Constitution Day and Citizenship Day are celebrated every Sept. 17 as a way to commemorate the formation and signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. This week is also recognized as Constitution Week. Many resources are available online for those who want to learn more about the Constitution, including constitutionday.com. For this year’s celebration, President Joe Biden’s presidential proclamation is also available.

National law firm Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani has moved to a larger office in Williamson County, the Nashville Post reports. The firm opened in downtown Nashville in late 2018 but later relocated to Franklin. Now it is moving to larger space at McEwen Northside. “We outgrew our current space more quickly than anticipated and began looking for a location that could support our current and long-term growth strategies and client priorities,” said Tennessee managing partner Heather Gwinn Pabon. The firm’s new address is 4031 Aspen Grove Dr., Ste. 290, Franklin, TN 37067. The office can be reached at 615-772-9000.

Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, has named a special committee to oversee the ongoing redistricting process ahead of 2022 elections, Nashville Post reports. The committee will be chaired by Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, with vice chairs Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, and Senate Minority Caucus Chair Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis. The committee also includes Speaker Pro Tempore Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, Majority Caucus Chair Ken Yager, R-Kingston, Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, and Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon. In related news, the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office has launched a new online dashboard that gives county government officials and residents a better understanding of how county commission districts must change in response to the 2020 U.S. Census. Mainstreet Nashville has more about that resource.

Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich’s office announced yesterday that officers were justified in the 2019 deadly shooting of Willie Hudson Jr., the Commercial Appeal reports. The office found that Hudson fired at officers who were trying to arrest him on warrants for attempted first degree murder and being a felon in possession of a handgun. When officers discovered Hudson hiding in a compartment behind a bookcase, they attempted to move the bookcase. It was then that Hudson began shooting at officers, seriously wounding one of them.

The Sumner County Youth Empowerment (SCYE) program is Tennessee’s first juvenile mental health court, and it welcomed its first case recently, the Administrative Office of the Courts reports. The intensive probation and treatment program is designed to help vulnerable youth avoid the adult court system. General Sessions and Juvenile Court Judge David R. Howard, who oversees the new court, said the idea came from a conversation with Judge Mike Carter, who started the county’s adult mental health court. Ultimately, the program was modeled after a juvenile drug court program in Texas. SCYE requires a nine to 12-month commitment from participants and their families. 

A federal judge has approved a bankruptcy settlement for OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma that will shield members of the Sackler family, who own the company, from future opioid-related claims, The Hill reports. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain signed off on the settlement plan during a six-hour bench ruling, setting the stage for the dissolution of the company. Its assets will be transferred to a new firm owned by a trust and run to combat the opioid crisis. The settlement money will go to government entities, which have agreed to use it to address the opioid crisis, along with individual victims and their families. Purdue, the maker of OxyContin, filed for bankruptcy in 2019 in an attempt to settle about 3,000 lawsuits that its aggressive opioid marketing contributed to the opioid crisis that has killed nearly 500,000 people over the past 20 years.

A Washington, D.C., federal judge yesterday blocked the Biden administration from expelling migrant families with children apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border under a public health order, WSMV reports. Judge Emmet Sullivan acknowledged that the ruling will force the government to make difficult decisions, but determined there are enough measures that can be taken to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. According to CNN, the government has used Title 42 authority to expel 958,000 migrants since its implementation during the Trump administration.

There is a renewed push for a special session to ban mask and vaccine mandates in Tennessee after President Joe Biden announced new vaccine requirements, WATE reports. Previous calls for a special session fell silent after Gov. Bill Lee issued an executive order allowing parents to opt their children out of school mask mandates. Some Republican lawmakers say it is time to respond to the new federal COVID guidelines and examine Gov. Lee’s emergency powers. 

U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman today renewed a preliminary injunction against Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order requiring school districts to offer an opt-out of any mask mandates, the Commercial Appeal reports. The previous restraining order from Lipman was set to expire today. Her new decision allows the Shelby County Health Department to continue issuing mask requirements for schools while the governor’s order is challenged in court. That suit was brought by three families whose children have disabilities and special health needs that make them more susceptible to contracting severe cases of COVID-19. A similar case is also pending in East Tennessee.

Services have now been announced for Nashville lawyer Jim Cheek III, a top corporate and securities lawyers and a Bass Berry & Sims mainstay for more than five decades. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. CDT on Oct. 9 at Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Cheek Business Law Scholars Program at Vanderbilt University Law School, Montgomery Bell Academy or Cheekwood. The firm is also collecting condolences and tributes for the Cheek family via tributes@bassberry.com. Read more about his career from the law school.