To keep dockets moving forward, judges across the state have turned to technology during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Administrative Office of the Courts Technology Team, State of Tennessee Strategic Technology Solutions and county information technology teams have installed dozens of laptops, VPNs, Zoom licenses and WebEx accounts to keep the courts functioning and open while under a state of emergency. The AOC provides some highlights of how courts around Tennessee are responding to the pandemic.

 The Tennessee Department of Corrections is launching a hotline for people with friends and family behind bars to call and ask COVID-19 related questions, WPLN News reports. The department says a “live analyst” will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to answer questions about COVID-19 testing, the prison system’s response to the pandemic and the protective measures that have already been taken. TDOC Commissioner Tony Parker in a press release said inmates have been encouraged to stay in “close contact” with their families, but multiple people with incarcerated family members have told WPLN they have had trouble getting in touch with loved ones in recent weeks. TDOC says all inmates and employees have been given masks and that officials are using contact tracing to track COVID-19 in prisons, but do not plan to test all inmates at this time.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that sewage plants and other industries cannot avoid environmental requirements under landmark clean-water protections when they send dirty water on an indirect route to rivers, oceans and other navigable waterways. The decision stems from a Hawaii case about whether a sewage treatment plant needs a federal permit when it sends wastewater deep underground, instead of discharging the treated flow directly into the Pacific Ocean. Rejecting the Environmental Protection Agency’s views, the justices voted 6-3 that discharge of polluted water into the ground, rather than directly into nearby waterways, does not relieve an industry of complying with the Clean Water Act. The Nashville Ledger has the full story from the Associated Press.  

The average scaled score for the multistate bar exam dropped to a new low for February test takers, raising concerns that bar pass rates will also drop, the ABA Journal reports. This year’s score was 132.6 compared to the February 2019 score of 134. The decrease was due to lower performance by likely repeat test-takers, who represented more than two-thirds of those taking the test in February. Last year’s average July score was 141.1, an increase of 1.6 points from the previous year, marking the largest year-over-year July increase since 2008.

House Minority Chair Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, is calling for Gov. Bill Lee to waive weekly unemployment certifications for hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans, the Daily Memphian reports. The request is an attempt to take the burden off the state’s claims system, which went offline for four hours earlier this week. The Department of Labor and Workforce Development seems set to reject the request, with Commissioner Jeff McCord calling the certifications “essential” and mandated by the federal government. However, Stewart argues the governor has the power to “sweep away” legal requirements during an emergency. The state has received 324,000 new unemployment claims since March 16, but as of Wednesday had only distributed benefits to 210,000 people.

Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery has joined a bipartisan coalition of 34 attorneys general in recommending actions to help homeowners who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The group sent letters today to the Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) applauding federal efforts to suspend evictions and foreclosures, but urging more action be taken. The letters make three recommendations for FHFA and HUD: revise forbearance programs so missed payments are automatically placed at the end of the loan’s term; expand eligibility for disaster relief loss mitigation programs; and clarify that the moratorium on foreclosures and evictions applies to all aspects of the foreclosure and eviction process. Read more from the AG’s office.

COVID-19 Response: 60 Minutes of Legal and Regulatory Hot Topics for Healthcare Providers is a new installment in the TBA’s on-demand webcast series, Navigating the Pandemic. This CLE program features a panel of regulatory, privacy and transactional practitioners who address the torrent of legal and regulatory changes, supplemental payment programs and telehealth and privacy concerns stemming from the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is good for one general CLE credit and available now on the TBA’s website.  

Sevier County lawyer Maria Grace Dajcar today received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court. Dajcar was found to be in violation of Rule of Professional Conduct 1.1, safe keeping funds, and was censured with the condition that she return $10,000 to her client within 180 days. A public censure is a rebuke and warning to the attorney, but it does not affect the attorney’s ability to practice law.

A paper written by Vanderbilt Law School student Ramon Ryan has prompted Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii), to ask the U.S. Government Accountability Office to review the Federal Communication Commission’s longstanding policy of excluding private satellites from environmental review. In his paper, “The Fault in Our Stars: Challenging the FCC’s Treatment of Commercial Satellites as Categorically Excluded from Review under the National Environmental Policy Act,” Ryan identifies several issues with commercial satellites that he believes warrant an assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act. The paper will be published this summer in the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law. Read more on Vanderbilt's website.  

The Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference is seeking applicants for the position of executive director, which is being made available due to the retirement of Jerry Estes. The new executive director will be selected by Tennessee’s 31 elected District Attorneys General for a term of four years, beginning July 1. Resumes and references will be accepted until May 15 and should be emailed to Carolyn Greer. Read more about the position on the TNDAGC website.