NEW YORK >> A Tennessee state court judge temporarily blocked on Monday Republican Governor Bill Lee’s deployment of National Guard troops to the city of Memphis, ruling that the use of troops was likely not legal under the state’s militia law.

Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal of the Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville said the militia law required Tennessee’s General Assembly to call in the National Guard for public safety.

She ruled that crime rates in Memphis were not a “grave emergency” or “disaster” that would authorize Lee to send troops in his role as commander-in-chief of the state’s military forces.

Her order blocks the governor from “continuing the activation and deployment of Tennessee National Guard personnel” pending further court proceedings. But it will not take ef

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