Submissions for the TBA's Fourth Estate Award: Honoring Courageous Reporting on Justice and the Law are due next week on Thursday. This year's prize, honoring reporting in 2023, includes a $250 honorarium for the winner. The TBA strongly supports freedom of expression under the First Amendment, as exercised by lawyers on behalf of their clients and by journalists on behalf of the public, and particularly wants to recognize and encourage journalists who promote public understanding of the rule of law and our system of justice through vigorous exercise of their First Amendment rights. The deadline for entry is April 25. Attorneys who have relationships with reporters or observed a particularly compelling piece of journalism in 2023 are encouraged to submit a nomination. Read about past recipients here and read the TBA's full press release.

The TBA has released a statement on the General Assembly’s recent approval of additional funding to increase the hourly rate for court-appointed attorneys representing the indigent. The funding, included in the budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025, will raise the reimbursement rate by $10 an hour to $60 an hour, as well as the corresponding caps. TBA President Jim Barry thanked the General Assembly for making indigent representation funding a priority, as well as Chief Justice Holly Kirby, the Tennessee Supreme Court and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) for their leadership and partnership in helping spotlight this critical issue. The TBA had supported the AOC's budget request of $26.145 million, which would have raised the hourly rate to $80. It remains committed to working with stakeholders to secure additional resources to fairly compensate lawyers who do this important work. Read the TBA’s full statement. To learn more about this issue and advocacy efforts on behalf of Tennessee lawyers, visit the TBA’s Indigent Representation Resources webpage. In related news, a story in yesterday’s TBA Today incorrectly stated that the hourly is rate is set by statute. In fact, it is set by the Tennessee Supreme Court through Rule 13. Any proposed rate increase then must be funded by the General Assembly.

Register by April 30 for TBA's Annual Convention in Memphis, June 12-15, to take advantage of Early Bird pricing! The Peabody Hotel has special room rates for convention attendees, so make those reservations by May 22.

Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner has announced that his office would hand over management of the Youth Justice and Education Center to the Shelby County Juvenile Court by the end of 2024. In an email to the Shelby County Commission, Bonner cited the need to focus deputies at adult facilities, including the jail at 201 Poplar Ave., as his office deals with understaffing, reports the Daily Memphian. The sheriff's office voluntarily took on management of the youth center in 2014 at the request of then-Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge Dan Michael. The facility was under the oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice. Juvenile Judge Tarik Sugarmon agreed with Bonner that it makes sense to bring the operation of the center back under the control of the juvenile court, but expressed concern that the timeline doesn’t provide enough time to set up an appropriate management plan. Sugarmon told Action News 5 that he sees the transition as an opportunity to improve the care of young people in the justice system.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has transferred the law license of Shelby County attorney Jack Randal Tomblin to disability inactive status. Tomblin may not practice law but may petition the court to return to the practice of law by showing his disability has been removed.

The Tennessee House and Senate both passed the budget for Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025 today. HB2973/SB2942 includes $8.6 million in additional recurring funding to increase the hourly rate for court-appointed attorneys representing the indigent. The funding, which was added by the House and Senate Finance committees earlier this week, will raise the rate by $10 an hour to $60 an hour. The appropriation will mark the first time the rate has been increased since 1997. The TBA remains committed to working with stakeholders to secure additional resources to fairly compensate lawyers who do this important work.

Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles has asked for more information on copyright law before ruling on whether the Covenant School shooter's writings can be made public. Covenant parents have gained legal ownership of the writings from the shooter’s parents and now hold the copyright. None of the attorneys on the case claim to be copyright experts. Myles said she will write an order outlining specific questions she wants them to address. Only after that will she rule on when, if ever, the writings can be released to the public. The Associated Press has the story.

In an interview on Tuesday, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights Director Melanie Fontes Rainer said the agency will "continue to support health care and privacy rights" for Tennesseans who might be affected by HB1895/SB1971. The proposed legislation targets an adult who "recruits, harbors or transports" a pregnant minor for the purposes of receiving an abortion, defined by Tennessee's abortion ban, or for getting abortion medication. The Tennessean reports that while HIPAA-covered entities like health care providers are allowed to share records with law enforcement if asked, they are not required to do so. Rainer said her agency is working to close that permissive gap, with a proposed rule banning HIPAA entities from sharing personal health care records with law enforcement.

Volunteer lawyers are needed for an upcoming expungement clinic in Memphis on May 3. The event will be held in partnership with the Memphis Bar Association Access to Justice Committee, the Young Lawyers Division of the Memphis Bar Association and Shelby County Commissioner Charlie Caswell. Sign up for a shift or view a flyer of the event.

Joe Ingle, death row prisoner advocate, will discuss his new book, "Too Close to the Flame: With the Condemned Inside the Southern Killing Machine," with retired attorney Keith Simmons at Nashville's Parnassus Books on May 6 at 6:30 p.m. CDT. As an advocate for men and women condemned to death, Ingle says he has seen an unjust legal system that routinely victimizes the marginalized. He has often found himself waiting through the darkest hours as the spiritual advisor and sole companion of those on deathwatch — the brief period of isolation that precedes an execution. The event is free but registration is required.