The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and Chattanooga Chapter of the Federal Bar Association have announced the winners of the 6th Annual Civics Essay Contest, which centered on the question of whether social media platforms have a right to restrict political speech. Students were invited to share their views on laws that seek to regulate how social media platforms restrict, moderate and prioritize user-posted political content. Middle school winners are: Liam Smitherman (1st Place), William Lacy (2nd Place) and Anders Porth (3rd Place). High school winners are: Ryan Matthews (1st Place), Gracie Hibbs (2nd Place) and Amiya Phade (3rd place). All winners will receive cash prizes at a ceremony at the Joel W. Solomon United States Courthouse in Chattanooga on May 2 at 4:30 p.m. EDT.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has directed Davidson County lawyer Howard MacCarthur Romaine to resolve outstanding obligations with the Tennessee Department of Revenue, the Appellate Court Cost Center and the Board of Professional Responsibility by June 10 or it will dismiss his petition for reinstatement to active status. Romaine petitioned the court on March 25 to have his law license transferred from disability inactive status to active status. He has been on disability inactive status since Jan. 24, 2017.

American Bar Association (ABA) Business Law Section has established a Model Business Corporation Act Resource Center, a web-based tool that provides easy, public access to the current version of the Model Business Corporation Act (MBCA). The MBCA is a model act promulgated and periodically amended by the section’s Corporate Laws Committee. It provides a modern body of statutory corporate law that is regularly updated by the committee based on judicial decisions, recent legislative enactments and other legal and technological developments. According to the ABA, Tennessee has adopted the MBCA and codified it in Tennessee Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 48-11-101 et seq. Read more in a news release from the group.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has announced that Tennessee has received a payment of $146.1 million this year from major tobacco companies that joined the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. Since 1998, Tennessee has received $3.9 billion from the settlement. The landmark agreement resolved Tennessee’s lawsuit against major tobacco companies for violations of consumer protection laws and deceptive marketing practices that caused damages to the state, including increased health care costs. Read more about the settlement.

The ACLU of Tennessee has challenged a state rule governing what gender is listed on a person's driver's license, the Tennessean reports. The organization filed the lawsuit on behalf of a Monroe County transgender woman and asked the court to block the rule. In 2023, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a law defining a person's sex based on "immutable" physical and genetic characteristics at birth. That same year, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security implemented the policy that it would not change driver's license gender markers to something different than the sex given on a person's original birth certificate. In addition to arguing that the policy discriminates, the ACLU says the department did not go through the appropriate procedures required for creating a new rule under state law.

Shelby County lawyer Kelvin Arthur Massey received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court on April 23. The court found that while under active suspension from the practice of law, Massey engaged in unauthorized practice by providing legal advice, drafting legal documents, providing legal services, and holding out to the public that he was an attorney licensed to practice law in Tennessee. His actions were determined to violate Rules of Professional Conduct 3.4(c), 5.5(b)(2) and 8.4(g).

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) new rules barring non-compete agreements for most employees, released yesterday, already have been challenged in two suits. The first was filed yesterday by a tax service in Texas. Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed in a different federal court in Texas. That suit alleges that the FTC lacks the power to adopt such sweeping rules. The ban, announced yesterday, is set to take effect in August, Reuters reports.

The state House on Monday passed HB1663/SB1834, sponsored by Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, and Sen. Jack Johnson. R-Franklin, which would authorize the death penalty to be considered in the sentencing of a person convicted of rape, aggravated rape and especially aggravated rape of a child. The legislation prohibits a person with an intellectual disability from being given the death penalty for any offense. Having already passed in the state Senate, the legislation now goes to Gov. Bill Lee, WATE reports. The bill may contradict a 2008 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, but supporters say the current court may rule differently. On Wednesday, the House gave final approval to legislation requiring websites with “substantial” amounts of sexual content to verify the age of users. Those who do not create systems to block minors’ access could face felony charges. The Tennessee Journal reports on this legislation.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee has “unchecked authority” under Tennessee law to pick whoever he wants to run the state Education Department, according to a new legal opinion issued by Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. In the opinion, Skermetti writes: “… the General Assembly chose to grant the Governor unchecked authority to appoint the Commissioner of Education. It could have, but did not, subject the Governor’s choice to legislative confirm[ation]. Nor did it require a ‘certificate of qualification’ from some expert third-party board, as past laws had. In lieu of such checks, the General Assembly determined that the Governor should unilaterally judge who had the attainments necessary to lead the State’s Department of Education." The opinion came in response to an inquiry as to whether the legislature or any other party has the authority to challenge the governor’s choice for the position. Read press coverage from the Tennessee Journal.

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