U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., filed a bill to remove J. Edgar Hoover’s name from the side of the FBI headquarters building in Washington, D.C., The Commerical Appeal reports. "J. Edgar Hoover did some awful, terrible things in his life and as FBI director," Rep. Cohen said.

Members of the Tennessee Black Caucus of State legislators said they are considering legislative proposals that would provide alternative sentencing for individuals with drug or mental health problems, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. "We've got to distinguish mental health issues from violent crimes," District Attorney Glenn Funk said. The group also said it is considering legislations that would change the sentencing guidelines for offenders convicted of selling drugs near a school.

Longer sentences do not dissuade individuals from committing crimes, according to testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. "They do not reduce crime, they do not increase public safety, and they cost the state a whole lot of money,” Professor Christopher Slobogin told the committee. The director of the Criminal Justice Program at Vanderbilt University Law School was among those commenting on recent findings from a sentencing task force. The Tennessean has more on the hearing.

As Tennessee state officials determine the fate of Gov. Bill Haslam’s proposed privatization plan, Terry Cowles with the governor’s office of Strategies for Efficiency in Real Estate Management is asking that conversations regarding the plan are not discussed in email. The Nashville Ledger reports that Cowles said a timetable for outsourcing state facilities released last month was an early draft and his office wants control over what is shared. 

State Senators Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, and Mike Bell, R-Riceville, with State Representatives Sheila Butt, R-Columbia, and Jay Reedy, R-Erin, will host a Legislator Community Forum next Monday in Nashville to discuss Senate Joint Resolution 0067, Tennessee’s application for a state convention to amend the U.S. Constitution. Proponents of the convention want to impose fiscal restraints and limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government. For more information, contact Scott Williams at 865-566-3033.

The Senate Judiciary Study Committee Calendar for Oct. 19, 10 a.m., includes Criminal Justice Reform, Prosecutorial Discretion (Senate Bill 37) and Militarization of Law Enforcement (Senate Bill 887). View the calendar.

Rep. Mike Harrison, R-Rogersville, is exiting the legislature to become the executive director of the County Mayors Association, The Chattanoogan reports. “I could not be more proud of what we have been able to do during my tenure in the Tennessee General Assembly,” Harrison said. House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, announced she will appoint Speaker Pro Tempore Curtis Johnson to serve as Interim Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee chair to fill Harrison's post on that committee.

The Tennessean reports that currently there are no plans to take away incentives or grants from Volkswagen following the company’s admission to cheating in order to pass emissions tests. "Any discussion of clawbacks is hypothetical. We have assurances directly from company executives that Volkswagen's expansion remains on track," said Clint Brewer, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.

University of Tennessee students, faculty and staff joined members of United Campus Workers in speaking against Gov. Bill Haslam’s privatization proposal yesterday during a campus visit from Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, and Sen. Lee Harris, D-Memphis, WBIR reports. The privatization proposal is predicted to cut 1,000 campus jobs, according to The Daily Beacon. "Sen. Harris and I are traveling the state of Tennessee to see if there are any ways to make the state run more efficiently," Clemmons said. "But what we heard today is that, in fact, no, it is being run efficiently. It is being run effectively, and that's what we want to maintain." 

Gov. Bill Haslam said Tennessee’s conservative identity should not play a factor in determining long-term transportation funding, The Commercial Appeal reports. "We take great pride in Tennessee in being a conservative state ... But I know this one thing: it is not conservative to pass on something in worse shape than you got it," Haslam said today while addressing government officials and road contractors in Murfreesboro. The Republican governor remains undecided on whether he will ask lawmakers for an increased fuel tax when the General Assembly returns in January.