Attorney General Wins Appeal on Key Legal Issue in National Guard Case

Tennessee Attorney General Wins Appeal on Key Legal Issue in National Guard Case

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced today that his office secured a major victory at the Tennessee Court of Appeals, which overturned a lower court's decision relating to the State's mobilization of the Tennessee National Guard in Memphis.

The case, Mayor Lee Harris et al. v. Governor Bill Lee et al., was filed by several elected officials seeking to stop the mobilization. The Court of Appeals ruled that those officials were not the proper parties to bring the lawsuit.

"This is a big win for Memphis and a big win for Tennessee. The Governor's activation of the National Guard has provided critical support for the lifesaving work of the Memphis Safe Task Force," said Attorney General Skrmetti. "This significant Court of Appeals opinion recognizes that an elected official who disagrees with this effort does not have the right to veto the Governor by filing a lawsuit. When elected officials disagree about policy, we resolve that at the ballot box, not the courts."

The National Guard was mobilized to support the Memphis Safe Task Force, a coordinated effort among federal, state, and local agencies aimed at reducing violent crime.

Because the Court determined that the plaintiffs lacked standing-a fundamental legal requirement to bring a case-it reversed the earlier lower court order that had temporarily halted the mobilization.

Read the opinion.