The Tennessee Supreme Court today reappointed two members of its Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission to second terms. Lori Thomas Reid and J. Marcus Rudolph will each serve another three-year term that will expire on Jan. 9, 2026. The high court noted it was reappointing Reid and Rudolph “because of their outstanding contributions to the Commission.” Read the order.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined 21 states in filing a petition for rulemaking, asking the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to repeal the federal vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. “Evidence continues to mount that the ongoing mandate is an unprecedented overreach of the Federal government and has exacerbated shortages of healthcare workers in Tennessee and other states,” Skrmetti said. The petition asks HHS and CMS to repeal the vaccine mandate and withdraw any related guidance. Read more from the AG’s office.

Just City, a Memphis-based criminal justice reform nonprofit, has released a new report grading four Shelby County judges on timeliness, neutrality, how often a public defender was appointed, dignity, sensitivity, the ability to hear a judge, and access to the courtroom. Judges Lee V. Coffee, Chris Craft, Karen Massey and Ronald Lucchesi were observed by court watchers who scored each judge between a one and four in each category. Coffee averaged the best score across the categories, followed by Lucchesi, Massey and Craft. Just City’s Yonée Gibson says she hopes the report will hold judges accountable and lead to changes at the courthouse. Three more reports are expected to be published. Read more from the Commercial Appeal.

The Tennessee Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights this week recommended that the state expand access to absentee voting, citing apparent “deficiencies” found in a study of the state's voting laws and barriers to the ballot box. The ongoing study is also looking at restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic and the civil rights impact of SB008, a controversial bill passed in 2020 that criminalized some protests in the state. In its interim memo, the committee pointed to the state’s use of “excuse” absentee voting, which requires absentee voters to have an approved reason to obtain the ballot, as a barrier to voting. It also referenced the state’s requirement that absentee ballots be returned by mail by the close of polls on Election Day. Secretary of State Tre Hargett pushed back on some of the recommendations, mentioning the state’s “generous” early voting period. The commission may now choose to send the memo to the General Assembly and Gov. Bill Lee as a formal request. The Tennessean has the story. 

Woolf, McClane, Bright Allen, and Carpenter PLLC has added two lawyers to its health care and transactional practice. Patti T. Cotton and Jason P. Lambert will join the firm’s Knoxville office as partners. Woolf McClane Managing Partner Richard S. Matlock said Cotton and Lambert’s “considerable experience in health care and business law complements and enhances the firm’s existing practice.” Cotton and Lambert were previously with Knoxville firm London Amburn. Read the press release from Woolf McClane.

A member of the board overseeing the Rutherford County Juvenile Detention Center is recommending the facility undergo a name and logo change following its past violations of detaining children, the Tennessean reports. Michael McDonald suggested the rebranding effort during a board meeting this month, also calling for the facility to change its logo, which includes a pair of handcuffs. Former Juvenile Court Judge Donna Scott Davenport retired in August after facing federal lawsuits for the court’s illegal detention of children. The board also discussed adding a grant writer to the detention center’s staff in order to “pursue dollars for these young people” to help with things like “mental health.” One board member also suggested a policy that would require the county’s new Juvenile Court Judge Travis Lampley or magistrates trained in the law to make probable cause determinations on immediate detentions.

According to a new report from the Knoxville News Sentinel, the city of Knoxville has admitted it tried to sidestep Tennessee’s open records law during its search for police chief by commissioning a firm to handle the hiring. The Sentinel sued the city in July to see records from the search. During an Oct. 7 hearing, court records show the city’s hired attorney, Chris McCarty, told Knox County Chancellor John Weaver the police chief search was conducted in such a way that there would be no records of certain things. McCarty said the city did this to “eliminate the possibility that those candidates would fear that their names would be disclosed to the public, therefore, questioning and threatening their current jobs, therefore not having them apply in the first place.”

Yale Law School says it will no longer participate in the U.S. News & World Report law school rankings, despite its history of always taking the top spot, the ABA Journal reports. Yale Law dean Heather K. Gerken said the school won’t be supplying its data to U.S. News & World Report, but it will provide information to would-be students “in a public, transparent and useful form.” Gerken said she thinks U.S. News has good intentions, but that its rankings are “profoundly flawed” because they disincentivize programs that support public-interest careers, provide need-based aid and help working-class students. “Granting exclusive access to a flawed commercial rankings system is counterproductive to the mission of this profession and the core values of Yale Law School,” Gerken said.

The Hamilton County Commission today passed a resolution calling on attorney John Konvalinka to take legal action against Mayor Weston Wamp if his dispute with County Attorney Rheubin Taylor isn’t settled by Friday. According to the Chattanoogan, the resolution authorizes Konvalinka "to take such action as is necessary to enforce each and every resolution" that the commission earlier passed in support of Taylor. Wamp fired Taylor in October, but the longtime county attorney has stayed on, citing a four-year contract. The matter has already gone to chancery court.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is concerned about possible violations to consumer protection laws after Taylor Swift fans yesterday reported spending hours trying to get presale tickets to the singer’s 2023 tour, the Tennessean reports. Fans with special presale codes for tickets found huge queues, site crashes and inflated prices when trying to purchase tickets through Ticketmaster. Skrmetti called Ticketmaster a “very dominant market player” at a press conference this morning and said his office wants “to make sure that they're treating consumers right and people are receiving fair opportunity to purchase the tickets…” No actual allegations of wrongdoing have been made yet, but Skrmetti was clear he sees the size of the company as a possible detriment if its near-monopoly disincentivizes customer support and fair dealing.