Tennessee National Guard allowed in Memphis while state appeals

The Tennessee National Guard will continue to patrol the streets of Memphis while the state appeals a decision to halt deployment. (Photo: Karen Pulfer Focht/Tennessee Lookout)

Gov. Bill Lee’s deployment of the Tennessee National Guard in Memphis will continue as the state appeals the ruling. 

Davidson County Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal issued a temporary injunction Monday blocking Lee’s deployment of the national guard, agreeing with the plaintiffs that it likely violated the “terms and conditions of Tennessee’s Military Code.” But she told the state that if they appealed her ruling, which they did, she would lift the injunction during the appeal process. 

Moskal formally lifted her injunction on Wednesday.

Lee assigned members of the national guard to patrol the streets of Memphis starting in October as part of a task force created by President Donald Trump a month earlier. 

Tennessee governor to appeal ruling against Guard in Memphis

The Memphis Safe Task Force is made up of hundreds of state and federal law enforcement officers working in conjunction with local law enforcement. This case does not impact its work in Memphis. 

It’s unclear how many national guard personnel are stationed in Memphis. The Memphis police said there are about 200, but recent court filings indicate more than 700 are currently there.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and several other local and state lawmakers filed the lawsuit to block the guard’s deployment, arguing that the Tennessee Constitution only allows it to be used in “circumstances amounting to a rebellion or invasion,” and “even then, the legislature must declare, by law, that the public safety requires it.”

Attorneys representing Lee and the state contend that deploying the national guard falls within the governor’s authority and that the judiciary has no oversight on the executive decision.

Moskal noted in her Monday ruling that Lee never issued an official order, putting out a press release about the deployment after Trump signed a memo creating the task force. The Tennessee legislature also never voted to send Guard personnel to Memphis, as required by law, and Shelby County leaders didn’t request the deployment.