What are the legal focuses of the Tennessee Attorney General's office?

Ranging from as modest as a tire damaged on a state-operated road to billion-dollar legal matters involving education, the Tennessee Attorney General's office has about 16,000 open cases at any given time.

Led by the state's 28th Attorney General and Reporter Jonathan Skrmetti, his office represents Tennessee in all civil litigation, including cases of bankruptcy, state taxes and employment.

The highest-ranking legal officer in the state, Skrmetti has an army of 200 additional attorneys working in the AG's office.

In a Wednesday visit to Jackson's Rotary Club, he touched on some of the most important cases his office currently handles.

"I'm not going to come in and second guess the General Assembly, second guess Congress about what the law should be, but I know what the structure is and I know what the process is, and as the the attorney general my job is to guard and protect that process to make sure that Tennessee is able to govern itself to the fullest extent that our constitution and the U.S. Constitution allow," Skrmetti said.

More: TN Attorney General discusses social media impact on young users during Jackson visit

More: Tennessee attorney general discusses big tech's impact on kids, dangers of social media

Transgender litigation

With an increase in legislation about transgender rights, particularly in states like Tennessee, so has ensued an increase in transgender-related litigation.

"There's been a huge culture shift in parts of the country, and we're seeing the legal ramifications of that," he said. "We have to fight through where the law comes from, whether it's imposed on the people or whether it comes from the people."

Signed by Gov. Bill Lee in March 2023, SB1/HB1 has since prompted litigation over its prohibition of gender-affirming care to minors.

This impedes a doctor's legal ability to provide any irreversible surgeries and treatments like hormone and puberty blockers to those under 18.

Among the ongoing legal battles is L.W. v. Skrmetti. L.W. is a 15-year-old transgender daughter to Brian and Samantha Williams of Nashville, and among those pushing back on the state's ban on gender-affirming care.

In response to SB1/HB1, Skrmetti says that the state "almost immediately got sued" by entities including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.

In July 2023, the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals lifted a temporary injunction to block the law, filed by federal Judge Eli Richardson.

"We were the first state to get a win in federal court on one of these laws," Skrmetti said.

"The DOJ and ACLU immediately turned around and asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review this case and to reverse what our court of appeals said."

The AG's office is still waiting to hear from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Security and protection

In what Skrmetti described as the "catastrophic psychological impact" that social media has had on today's youth, his office is part of a multi-state coalition legally pursuing companies like Meta and TikTok.

Young users are experiencing higher rates of anxiety, depression, suicide, sleep deprivation and exposure to predatory behavior and bullying as a result of social media.

"You have these very sophisticated sites that are designed to keep people engaged and the mechanisms they use to do that have an outsized impact on kids brains," Skrmetti said.

On a much smaller scale, he says that as the move towards solar energy has increased, so have the number of scams. Some companies have encouraged consumers to finance their solar panels with the promise that they would ultimately be making money.

"These people go $50-100,000 in debt," he said. "Well it turns out the solar panels they get are cheap pieces of garbage that don't work and the finance company has them on the hook for huge money, so people are being misled."

Skrmetti says injunctions are being filed against these companies and restitution is being sought for consumers.

Sarah Best is a reporter for The Jackson Sun. To support local journalism, subscribe to the Daily Briefing here.

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Tennessee Attorney General shares some of the state's legal focuses