Memphis-based federal Judge Thomas Parker late Friday imposed a temporary restraining order on implementation of the state’s new law limiting drag show performances, the Commercial Appeal reports. The law was set to go into effect on Saturday. Parker heard three hours of arguments on Thursday and on Friday said the law as written is too vague. A law is unconstitutionally vague if individuals of “common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application," he wrote. The decision came in a suit filed by Friends of George's, a Memphis-based LGBTQ theatre group.

A swearing in ceremony for Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, originally planned for Monday, has been canceled. Skrmetti’s office issued a statement saying, “In the wake of the unfathomable tragedy at The Covenant School on Monday, General Skrmetti and his family have decided to cancel the ceremonial swearing in scheduled for [April 3]. He is thankful and overwhelmed by the encouragement from family and friends who planned to attend in support.”

A federal judge in Texas has blocked requirements for insurers to provide some preventive-care services for free, the ABA Journal reports. Under the ruling, insurance companies no longer have to provide drugs for HIV prevention or screenings for depression, high blood pressure, sexually transmitted diseases and some kinds of cancer as required under the federal Affordable Care Act. The ruling came in a challenge from six individuals and two businesses. Plaintiffs wanted the option to purchase health coverage that did not include services they did not use, while others in the group objected to HIV-prevention coverage on the ground that it promoted behavior that was against their beliefs. Judge Reed C. O’Connor ruled last year that coverage mandates were not valid because the task force charged with adopting them had been constituted in violation of the appointments clause.

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberland recently launched a new free monthly legal clinic in Antioch, Main Street Media reports. The clinic will be held on the first Saturday of the month from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT at the southeast branch of the Nashville Public Library, 5260 Hickory Hollow Parkway, Ste. 202, Antioch 37013. It is scheduled to run through June. The clinic will assist clients with civil legal matters, such as landlord/tenant disputes, family law, estate planning and debt collection. Those in need of assistance should register online. Contact Kendra Cheek at 800-238-1443 or kcheek@las.org to volunteer.

A Memphis LGBTQ theater company has filed the first legal challenge to Tennessee’s drag restrictions, WPLN reports. The group, known as Friends of George’s Inc., alleges that the law violates the First Amendment and will have a chilling effect on the state’s LGBTQ community. Read the filing here. Meanwhile, in Nashville, a protest planned to oppose recent legislative restrictions on drag shows and events for this weekend has been postponed. According to WPLN, Nashville Pride and Inclusion Tennessee decided to postpone the gathering citing the threat of anti-LGBTQ violence. The march had been scheduled to take place on Saturday, the day the new state law restricting drag in public spaces is set to go into effect.

TBA's Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorneys and TBA lobbyists Brad Lampley and Ashley Harbin are out with a new Legislative Update podcast today. In this week's episode, they discuss the Tennessee Domestic Relations Arbitration Act (HB1177/SB710); Tennessee Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (HB1162/SB775); TBA's adoption law bills, one which makes substantiative changes to law (SB919/HB854) and one that makes technical changes (SB921/HB855); and two bills dealing with the cost of electronic medical records in disability claims: HB1071/SB1393 and the Trial Lawyers/TBA bill HB647/SB1313. Finally, the episode looks at three bills targeting the professional privilege tax for attorneys: HB586/SB640 and HB580/SB1122, which would eliminate the tax, and HB585/SB641, which would phase out the tax over three years. The program airs each week during the legislative session on TBA’s Facebook page. It is also posted on the TBA’s website and wherever you listen to podcasts.

Multiple sources, including the Associated Press, are reporting that former President Donald J. Trump has been indicted on criminal charges in New York on Thursday for his role in organizing hush money payments to an adult film star during his 2016 campaign. The indictment, which remains under seal, follows an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg that centered on a $130,000 payment that attorney Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the election.

The University of Tennessee College of Law has announced winners of recent legal competitions designed to help law students improve their advocacy skills. Max Williams won the law school’s 2023 1L Advocacy Competition, in which he and the 23 other students who competed with him were introduced to the facts of their case and had just 15 minutes to prepare their strategy before they appeared before judges to make their best opening statement. UT Law also announced that Chad Taylor finished first in the school’s Jenkins Trial Competition earlier this week and was named outstanding oralist. Alex Allen and Kyle Mangrum were second-place finishers and Grant Peterson was named best witness. U.S. Magistrate Judge and former TBA President Cynthia Wyrick gave feedback to the student participants in the trial competition.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that Angel Bumpass — the Chattanooga woman convicted in a murder committed when she was 13 — has begun talks with the prosecution in efforts to resolve the case. Bumpass was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder at age 24, almost 10 years after the slaying of Franklin Bonner. She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole at age 84. Former Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz, who presided over Bumpass' original trial, granted her a new trial a few weeks before his appointment to the Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals last year. Her attorney, William Massey, said he is trying to come to a resolution for his client without going back to trial. 

The Food and Drug Administration Wednesday approved the overdose medication naloxone (Narcan) for over-the-counter use, reports the Daily Memphian. Tennessee has been disproportionately affected by the opioid crisis, and residents could soon find Narcan at drug stores, convenience stores, grocery stores and gas stations, as well as online. For more than a decade, Tennessee has ranked in the top five states nationally for opioid prescription rates per person and was among the top five states for overdose rates in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Wednesday’s FDA decision clears the way for naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray, which rapidly reverses the effects of opioid overdose, to be sold directly to consumers.