The 2022 Equal Justice University will be held Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro. Registration is now open for the conference, which will include 30+ learning sessions, basic skills sessions for those new to specific practice areas or who want to refresh their knowledge base, networking opportunities and presentation of the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Service’s Access to Justice Awards. Get hotel details here.

Nashville Metro Council will vote July 5 on an agreement to host the 2024 Republican National Convention, according to At-Large Council Member Bob Mendes. It will be the first of three required readings for approval. Milwaukee, the other finalist vying to host the convention, approved its agreement on June 1. The Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. submitted a bid to host the convention on Dec. 8, at the request of Gov. Bill Lee. The Nashville Business Journal looks at the issues at stake.

The Shelby County Election Commission has withdrawn its lawsuit against Shelby County Government, according to Linda Phillips, administrator of elections. The withdrawal comes after the Shelby County Board of Commissioners, whose members were sued, voted to fund new voting machines for the November election. The end of the lawsuit and the upcoming purchase of new voting machines ends a years-long standoff between the majority-Democrat County Commission, which prefers hand-marked paper ballots, and the majority-Republican Election Commission, which prefers ballot-marking devices. The two bodies have clashed in public and private over which method is most cost-effective, least susceptible to hacking and easier to audit, the Commercial Appeal reports.

Former Republican state representative Sheila Butt, now a candidate for Maury County mayor, has been sued for defamation of character by another mayoral candidate, Tennessee Lookout reports. David Baker, a minister and former volunteer chaplain at the Maury County Jail, filed suit Wednesday, alleging Butt defamed him through text messages, knowing the allegations were false. Baker’s attorney submitted as evidence a screenshot of a message allegedly sent by Butt that insinuates Baker was involved in “something about fraud and a man committing suicide.” He argues that the messages damaged Baker’s reputation and standing in the community. Baker and Butt, along with former Maury County Mayor Charlie Norman, are running to replace Mayor Andy Ogles, who is running for the Fifth Congressional District seat.

Police cannot be sued for failing to read criminal defendants their Miranda warnings, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week, Bloomberg Law reports. In a 6-3 decision that broke along ideological lines, the court said its landmark ruling in Miranda v. Arizona does not provide a basis for criminal defendants to bring civil rights suits against police for not providing warnings against self-incrimination. Writing for the court, Justice Samuel Alito said Miranda warnings are meant to prevent improper police questioning and the use of statements obtained during such interrogations. A violation of the rules doesn’t itself run afoul of the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. “Those rules, to be sure, are ‘constitutionally based,’ but they are prophylactic rules nonetheless,” Alito said. Writing in dissent, Justice Elena Kagan said the court’s ruling “prevents individuals from obtaining any redress when police violate their rights under Miranda.”

Memphis Law student Wai-Lin Danieley recently won first place in the American Bar Association’s 2021-22 Mendes Hershman Writing Contest. She will have her piece published in an upcoming issue of the ABA's The Business Lawyer, the school reports.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 today in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that no constitutional right to abortion exists and that previous court rulings in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey were decided in error. The ruling returns the issue of abortion access to the states, where it was decided before the Roe case in 1973. The ruling came in a case challenging a Mississippi law outlawing abortions after 15 weeks. Under Roe, abortions were protected until the “point of fetal viability” or around 24 weeks. In a separate opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts supported the Mississippi law but said he would have preferred a more incremental approach that would not have required overturning Roe outright. In another separate opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas urged the court to use the same logic it used in the Dobbs case to overturn precedents on contraceptives and LGBTQ rights. The court’s three dissenting justices wrote in their opinion that the majority decision means that “from the very moment of fertilization, a woman has no rights to speak of.” The Hill has more on each of these stories.

Under a trigger law previously enacted by the Tennessee legislature, abortions in the state will be banned “within weeks,” Axios Nashville reports. Under the law, performing or attempting to perform an abortion will become a Class C felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Exceptions would be allowed if the pregnancy puts the mother's life in jeopardy or if there is a "serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function." Mental health threats, including the threat of self-harm, would not qualify, and there are no exceptions for rape or incest. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III held a press conference this afternoon to announce he will notify the Tennessee Code Commission in writing that Roe and Casey have been overruled, and has asked the full 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the district court’s injunction of the state’s heartbeat abortion law, so that law can go into effect as soon as possible. Read his full statement.

U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Rachel Bloomekatz, an Ohio public interest lawyer, appeared before the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee this week. She has been nominated to replace retiring Judge R. Guy Cole Jr. on the court, which hears federal appeals from several states, including Tennessee. Some Republicans questioned her past advocacy on behalf of a gun safety group and her views on youth offenders, Reuters reports. Bloomekatz told the members she would follow the U.S. Supreme Court's precedents supporting gun rights and defended her representation of criminal defendants. Bloomekatz has earned support from a number of conservatives, including members of the Federalist Society in Ohio and former Republican Supreme Court clerks who worked with her when she clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer. Cleveland.com has more on the hearing.

The next Veterans’ Legal Advice Clinic — a joint project of Knoxville area legal organizations — will take place July 13 from noon to 2 p.m. EDT at the Knoxville Community Law Office, 1101 Liberty St. This general advice and referral clinic is supported by the Knoxville Bar Association Barristers and Young Lawyers Division, Legal Aid of East Tennessee, Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office, University of Tennessee  College of Law, Lincoln Memorial University-Duncan School of Law, and the local Veterans Affairs office. Sign up here to volunteer. Unvaccinated individuals are asked to wear a mask.

The Memphis Lawyers’ Chapter of the Federalist Society is hosting a virtual event on Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m. CDT with state Sen. John D. Stevens, R-Huntington, who will present a legislative update. Attorneys interested in attending can register by contacting J. Gregory Grisham, 901-333-2076 or signing up online.