The Biden administration has announced a new plan to restrict which migrants can apply for asylum at the border, likely setting off a flurry of court battles. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rolled out the new rule, which would limit some migrants arriving by land from requesting asylum protections if they have not already requested asylum in another country they passed through on their way to the United States. The rule is designed to dovetail with the administration’s other major immigration initiative, a system that allows certain asylum seekers with U.S.-based sponsors to apply for immigration parole to directly enter the United States from their home countries or from certain transit countries. The Hill has the full story.

The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board will hear arguments in Cook v. Newton Nissan of Gallatin on Wednesday. After an expedited hearing, the trial court ordered the employer to offer a panel of pain management specialists, which must exclude a physician who had already seen the employee. The employer appealed. Arguments will start at 9 a.m. and will be held via Microsoft Teams. To observe, click on the links in this revised Oral Arguments Docket.

Community leaders in Shelby County, including the local branch of the NAACP, are asking the Department of Justice to get involved in reform efforts on the local level. One of the paths forward include people calling for two separate consent decrees — one for the Memphis Police Department in light of the death of Tyre Nichols and one for the Shelby County Jail in light of the death of Gershun Freeman. If the Department of Justice investigates and finds the two entities constitutionally deficient, a governing body would come in and work with city and county leaders to improve said conditions. ABC24 has the full story.

NewsChannel 5 reports that Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has opened a criminal investigation of Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk’s office. Skrmetti’s office is specifically interested to learn whether anyone on Funk's team violated the state's wiretapping statute by installing listening devices in and around Funk's office in downtown Nashville. In a written statement, Funk's office insists the devices were a necessary part of office security and that "there is no reasonable expectation of privacy for conversations in public places." 

Two University of Memphis School of Law mock trial teams recently competed in regional competitions and will move on to national contests. The team of Peyton Barrow and Annika Rush won Region 8 of the National Trial Competition. They will head to the national competition in Texas next month. The event was held at the school under the leadership of student Harley Chapman. Additionally, the Memphis Law BLSA Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Advocacy Team of Jaske Goff and Iasia Peoples took home third place and won “best brief” at the Southern Region of the Black Law Students Association (SRBLSA) Conference and Competition. They will advance to SRBLSA's national competition in March in Washington, D.C. Read more about all the competitors.

Five former Memphis police officers pleaded not guilty Friday to criminal charges related to their involvement in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols. The former officers each face one count of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, official oppression and two counts of official misconduct, the Commercial Appeal reports. Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Jones Jr., who is overseeing the case, asked for patience from all involved. In related news, two members of the state legislature have asked the U.S. Justice Department to open a “pattern-or-practice” investigation into the Memphis Police Department. Reps. G.A. Hardaway and Joe Towns, both Democrats of Memphis, state in a letter to the department’s Civil Rights Division that the traffic stop of Nichols appears to be part of systemic behavior.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined 41 attorneys general in a national effort to ensure that state, local and tribal entities “have appropriate and timely access to corporate ownership information critical to fighting crime and terrorism.” The group is asking the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of Treasury, to continue to allow state access to information filed by certain companies about their actual or “beneficial” owners under the Corporate Transparency Act. Read more here.

The Memphis Bar Foundation is accepting grant applications for projects and programs that further its mission. Applications for up to $2,500 per project should be submitted by 5 p.m. CDT on March 15. Grants will be awarded in April. The foundation is a nonprofit organization that promotes philanthropy among members of the Memphis Bar Association (MBA), promotes social justice and legal education, and advocates for and supports public awareness of the legal system. For more information contact the MBA Executive Director Mary Ann Upchurch.

The Private Confederate Soldier Monument will remain in one of Nashville’s most-visited public parks after the Tennessee Historical Commission on Friday rejected the city’s efforts to move it. According to Tennessee Lookout, the 24 voting members said parks officials failed to meet the burden of showing there was a need to move the bronze statue “based on historical or other compelling public interest.” The life-size monument, unveiled in 1909, sits across from the Parthenon in Nashville’s Centennial Park. Nashville’s attorney Macy Amos has argued that the monument may not be a “memorial” at all, which would remove it from the commission’s oversight though next steps were unclear.

Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally is asking a federal judge to consider the life circumstances and young family of former state Sen. Brian Kelsey when determining the former lawmaker’s sentence in a federal campaign finance conspiracy, Mainstreet Nashville reports. Kelsey, 45, pleaded guilty to two campaign finance conspiracy charges last November, admitting he illegally shifted "soft money" from his state campaign to his federal campaign account during his unsuccessful 2016 bid for Congress. McNally is one of several people to submit letters in support of Kelsey to Judge Waverly Crenshaw for consideration ahead of sentencing.