The American Bar Association (ABA) Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, which began its work in April, is mobilizing the nation’s lawyers and others to combat the growing trend of antisemitism, the group said in a release today. The task force plans to issue a report in August 2025 “describing the extent and immediacy of the issue and efforts undertaken by the profession to address and ameliorate instances of antisemitism and provide a path of redress,” said Nashville lawyer Barbara Mendel Mayden, co-chair of the task force. Toward that end, the task force has established working groups in the areas of K-12 education, civic and higher education, outreach to law firms, outreach to stakeholders, programming for judges and bar associations, and developing legislation and public policy.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the constitutionality of Tennessee’s “Adult Entertainment Act,” which prohibits the exhibition of obscene material to minors, reports the Associated Press. The law was challenged last summer by Memphis-based theater group Friends of George’s and the district court halted enforcement of it in Shelby County. The appeals court reversed that decision, saying, “there is no constitutional interest in exhibiting indecent material to minors.” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti applauded the court’s decision in a statement. Read the opinion.

The Defendant, Isaiah Jamal Simmons, appeals from his guilty-pleaded convictions in the Hamilton County Criminal Court for one count of attempted second degree murder, a Class B felony, aggravated stalking, a Class E felony, two counts of assault, a Class A misdemeanor, and two counts of harassment, a Class A misdemeanor. See T.C.A. §§ 39- 13-210 (2018) (second degree murder); 39-12-101 (2018) (criminal attempt); 39-17-315 (2018) (subsequently amended) (aggravated stalking); 39-13-101 (2018) (assault); 39-17- 308 (2018) (harassment). The trial court ordered the Defendant to serve his agreed-upon, ten-year sentence in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant contends the trial court abused its discretion by denying alternative sentencing and by failing to allow the defense to present argument at sentencing. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Tennessee elections officials now say that any registered voter who received a letter asking them to prove their citizenship to stay on the voting rolls will not be removed even if they do not respond to the request. The Associated Press reports that the state clarified its position in a follow-up letter to all those did not respond to the first correspondence, which was sent to more than 14,000 registered voters. According to state election officials, nearly 3,200 of those have provided proof of citizenship, while more than 300 requested to be removed from the rolls. The ACLU informed the state late last month of plans to sue if the state did not change its plans. In related news, the Nashville Banner reports in its newsletter that the Secretary of State’s office has retained a private law firm to assist with the matter. In responding to the ACLU, the firm says the original letter was an “attempt to fulfill … obligations under Tennessee law, to avoid burdening voters and to ensure a fair and efficient election.”

A Tennessee Registry of Election Finance board member is criticizing the Attorney General’s Office over its investigation of two political groups, challenging the veracity of its report and raising questions about possible bias. According to the Tennessee Lookout, registry board member Tom Lawless says the attorney general’s office “did not do even a remotely close to thorough investigation. They just went through the motions.” He plans to call leaders from the Tennessee Constitutional Republicans and the Sumner County Constitutional Republicans to come before the board and explain how they are operating without registering with the state as political action committees. Lawless previously complained about the time it took the attorney general’s office to conduct the investigation.

NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judge. Tennessee’s Adult Entertainment Act (AEA) makes it an offense to perform adult cabaret entertainment in public or in the potential presence of minors. Friends of George’s (FOG), a theater organization that performs drag shows, challenged the AEA as facially unconstitutional. The district court agreed, declaring the AEA unconstitutional in its entirety and permanently enjoining District Attorney General Steven Mulroy from enforcing it anywhere within his jurisdiction (Shelby County, Tennessee). Mulroy now appeals, challenging both FOG’s Article III standing and the merits of the injunction. FOG did not meet its burden to show standing, so we REVERSE and REMAND with instructions to DISMISS. For the reasons set forth above, we REVERSE and REMAND with instructions to DISMISS for lack of standing.

Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy and County Mayor Lee Harris has announced that judicial commissioners will now be able to view a defendant’s detailed criminal history before setting initial bail. This is a change from current practice, under which commissioners receive limited general information from the county government’s pretrial services office. Mulroy said although commissioners may call for more detailed information, not all do and it is harder to keep track of information shared over the phone. He said the change is being made to try to avoid cases in which a person is let out on bail and then reoffends, “sometimes even violently.” The new process will be implemented for all violent offenses, the Daily Memphian reports.

Defendant, Jaylon Lebron Hill, appeals his Hamilton County Criminal Court convictions for second degree murder, attempted second degree murder, reckless endangerment, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, for which he received an effective sentence of 23 years’ incarceration. On appeal, Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence and the trial court’s instructions to the jury. Finding no error, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

This appeal arises out of a petition filed by Alyssia Arnold and Donavan Levenhagen (collectively, “Appellants”) seeking visitation with three minor children, Appellants’ half-siblings. The respondent moved to dismiss Appellants’ petition for visitation due to a lack of standing. The Lincoln County Juvenile Court (“juvenile court”) granted the motion to dismiss. Appellants appealed to the Lincoln County Circuit Court (“circuit court”), which also granted a motion to dismiss. Discerning no error, we affirm.

An injunction barring the Biden administration's expansion of Title IX to transgender students will remain in effect after a three-judge panel of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the U.S. Department of Education’s appeal according to the Tennessean. Tennessee joined a group of six states to sue the administration and a federal judge in Kentucky imposed the injunction. The Nashville Banner reports that Judge Andre Mathis of Memphis dissented.