imprisonment. He was sentenced to three years of probation.

(NOTE: An earlier version of this article carried incorrect information on this court decision.) The full Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld the death sentence of William Glenn Rogers, who was convicted in 2000 of the kidnapping, rape and murder of a Clarksville child. Judge Amul R. Thapar delivered the opinion of the court to uphold the death penalty for Rogers.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Coinbase on Tuesday, accusing the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange of operating illegally because of its failure register with the regulator, reported Reuters. In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, the SEC said Coinbase has made billions of dollars handling cryptocurrency transactions while evading the disclosure requirements meant to protect investors. On Monday, the SEC filed suit against Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao. Both civil cases are part of SEC Chair Gary Gensler's push to assert jurisdiction over crypto markets.

The Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) has opened applications for the 2023 Families First Community Grant Program, an initiative that will make available approximately $30 million in funding to non-profit organizations providing direct services to strengthen Tennessee families in need and promote self-sufficiency. Qualifying non-profit organizations are invited to apply here through July 7 at 5 p.m. CST.

Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law (LMU Law) has hired John Rice as a tenure-track assistant professor of law. Rice will teach courses on business organizations, civil procedure, legislation and regulation beginning this fall. Rice is a former judicial clerk with the Tennessee Supreme Court and civil litigator in Knoxville. He previously taught at the University of Tennessee College of Law, University of Massachusetts College of Law and Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Duquesne University. Rice earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law and was an active member of the TBA Young Lawyers Division Board for a number of years. Read more in the school's announcement.

Paul Moyle has joined the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office as chief homicide prosecutor, Chattanoogan.com reports. Moyle, a second-generation prosecutor, is a former military police officer with the Alabama Army National Guard who deployed to Iraq in 2010. He graduated from Cumberland School of Law in 2007 and has been working as an assistant district attorney general in the 10th Judicial District, which serves Bradley, McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties. Most recently, he was team leader for Bradley and Polk counties. He also practiced law with a small firm in Cleveland and as a solo practioner and was an assistant public defender in the district.

The state Department of Children’s Services (DCS) held a “surge” over the weekend designed to reduce caseload backlogs, Tennessee Lookout reports. The goal was to visit up to 200 families who had been reported to the DCS on suspicion of child abuse or neglect, interview parents and kids, and close cases where there was no longer fear about child safety. The initiative is one of several new strategies being deployed to address extraordinary high caseloads, which have led to social workers leaving in droves over the past year and children sleeping on office building floors. DCS Commissioner Margi Quin says department needs to reduce backlogs by a third.

Just after midnight Friday, federal Judge Thomas Parker struck down Tennessee's law restricting drag performances, finding it to be an unconstitutional restriction on freedom of speech. He also found the law to be “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad," the Commercial Appeal reports. While Parker recognized the state has a “compelling interest in protecting the psychological and physical wellbeing of children” he questioned the law’s necessity noting that Tennessee law already bans obscenity. The law, signed by Gov. Bill Lee in March, would have banned "adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors" from public places and venues where children are present. It was challenged in the western district of the state by Memphis-based theater group Friends of George's. Parker had imposed a temporary restraining order on implementation of the law in April. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said Saturday the state plans to appeal “at the appropriate time.” He also disputed claims that Parker’s order applies across the state. "The Adult Entertainment Act remains in effect outside of Shelby County,” he told the paper.