With news that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee would sign new legislation regulating school mask mandates, Shelby County yesterday asked a federal judge for an emergency ruling on how the new law will affect its mask requirement, the Commercial Appeal reports. Among its provisions, the recently passed legislation would prohibit public schools and governments from requiring masks unless local conditions reach a high level of COVID-19 cases. The county filed the motion yesterday with U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman, who ruled in September that the governor’s executive order requiring school districts to give parents an opt-out of mask mandates violated federal disability law.

Gov. Bill Lee signed new pandemic restrictions into law today, but will seek changes in the next legislative session, the Tennessean reports. Among its many provisions, the bill limits when mask mandates can be applied in public schools, prevents businesses from mandating vaccines, and allows hospital visitation for COVID patients who are nearing the end of their lives. Lee says that the hospital provision needs to be clarified to make sure it reflects the intent of the General Assembly. Though lawmakers intended to limit the provision to patients near death, it was written to apply to all hospitalized patients. Other affected industries opposed to specific components of the bill did not push for a veto, instead turning their focus to making amendments to the legislation next year.

State Rep. Bruce Griffey, R-Paris, will be vacating his seat in the state legislature to run for circuit court judge in the 24th Judicial District, The Paris Post-Intelligencer reports. Griffey announced the decision to seek the position held by Judge Donald Parish yesterday. Parish is retiring at the end of his current term next year. Griffey was elected in 2018 to the 75th House District, which includes Henry, Benton and Stewart counties. He previously served as an assistant district attorney and an assistant Tennessee attorney general. Two other candidates, Vance Dennis of Savannah and Terry Leonard of Camden, also have announced their candidacies to fill Parish's spot.

The Knox County General Sessions Court will hold an informal reception honoring the retirement of Judge Geoffrey Emery on Dec. 10 from 1 to 3 p.m. EST. The event will take place in the Small Assembly Room of the City-County Building, 400 Main St. SW, Knoxville 37902. Light refreshments will be served. Emery is retiring Dec. 31, choosing not to complete his full term, which would expire in August 2022.

Did you miss the TBA's "Work Smarter Not Harder" session on how to better manage your email workload? Catch up next month with a replay of the program on Dec. 6 from noon to 1 p.m. CST. The webcast explores how to efficiently batch process emails to get them out of your inbox without losing important messages. Attendees are encouraged to have their laptops or other mobile devices handy to try out proposed solutions.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III announced today that all legal challenges to the state’s 48-hour waiting period for abortions have been exhausted after the plaintiffs did not seek review of a 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. In August, the court of appeals upheld the 48-hour waiting period saying the plaintiffs could not show specific women were harmed by the law. It also said there was no evidence that abortion rates fell in the state during the five years the law was in effect. Former Gov. Bill Haslam signed the bill into law in 2015 as part of a package of measures aimed at regulating abortion in the state.

The Tennessee Supreme Court will hold virtual admission ceremonies next week for individuals who recently passed the Tennessee bar exam. The court begins the process on Monday with four sessions, followed by sessions on Tuesday and Thursday. Sessions will take place at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. CST each day. TBA President Sherie Edwards and President-elect Tasha Blakney will be introducing and making motions on behalf of applicants across the state. Want to tune in for the proceedings? Ceremonies can be watched on the court's YouTube channel.

Three firms with offices in Tennessee have been named to Bloomberg Law's inaugural Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Framework. The list acknowledges firms that meet or exceed an established threshold of diversity, equity and inclusion. Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, Frost Brown Todd LLC and Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC were among 28 firms in the listing. Firm considered for the list were scored in both the level of disclosure of diversity-related metrics, as well as distinguished performance against standards in each of the six pillar areas: demographics, leadership and talent pipeline, recruitment and retention, business innovation and strategy, marketing, and diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the community. 

There are no court opinions in today's issue of TBA Today as state courts were closed in observation of Veterans Day. 

The Nashville branch of the NAACP today called for the closure of the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville for what it calls “barbaric treatment” of  inmates, the majority of whom are Black, News Channel 5 reports. The organization also called for the state and U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the private prison. NAACP Nashville President Sheryl Guinn said they have received an "inordinate" number of complaints about the facility, including reports about guards beating inmates until they are “bloody,” and inmates receiving inadequate medical care, if they’re allowed medical services at all.