State Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and the nonprofit Adoption Project are teaming up to boost public awareness about “adoption facilitators”: unlicensed, unregulated persons or entities that act as middlemen between expectant birth parents and adoptive parents. The groups say these “matchmakers” — who often are from out of state and charge large, nonrefundable upfront fees — are an increasing problem in the state. Skrmetti spoke to the issue in a video released last month as part of National Adoption Month. Local News 3 has more on the story.

Tennessee’s hemp industry is making a last-ditch legal effort to halt new rules from the state Department of Agriculture that would ban the sale of hemp products, which have been legally available in the state since 2019. The Tennessee Lookout reports that attorneys representing hemp retailers and producer associations will be in court next week to fight new testing rules scheduled to take effect Dec. 26. The rules would bar the manufacture, distribution and sale of many of the best-selling hemp products that have helped drive a nascent state industry to generate $280-$560 million in sales annually. The rules require products to be tested for the first time for so-called TCHA content, a naturally occurring and still-legal substance found in all hemp plants.

Memphis-area defense attorneys are sounding the alarm about conditions at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center, also known as 201 Poplar, following the November death of an inmate in the jail’s intake area. Attorneys who spoke with The Daily Memphian noted long wait times for booking and processing into the jail and inadequate living conditions in intake, including a lack of beds and overcrowded holding cells. Booking and processing, which should normally take just a few hours, is taking days, the lawyers said. Data from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office confirms these observations, the paper reports.

The struggle over the Swan Ball is over, the Nashville Business Journal reports. The annual gala, which has benefited Cheekwood Botanical Garden for the last 61 years, will live on but no longer will benefit that nonprofit. The agreement settles competing lawsuits filed by the tourist attraction and a group of volunteers who plan the white-tie gala. The dispute between the two groups burst into public view midsummer, when planners accused the garden of "planning a coup" to take control of the gala. Cheekwood hit back, arguing in a countersuit that it controlled the Swan Ball. It also accused the volunteers of "increasingly extravagant" spending that made the gala costlier to hold. The volunteer group will retain the Swan Ball trademark and name. Its 2025 event will take place on June 7 and benefit Friends of Warner Park, a nonprofit that raises money to beautify and improve the Edwin Warner and Percy Warner parks, which border Cheekwood's property.

Scott Golden, chair of the Tennessee Republican Party, has been reelected to a fifth term as leader of the party. Golden was challenged by Nashvillian Lulu Elam, a party executive committee member, but received 49 votes to Elam’s 10 votes. Golden will be the first person in more than 80 years to serve a fifth term in the role. "It's just amazing how intertwined I've been with this organization throughout my life," Golden told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. "It's really been my life calling, and it's a great honor to serve as chairman."

The U.S. Supreme Court appeared to lean toward upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors during a hearing on the law, The Hill reports. The court heard more than 2 1/2 hours of oral arguments, with several justices questioning the Biden administration’s claim that the benefits of administering puberty blockers and hormone treatments to some adolescents with gender dysphoria outweigh the risks. The Tennessee Attorney's General Office argued the law is necessary to protect children from "irreversible and unproven gender transition procedures." In a statement, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said, "Tennessee’s General Assembly reviewed the medical evidence, as well as the evidence-based decisions of European countries that restricted these procedures, and ultimately passed this bipartisan law prohibiting irreversible medical interventions." The ACLU of Tennessee also issued a statement on the proceeding. A decision in the case, United States v. Skrmetti, is expected by summer. Listen to the proceeding or read a transcript from the court.

The most recent installment of TBA's Indigent Representation Primer is now available. This week's post looks at the role and significance of guardians ad litem, including specifics of Tennessee's procedures. Read more about Tennessee's system of indigent defense and see past primer posts here.

Are you interested in serving on TBA's Board of Governors or House of Delegates, or as a TBA delegate to the American Bar Association House of Delegates? The 2025 Election Notice has more information on what positions are open and the qualifications for each. Questions? Visit the TBA’s website at www.tba.org/election_guidelines. The deadline to apply is Jan. 15, 2025.

Legislation to significantly expand the federal judiciary cleared the U.S. House today, Bloomberg Law reports. It now moves to the desk of President Joe Biden, who has pledged to veto the measure. In a statement, the White House said the bill "would create new judgeships in states where senators have sought to hold open existing judicial vacancies," suggesting that caseload is not the primary concern behind the bill. Earlier this year, the Senate passed the proposal to add 66 judgeships in 25 federal district courts in 13 states. The bill is designed to alleviate pressure from overburdened benches over the next decade. Hundreds of judges have taken the rare step of publicly advocating for the bill, arguing that federal caseloads have increased more than 30% since Congress last passed legislation to comprehensively expand the judiciary.

The Tennessee Department of Revenue will host a free webinar on Dec. 17 on the consumer use tax. All Tennessee residents, as well as businesses operating in the state, must pay use tax when goods are purchased from outside the state of Tennessee and brought or shipped into the state and the seller did not collect sales tax on the purchase. Learn more or register here. The webinar is one in a series of educational sessions held by the department each month.