The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a federal victim restitution law constitutes criminal punishment, reviving a challenge from a convicted bank robber to a statute enacted after his crime. In a 9-0 decision, the court sided with Holsey Ellingburg Jr., who is contesting the government’s efforts to collect restitution related to a 1995 bank robbery under the 1996 Mandatory Victims Restitution Act, Bloomberg Law reports. Writing for the court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the law “is plainly criminal punishment for the purposes of the Ex Post Facto Clause,” which prohibits the government from imposing criminal penalties based on laws that were not in effect at the time of the offense. The ruling reversed a lower court decision that had rejected Ellingburg’s challenge on the grounds that the restitution statute was not criminal punishment. Justice Clarence Thomas filed a concurring opinion joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch.

The Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily suspended Sullivan County lawyer Ricky A. W. Curtis from the practice of law on Jan. 22. The court took the action after determining that Curtis failed to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility concerning one complaint of misconduct. He is immediately precluded from accepting any new cases and must cease representing existing clients by Feb. 21. The suspension will remain in effect until dissolution or modification by the court.

The Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily suspended Rutherford County lawyer Dalen L. P. Farmer from the practice of law on Jan. 22. The court took the action after determining that Farmer failed to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility concerning one complaint of misconduct. He is immediately precluded from accepting any new cases and must cease representing existing clients by Feb. 21. The suspension will remain in effect until dissolution or modification by the court.

The Chattanooga Bar Association (CBA) held its 128th annual meeting Jan. 22 at The Westin Chattanooga, bringing together members of the legal community to recognize leadership, service and professional excellence, and to elect its 2026 board of directors. According to Chattanoogan.com, members elected Keith Grant as president, Katherine Higgason Lentz as president-elect, Everett L. “Bo” Hixson Jr. as secretary and Robin Miller as treasurer. Six additional board members also were elected. The association also presented a series of awards honoring outstanding contributions to the profession and the community, including the Jac Chambliss Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented to William G. “Bill” Colvin, the Ralph H. Kelley Humanitarian Award, which was presented to Steve Jacoway, and the Harry Weill Zealous Practice of Law Award, which was presented to John Harrison.

A court-appointed mediator signed off on the first phase of an improvement plan for Tennessee's version of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), WPLN reports. A lawsuit filed last year alleged that the state was wrongly denying or cancelling benefits. Last week, the mediator approved the first phase of a remediation plan aimed at addressing systemic problems in the program, which serves about 700,000 Tennesseans and is administered by the state Department of Human Services (DHS). Early steps include providing tracking information for replacement benefit cards and revising rejection notices to clearly explain why benefits are denied or terminated. DHS says making that change on the web portal is going to take several months of tech work.

Almost two years after a federal law effectively mandated a nationwide ban on TikTok, the company has announced the formation of a new U.S.-based entity to comply with the statute. TikTok has confirmed that a joint venture made up primarily of U.S.-based investors has been formed to take over the app’s operations for American users, CBS News reports. Three firms will serve as managing investors and collectively own 45% of the company, while eight additional investors will hold 35% and original owner ByteDance will retain a 19.9% stake, just below the 20% ownership cap allowed under the law. Both the United States and China approved the deal, under which U.S. operators will retrain, test and update the app's content recommendation algorithm using data from American users. The Trump administration delayed implementation of the law several times to give the parties more time to negotiate a resolution.

Gov. Bill Lee issued a state of emergency Thursday for all 95 Tennessee counties ahead of a major winter storm forecasted to bring snow, ice, freezing rain and freezing temperatures across the state beginning as early as this evening. The order allows state agencies to mobilize resources. A winter storm watch is in effect through Sunday and dangerously cold temperatures are expected into next week. State officials said the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency is coordinating preparedness efforts, the Department of Transportation is pretreating roads, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol and National Guard are preparing to assist motorists, support emergency response and open warming centers. Residents are urged to limit travel, monitor official updates and prepare for potential power outages and hazardous conditions.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that Tennessee courts lack jurisdiction to confirm arbitration awards when the parties agree that the arbitration occur in another state, according to a press release from the Administrative Office of the Courts. In Berkeley Research Group LLC v. Southern Advanced Materials LLC, the parties entered into a contract providing that any disputes would be resolved through arbitration in Philadelphia. When a dispute arose, the parties conducted arbitration over Zoom with the arbitrator located in Philadelphia. The arbitrator ruled in favor of Berkeley Research Group, which then filed a case in Shelby County Chancery Court to confirm the arbitration award. The Supreme Court held that under the Uniform Arbitration Act, Tennessee courts do not have subject matter jurisdiction to confirm an out-of-state arbitration award.

As Shelby County grapples with growing caseloads, state Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, is exploring splitting the 30th Judicial District. Taylor told The Tennessee Journal that splitting the county would involve either waiting for the Judicial Redistricting Committee’s recommendation due by 2027 or changing state law. “We've not done a statewide judicial redistricting since the 1980s, so it's been like 40 years,” he said. In 2024, Taylor recommended that Memphis-area suburbs split from the county court system and hire their own district attorney.

In anticipation of inclement weather this weekend in Tennessee, the state legislature has made changes to its schedule. The Senate has cancelled committee meetings and floor sessions for all of next week. The House has delayed floor proceedings until Wednesday. The deadline for filing legislative proposals remains unchanged for Feb. 2. The Tennessee Journal reported on the change.