Jonathan Skrmetti
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Jonathan Thomas Skrmetti (born 1977) is an American attorney and public official. He serves as the 28th
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
and Reporter for the state of Tennessee.


Education

Skrmetti earned degrees from
George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...
and
Hertford College Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colle ...
,
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
. While earning his Juris Doctor from
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
, he served as the editor-in-chief of the ''
Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy The ''Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy'' (JLPP) is a law review at Harvard Law School published by an independent student group. It has served as the flagship journal of the Federalist Society. Established by Spencer Abraham and Stephen Eberh ...
''.


Career

Skrmetti previously clerked for Judge Steven Colloton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. As an adjunct professor, he taught cyberlaw at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphrey's School of Law. Before entering private practice, Skrmetti served as a federal prosecutor for almost a decade, first with the
Civil Rights Division The Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. The division was established on December 9, 1957, b ...
of the
U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...
, and then as an
Assistant U.S. Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...
in
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...
from 2011 to 2014. Skrmetti was also a partner at Butler Snow LLP in
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...
. He was one of eleven Tennessee attorneys who applied to fill the vacancy on the
Tennessee Supreme Court The Tennessee Supreme Court is the highest court in the state of Tennessee. The Supreme Court's three buildings are seated in Nashville, Knoxville, and Jackson, Tennessee. The Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, and four justice ...
when Justice Cornelia Clark died in 2021, before serving as Chief Counsel to Governor Bill Lee from December 2021 to August 2022. Jonathan Skrmetti was Chief Deputy Attorney General under
Herbert Slatery Herbert H. Slatery III (born March 8, 1952) is an American attorney from the state of Tennessee. A Republican, he served as the Attorney General of Tennessee from 2014 to 2022. Early life Herbert Slatery received his bachelor's degree from the ...
from December 2018 through December 2021.


Arguing against Instagram Kids

AG Slatery's office had attempted to specifically investigate Instagram back in 2021 and TikTok in 2022. Skrmetti, as Chief Deputy Attorney General, argued against the then-planned Instagram for kids only, stating that the platform would be a means of having children become accustomed to social media when they are "psychologically vulnerable."


Attorney General of Tennessee

Skrmetti was appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court to serve an eight-year term on August 10, 2022, and was sworn in on September 1, 2022. Tennessee is the only state in the country where the State Supreme Court appoints the attorney general as a non-partisan member of the Judicial Branch. In his role as AG and Reporter of Tennessee, Skrmetti has instituted a strategic litigation unit with ten attorneys to focus on pending litigation involving the federal government, various Tennessee municipalities, and to focus on corporate activity within the state.


Environmental issues


= ''State of Tennessee v. 3M et al.''

= On May 31, 2023, Skrmetti filed suit against twenty-one named manufacturers of products using
PFAs Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (also PFAS, PFASs, and informally referred to as "forever chemicals") are a group of synthetic organofluorine chemical compounds that have multiple fluorine atoms attached to an alkyl chain; there are 7 millio ...
and ten unnamed. The suit focuses on the manufacture and sale of AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam) throughout the state rather than on the various consumer products which contain PFAs. Skrmetti contends that the manufacturers not only knew about the risk PFAs pose to both organisms and the environment, but that they also concealed the level of harm the chemicals could cause in order to raise their profits. The suit further claims that some of the named companies attempted to protect themselves from liability through fraud.


= Opposing changes to Title IX

= Shortly after being sworn into office, AG Skrmetti issued a letter to the
US Department of Education US or Us most often refers to: * ''Us'' (pronoun), the objective case of the English first-person plural pronoun ''we'' * US, an abbreviation for the United States US, U.S., Us, us, or u.s. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Albums * ...
in opposition to adding "gender identity" to the wording of
Title IX Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receiv ...
. In January 2023, he filed a brief in support of a 2022 injunction against a sports competition under West Virginia's 2021 "Save Women's Sports Act" preventing transgender students from participating in athletics on teams of "the opposite biological sex". The focus of the WV law is on
trans women A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...
athletes, claiming that their
assigned gender at birth Sex assignment (also known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex, typically made at birth based on an examination of the baby's external genitalia by a healthcare provider such as a midwife, nurse, or physician. In the v ...
provides them an unfair advantage thus undoing the very protections established by
Title IX Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receiv ...
.


= ''Friends of George's v. State of Tennessee''

= In March 2023, the LGBTQIA
theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
Friends of George's filed lawsuits against the State of Tennessee, AG Skrmetti, and Shelby County DA Steve Mulroy. The suits argued that the vague language of a new state law restricting public drag performances (defining
drag performers Drag or The Drag may refer to: Places * Drag, Norway, a village in Tysfjord municipality, Nordland, Norway * ''Drág'', the Hungarian name for Dragu Commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Drag (Austin, Texas), the portion of Guadalupe Street a ...
as
cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
and likening
drag show A drag show is a form of entertainment performed by drag (entertainment), drag artists impersonating men or women, typically in a bar or nightclub as a burlesque-style, adult-themed nightclub event. The modern drag show originated in the speake ...
s to
strip club A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...
s) made it impossible to know what activity exactly it intended to curtail, especially in how the state law might be infringing on
First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...
protected speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...
. When Judge Thomas Parker ruled on June 2, 2023, that the law did violate Constitutionally protected speech, he pointed out that it was "substantially overbroad" despite the State's argument that the law would only apply to "expressive content that is harmful to a reasonable 17-year-old". Skrmetti had been a named defendant in the suit, and joined filings before Judge Parker reached his decision: a
motion to dismiss In United States law, a motion is a procedural device to bring a limited, contested issue before a court for decision. It is a request to the judge (or judges) to make a decision about the case. Motions may be made at any point in administrativ ...
the case due to failure to state a claim and a motion to dismiss due to lack of
jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...
. Both of these motions were granted as Skrmetti was determined to be acting in his role as AG. Skremtti has filed a Notice of Appeal of Judge Parker's decision, pointing out that the same language Parker found to be vague is present throughout the Tennessee Code.


