The Kingsport Times News will be recognized for its extensive coverage of the opioid crisis and its effects on the Appalachian Highlands when it receives the Fourth Estate Award during the Tennessee Bar Association’s (TBA) annual convention in Nashville. During a seven-month period, the Times News reporting team took readers on a journey into the local and regional proliferation of meth and fentanyl, providing an analytical, unbiased, multifaceted report that will help legislators, health care professionals, law enforcement, judges and addicts. The TBA's Fourth Estate Award was established to recognize and encourage journalists who promote public understanding of the rule of law and improvements in our system of justice through their vigorous exercise of their First Amendment rights. Read the full press release.

The life of retired Tennessee Appeals Court Judge Charles D. Susano Jr. was celebrated last week in Knoxville. All five members of the Tennessee Supreme Court were in attendance at Susano’s funeral mass on Tuesday, as were judges in the Eastern Section of the Court of Appeals. “He was a great partner and incredible lawyer who did an amazing job of coping with a terrible situation,” former TBA President Sarah Sheppeard said of Susano’s 1993 sleepwalking accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down.  Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee said Susano “had a huge heart, a brilliant mind, a deep and abiding faith, and an almost endless capacity to love others.” “He was a highly respected appellate judge, yet remained humble and grateful for the opportunities he had been given,” Lee said. The Knoxville News Sentinel has more on Susano’s life.

The Upper Cumberland Lawyers Association for Women (UCLAW) gathered last week for a reception with TBA President Sherie Edwards following the TBA Court Square CLE series in the city. The group met at Crawdaddy’s West Side Grill in Cookeville. In the photo, standing from left are: Caroline Knight, Circuit Court Judge Amy Hollars, Leslie Ledbetter, Caroline Sapp and Tia E. Jensen. Seated from left to right are: Amber Vargas, Sherie Edwards, Kelly Tollett and Rachel Moses. Not pictured: UCLAW President Lori Dowell. 

The position of First District Governor (three-year term) will be filled by the Tennessee Board of Governors at its meeting on June 18, in accordance with Article 47 of the TBA Bylaws. The First District Governor represents Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington counties. If you would like to be considered for this position, email TBA Executive Director Joycelyn Stevenson with your interest by June 1. Please include a resume with your submission as well as any other information that you would like considered by the TBA Board of Governors.

The council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions is soliciting public comments on a proposal to eliminate the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) or other standardized test for law school admissions. The council will accept comments for 90 days, Bloomberg Law reports. Law schools are currently required to ensure that applicants have completed a “valid and reliable” admission test. The new proposal comes as more than 80 U.S. law schools have allowed prospective students to take the more general Graduate Record Examination (GRE) instead of the LSAT. Schools would be permitted to continue using the LSAT, GRE or another admission test under the proposal. Bloomberg Law looks at the arguments for and against the proposal. The process for submitting comments has not yet been announced. Watch the section’s website for more information.

Kingsport City Attorney Mike Billingsley is retiring at the end of the month, the Kingsport Times News reports. His last day will be May 31 after a 28-year career with the city. Billingsley grew up in Tullahoma and earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. After graduating, he returned to Middle Tennessee and was in private practice there for 14 years. He took the Kingsport position in March 1994. In addition to serving as city attorney, Billingsley also has acted as the attorney for the Kingsport City Schools. As his last day near, he tells the paper that working for the city has been rewarding. He plans to stay in Kingsport. “This is my home now.”

Nashville Bar Association President Martesha L. Johnson notified members today that Executive Director Monica Mackie intends to resign from her position. Johnson notes that Mackie has provided “exemplary service” and will leave the association strong “because of her influence.” Johnson also outlines the process for replacing Mackie. A nine-member search committee has been formed and Mackie has agreed to assist in the search. See the job posting here. Qualified candidates are asked to send a letter of intent and resume to Mackie at monica.mackie@nashvillebar.org by June 3.

A federal judge in Louisiana today temporarily stopped the Biden administration from ending Title 42, the Trump-era border management policy that allows officials to quickly expel foreign nationals at the border under pandemic conditions. The policy was due to end Monday as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to restructure border and immigration policy, The Hill reports. U.S. District Court Robert Summerhays granted a preliminary injunction to a group of Republican state attorneys general challenging the policy change.

Stacy Lynch, a former partner at Hull, Ray, Rieder, Ewell, Lane & Lynch in Tullahoma and a part-time magistrate for the Juvenile Court of Rutherford County, has joined the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts as its new court improvement program director. She replaces Leslie Kincaid who retired. As director, Lynch will continue to focus on improving the quality of court hearings and legal representation, the entry and analysis of juvenile court data, and the well-being of children in conjunction with the Department of Children’s Services. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more.

The U.S. Justice Department will release $5 million for states to establish hotlines to report hate crime, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced today. The funding is one of several steps Garland outlined to improve reporting and prosecution of hate crimes, which reached their highest level in more than a decade in 2020 (the most recent year for which figures are available). Garland also said the FBI is currently investigating three recent shootings — in Buffalo, New York, Dallas and southern California — as possible hate crimes. The department plans to issue new guidelines for raising awareness about hate crimes and will release another $5 million for community-based approaches in the future. Reuters has the story.