Curtis L. Collier, U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee, writes in a Chattanoogan.com opinion piece about U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ 2023 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary. Collier, who serves as chair of the district’s Civics and Outreach Committee, says the report showcases “the remarkable steadfastness of the federal courts in the face of societal and technological change.” He highlights the courts’ adaptation to ever changing technology, including giving citizens more opportunities to follow the work of the judicial system, while remaining true to fundamental principles of justice, fairness and the rule of law. Collier was joined in the op ed by his law clerks Carrie Brown Stefaniak and Erienne Reniajal Lewis.

TBA President Jim Barry recently sent a letter to Gov. Bill Lee, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, House Speaker Cameron Sexton and members of the Tennessee General Assembly, urging support for the Tennessee Supreme Court's request to increase funding for court-appointed attorneys representing the indigent. The TBA's letter points to the "significant impact" indigent representation has on the judicial system, and commits to giving this issue its full support in discussions with the General Assembly: "This situation has resulted in a crisis in our legal system, and especially in the juvenile courts. Nearly half of all cases requiring court-appointed attorneys are in juvenile court and involve families and children, such as adoptions, dependency and neglect allegations, reports of child abuse, proceedings to terminate parental rights, and a vast number of cases in which the interests of a child or other vulnerable person are protected by a guardian ad litem." Read the full text of the letter. Learn more about funding for indigent representation and how Tennessee lawyers can join these efforts from TBA's Government Affairs team.

The American Bar Association’s (ABA) Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar is seeking comments on two proposals regarding the accreditation of fully online law schools, the ABA Journal reports. The proposed changes to Standards 102 and 306 would allow these schools to seek provisional and full ABA accreditation. Under the current standards, law schools must already be accredited to apply for either partial or full online operations. The comment period will run for 60 days with additional comment periods possible. In a memo explaining the process, the section’s Strategic Review Committee (SRC) writes: “Because of the significance of this change and the potential for disruption to existing schools, the SRC anticipates that this proposal may go through more than one round of notice and comment.”

The owner and operator of a network of orthopedic clinics in the Memphis area has agreed to pay the state of Tennessee more than $540,000 to resolve allegations that it improperly billed TennCare for the use of compounded steroids at its practices. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced the settlement saying, “In the past few years, Tennessee has seen increasing numbers of clinics using fraudulent billing rates for compounded drugs” and that his office will continue to “hold fraudulent medical billers accountable” and “protect the financial integrity of the TennCare system.” The action was brought against Tri-State Orthopedics LLC and Dr. Apurva Dalal for allegedly using a compounded version of a drug but billing TennCare for a higher cost, commercially available version.

The state of Alabama yesterday executed Kenneth Smith with nitrogen, the first new execution method in decades, Reuters reports. The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to halt the execution. Smith had argued before the high court that a second attempt to execute him — after the state failed previously using lethal injection — violates the constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In a separate challenge, a federal judge on Jan. 10 denied Smith’s claims that the method could induce a stroke or leave him in a permanent vegetative state. Smith was found guilty in a murder-for-hire scheme in 1988.

U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz announced today that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District collected $2,959,254.54 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2023. Of that amount, $2,846,173.69 was for criminal actions while $113,080.85 was for civil actions. Additionally, Ritz said that the district worked with other U.S. attorney’s offices to collect $70,742.42 in joint cases, and worked with partner agencies to collect $1,689,156 in asset forfeiture actions. Read the full press release.

A federal judge ruled yesterday that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee must hand over all available information on expert witnesses to defense attorneys representing former officers charged with violating Tyre Nichols' civil rights. The Commercial Appeal reports that after lead prosecutor David Pritchard confirmed his office plans to call experts, Judge Mark Norris questioned why corresponding documents had not yet been handed over to the defense, calling the omission “troubling.” Pritchard argued that the prosecution’s disclosure of hospital records, autopsy report and FBI interviews adequately provided a preview of upcoming expert witness testimony.

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance has asked the state attorney general’s office to investigate two Constitutional Republican groups to determine if they should register as political action committees (PACs). The registry took the action Tuesday following a complaint that the groups — Sumner County Constitutional Republicans and Tennessee Constitutional Republicans — should register. The groups deny they are PACs, saying they are private social clubs that do not provide financial support to candidates, though they have endorsed candidates. They also say the complaint lacks substance and appears to be politically motivated. Tennessee Lookout reports on the developments.

The American Bar Association (ABA) on Monday hosted “The Impact of Deepfakes on the Justice System,” a program covering topics such as deepfake regulation, authentication and the potential burden to the justice system. The program featured law and research professors from Duke University and the University of California Berkley, as well as U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm of the District of Maryland. The group discussed the limits of tools such as watermarking and Rule 901 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure regarding authenticating evidence. Read more about the discussion.

The American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates will meet at the ABA's upcoming 2024 Midyear Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, on Feb. 5. The House has 31 resolutions on the agenda, including a measure requiring ABA-approved law schools to have broad free speech policies. The House encompasses 597 delegates from ABA-affiliated entities as well as state, local and specialty bar associations. Read more about issues to be debated.