Nearly six months after he was cleared by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the appointment of Memphis attorney Andre B. Mathis to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals remains stalled in the U.S. Senate, the Daily Memphian reports. Mathis, a partner at Butler Snow, would replace fellow Memphian Bernice Donald, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2010 and plans to take senior status. He is one of 17 judicial nominees of President Joe Biden awaiting a floor vote by the Senate.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday filed its final judgement overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade abortions right case, triggering a 30-day countdown to Tennessee’s near-total abortion ban, the Tennessean reports.  The “trigger ban” is set to supersede the six-week ban that has been in place since June. It contains no exceptions for rape or incest or for victims of child sexual abuse. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery released a statement this afternoon announcing he had notified the Tennessee Code Commission of the judgement which, per the trigger ban legislation, is required of him for the countdown to begin. The ban will take effect on Aug. 25.

Attorney General Herbert Slatery is leading a 22-state coalition of attorneys general who are seeking to stop the Biden Administration’s enforcement of federal anti-discrimination laws, WPLN reports. The lawsuit challenges guidance from the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) that recognized protections for LGBT students and employees under Title IX. Under that guidance, any state, local agency or program receiving FNS funds would risk losing funding for discrimination based on gender or sexuality. Slatery released a statement today calling the measure an “expansive and unlawful interpretation of federal antidiscrimination laws.” The coalition is asking the court to declare the USDA memoranda and rule invalid and unlawful and to prohibit enforcement. 

Longtime Collegedale City Judge Kevin Wilson says the state attorney general’s office has informed him that there are no prohibitions blocking him from also serving as the judge in East Ridge, the Chattanoogan reports. In order for Wilson to keep his part-time judgeship in East Ridge, Ordinance #1166, which “amends the city charter to allow the City Court judge to hold another part-time elected judicial position,” must pass. The ordinance will appear on the Aug. 4 ballot.

The deadline to apply for the award-winning TBA Public Service Academy (PSA) has been extended until Friday. The PSA is a bipartisan, statewide effort to encourage attorneys to take on public service leadership roles in their communities and run for office. Those accepted for the program will take part in a two-day program Sept. 8-9, and a two-day program Nov. 18-19. Both sessions will be in Nashville featuring top political and campaign experts. You can apply online now or encourage your friends and colleagues who have aspirations for public service to apply.

Memphis nonprofit Just City has released a 76-page report on the state of youth justice in Shelby County, the Commercial Appeal reports. The organization commissioned Joshua Perry, former executive director of the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, to research and create the report, which tracked changes in the system during and after the six years that the U.S. Department of Justice monitored the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County. Among the key findings in Perry’s report were a lack of transparency in the county’s juvenile system and a vast racial disparity among youth transferred to adult court. According to the report, from 2012-2021 93.9% of youth transferred in the county were Black, while in 2020 only 60.2% of the under-20 population was Black. Read the report and its recommendations here.

Save the date for a networking event hosted by the Tennessee Stonewall Bar Association and the Tennessee Lawyer’s Association for Women. The event will take place on Aug. 11 at 5:30 p.m. CDT at Pins Mechanical, 1102 Grundy St., Nashville. More information will be released soon.

West Tennessee Legal Services Inc. (WTLS) has two immediate openings in its Jackson office for a staff attorney and a VOCA attorney. The staff attorney position will work in WTLS’ Housing Unit under a new HUD-funded grant aimed at providing comprehensive eviction prevention legal services to families living at or below 80% of the area AMI. The VOCA attorney position participates with staff in its legal, advocacy, collaboration and outreach efforts and directly represents clients.  Get details on the TBA's JobLink platform.

Mark your calendars for TBA CLE’s 2022 Environmental Law Forum, scheduled for Dec. 2 in Nashville. Details on the program’s agenda and speakers will be forthcoming.

More than one month after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade abortion rights case, Tennessee officials are still unclear on when the state’s anti-abortion “trigger ban” will take effect, the Associated Press reports. The ban, which would restrict abortion almost entirely, cannot be enacted until within 30 days after the Supreme Court enters a judgement on the Roe ruling. Attorney General Herbert Slatery said in June that the state could enforce the law by mid-August, but a spokesperson for the office yesterday said they were “not sure” if that timeline was still in place. State Democrats have already said they’ll introduce legislation to expand the list of exemptions under the law. Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City, who was a co-sponsor of the 2019 trigger ban legislation, told a legislative panel last week that he’d spoken with groups who think lawmakers should “fine-tune the trigger bill somewhat to make sure that we don’t get our docs in trouble when they’re trying to follow the law.”