A city court judge found that former state legislator Jeremy Durham violated Hendersonville’s short-term vacation rental ordinance nearly a dozen times between Dec. 26, 2022, and April 15, 2023, reports the Hendersonville Standard. Durham's company J and J Ventures LLC has been ordered to pay court costs and a $550 fine for illegally operating a vacation rental property. Durham has 10 days to appeal the ruling to Sumner County Circuit Court. The city defines a short-term or vacation rental as a unit or structure rented and/or used exclusively by a person or group for lodging for less than 30 days.

Circuit Court Judge Mark Rogers will retire Aug. 31, the Tennessean reports. Rogers has presided over the 16th Judicial District for 19 years, hearing cases in Rutherford and Cannon counties. He was appointed to the seat in 2004 by former Gov. Phil Bredesen, replacing retired Circuit Court Judge Steve Daniel. Rogers won three eight-year terms starting in 2006 as a Democrat and in 2014 and 2022 as an independent. The Tennessee Trial Court Vacancy Commission will conduct screening interviews with applicants for the seat on Aug. 30 at 9 a.m. CDT at the Rutherford County Courthouse in Murfreesboro. The commission will choose three finalists for Gov. Bill Lee to consider for appointment to finish Rogers’ term. 

The U.S. Supreme Court today granted Mountain Valley Pipeline’s request to lift stays imposed by a lower court that had halted construction of the final section of a 303-mile natural gas pipeline through the federally owned Jefferson National Forest, reports Reuters. The $6.6 billion project has been embroiled in litigation since construction began in 2018. The pipeline, which extends into Appalachia, is considered key to unlocking the biggest shale gas-producing basin in the U.S. Environmentalists say the project would pollute soil and water in the forest and increase the use of natural gas, a leading greenhouse gas emitter.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced today it is opening a civil rights investigation into the City of Memphis and the Memphis Police Department to determine whether there are systemic violations of the Constitution or federal law, reports the Commercial Appeal. The investigation will focus on MPD’s use of force and stops, searches and arrests and whether it engages in discriminatory policing. The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division and attorney Kevin G. Ritz for the Western District of Tennessee. The investigation will include riding with city police officers and holding community meetings. The announcement comes six months after Memphis police officers beat 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, who died from his injuries three days later. Read Ritz's statement.

The share of Americans with a favorable opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to its lowest point in public opinion surveys dating to 1987, the Pew Research Center reports. A new survey shows that fewer than half of Americans express a favorable opinion of the court, while a narrow majority have an unfavorable view. Opinions of the court have become somewhat less positive since April, when about half of Americans had a favorable impression. The center reports that this data marks the first time in its polling that the public’s views of the Supreme Court are significantly more negative than positive. Read more about the recent findings.

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission next month will consider applicants for two court openings. Five applicants for a vacancy on the 16th Judicial District Circuit Court will be reviewed when the commission meets on Aug. 30. They are: Terry A. Fann, Stephen E. Grauberger, Derek R. Howard, R. Michelle Howser and Micheal A. Jones. The commission will meet in the Historic Courthouse’s Rutherford County Commission Meeting Room in Murfreesboro at 9 a.m. CDT. The vacancy is being created by the upcoming retirement of Judge J. Mark Rogers on Sept. 1. Then on Aug. 31, the commission will meet in Franklin to consider four applicants for the 21st Judicial District Circuit Court. They are: Russell D. Gill, B. Todd Martin, Erin W. Nations and David H. Veile. The meeting will take place at 9 a.m. CDT in the Mayor and Aldermen Board Room at Franklin City Hall. This vacancy is being created by the upcoming retirement of Judge Michael W. Binkley on Sept. 29. The commission is expected to vote immediately following each of the meetings and forward three names for each district to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration.

Rutherford County lawyer Jimmy Leo Richardson received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court today. Richardson was appointed to represent a father in a dependency and neglect petition involving a child but ceased representing the father. He then began representing the mother in an action to modify the permanent parenting plan. The court found that the two matters were substantially related, that the mother’s interests were materially adverse to the father’s interests, and the father did not give informed consent in writing for Richardson to represent the mother. The court found Richardson’s actions violated Rule of Professional Conduct 1.9.

Former House Speaker Glen Casada has filed a motion to dismiss federal corruption charges against him, Tennessee Lookout reports. A federal trial for Casada and his former aide Cade Cothren is scheduled to begin Oct. 3. In the motion, Casada argues that the charges against him are inflated and that the lawmakers who did business with a vendor called Phoenix Solutions received the services they requested. Prosecutors accuse Casada of concealing Cothren’s identity as the vendor and directing House business to Cothren in return for kickbacks.

President Joe Biden signed a proclamation yesterday to establish the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, the Associated Press reports. The monument will cover three sites in two states. The first of the sites will be at the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Till’s open-casket funeral took place. The other two will be in Mississippi: one at Graball Landing, where Till’s body was believed to be pulled from the Tallahatchie River, and one at the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse, where Till’s killers were acquitted. Till, who would have turned 82 yesterday, was killed in 1955 after a 21-year-old woman accused him of whistling at her. The killing, and the acquittal of the killers, helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement.

State health officials recently disqualified Nashville CARES — a nonprofit sexual health clinic that connects low-income HIV-positive individuals with federally subsidized medical care — from receiving grant funds under the federal Ryan White Insurance Assistance Program, Tennessee Lookout reports. Nashville CARES is now suing, alleging that decision was “illegal" and "arbitrary" and involved an "unlawful procedure.” The nonprofit’s lawyers are asking that state officials be ordered to restart the process of vetting organizations for the funding. The state argues that the nonprofit is effectively a pass-through to a for-profit subcontractor that provides the bulk of the service. Nashville CARES disputes that characterization.