= ''Hannah Miyamoto v. Bill Lee, et. al.''

= Retired attorney Hannah Miyamoto (registered with the Hawaii bar) filed suit against Bill Lee, AG Skrmetti, and Davidson County DA Glenn R. Funk (all named) on March 8, 2023, in the
Southern District of California The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are app ...
, where she currently resides. The suit has been assigned Tennessee case number 3:23cv-00233. She alleges that the TAEA, which AG Skrmetti has held is still in effect throughout Tennessee except in Shelby County, prevents her from being able to perform her play, ''Twelve Nights with Viola and Olivia'', in Nashville at TPAC. The play is based on Shakespeare's ''
Twelfth Night, or What You Will ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...
'', in which one of the main characters, Viola, spends the majority of the play impersonating a man. The case is currently pending. Governor Lee has stated that he is deferring to Skrmetti with respect to whether the TAEA is enforceable outside of Shelby County.


Consumer protection


= Ticketmaster

= After ticket sales for
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
's Eras Tour rose to as much as $28,000 per ticket on
Ticketmaster Ticketmaster Entertainment, LLC is an American ticket sales and distribution company based in Beverly Hills, California, with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010, it merged with Live Nation under the name Live Nation Ente ...
, Skrmetti opened an investigation into possible violations of
antitrust laws Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
, saying that the issue consumers experienced in obtaining tickets might be an indication of not enough competition, though Ticketmaster and
LiveNation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American multinational entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It promotes, operates and manages ticket sales for live entertainment internatio ...
's merger has been approved through 2025 by the
US Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equ ...
. The incident did result in the DOJ once again probing the companies for breach of antitrust laws. A statement from one of Ticketmaster's shareholders stated that the fiasco was caused by
bots The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...
, which may have put the company in violation of a 2008 bot-ban law passed in Tennessee. One area of concern Skrmetti said would be investigated was whether Ticketmaster/LiveNation profited off of the sales of the tickets twice, as well as what consumers were promised regarding ticket availability. Skrmetti clarified that the concern isn't that everyone who wants a ticket be able to purchase one, but that Ticketmaster made specific claims regarding the service they offer and the quality of that service, and because there is little to no competition, Ticketmaster has no incentive to provide what was promised. Though there had been no official update from the AG's office since December 14, 2022, Skrmetti did tell ''Time'' magazine in January 2023 that the investigation is still ongoing and that the evidence found so far "is not entirely consistent" with Ticketmaster's statement that their large market share is due to the difference in quality between their system and "the next best primary ticketing system". When opening the investigation, Skrmetti stated, "If it's a
consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...
violation and we can find exactly where the problems are, we can get a court order that makes the company do better."


= ''State of Tennessee et al v. AdoreMe.com''

= Thirty-one states and the
District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
filed suit against AdoreMe.com in response to consumer complaints, alleging unfair trade practices against the retailer. Specifically at issue was the VIP program, in which customers were automatically charged a monthly fee of $39.95 unless they either made a purchase or logged into their account. The state AGs argued that the program was deceptive as it did not properly disclose the terms, and customers were charged the monthly rate without understanding they would be required to take action before the sixth of every month to avoid the fee. Additionally, those who attempted to cancel their memberships found it extremely difficult and were forced to forfeit accrued store credit in order to do so. The retailer also misled consumers regarding discounts with a "countdown" that didn't actually affect purchase eligibility. The suit settled in June 2023, with the blanket amount of $2.35 million to be paid amongst the thirty-one states and D.C. and refunds to be offered to the affected customers. AdoreMe.com was required to contact all eligible customers as part of the settlement agreement. As with many suits of this type, the retailer admits no wrongdoing as part of the settlement.


Recognition from private organizations

In May 2023, Skrmetti accepted an award from the Tennessee Faith & Freedom Coalition, who proclaimed him a "Defender of Freedom" for his work as AG. The group is a self-proclaimed conservative, Christian, anti-Marxist organization.


Personal life

He is married and has four children, and resides in
Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...
. In May 2023, he was elected to the board of the Jason Foundation, Inc., a
501(c)(3) non-profit organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 5 ...
that attempts to provide support and educational tools for youth at risk of suicide. He had previously been an ambassador of the foundation.


References


External links

Federalist Society The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (FedSoc) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative and Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian legal organization that advocates for a Textualism, textualist an ...
membership page

Tennessee Bar Association page

TN Attorney General's
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...


{{DEFAULTSORT:Skrmetti, Jonathan 1977 births 21st-century Tennessee politicians Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford George Washington University alumni Harvard Law School alumni Living people Tennessee attorneys general Tennessee Republicans University of Memphis faculty