A bill that would increase the penalty for making a threat of mass violence against a Tennessee school has passed the House 90-0. WCYB reports that the bipartisan HB2198/SB2263, introduced by Rep. Bo Mitchell, D-Nashville, and Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, "increases the penalty from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony," according to Mitchell. The Senate Judiciary Committee was set to take up the bill this week but deferred it to next week.

The U.S. Supreme Court this week heard oral arguments in a case that could have sweeping consequences for all Americans’ access to mifepristone, a widely used abortion pill. According to The Hill, the court is essentially being asked to uphold an appeals court ruling that overrides a series of changes made by the Food and Drug Administration over the past decade, including increasing the gestational age at which mifepristone can be used to up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, allowing the medication to be mailed to patients, lowering the dosage, allowing telehealth prescribing and permitting providers other than physicians to prescribe the drug.

Denton Loudermill, a Kansas City-area resident, on Monday sued U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett in federal court. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that after a fatal shooting at a Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration on Feb. 14, Burchett tweeted a photo of Loudermill, falsely saying he was one of the shooters and was an illegal resident. Neither is true. Loudermill's suit alleges that the false tweet from the congressman caused him distress and he is seeking $75,000 due to the "highly offensive" nature of the accusations. Loudermill was arrested because he was suspected of being drunk in public; he was released and police never suspected he was connected to the shooting.

The Tennessee Senate on Monday passed SB2093, a bill that will allow records from the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development to be exempt from public records laws if the tourism commissioner and attorney general deem them “sensitive.” The Tennessean reports that the House passed a version of the bill in February, but the legislation has faced more debate in the Senate, where amendments were added to define how long documents could remain secret without being destroyed. The two chambers will have to work out their differences before the legislation can go to Gov. Bill Lee for his signature.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of the Solicitor has ordered Morristown manufacturer Tuff Torq Corporation to pay a $296,951 penalty for illegally employing children as young as 14 years old. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that the DOL's Wage and Hour Division confirmed several children worked for the manufacturer, which supplies parts for John Deere and Yamaha. Additionally, Tuff Torq will set aside $1.5 million from profits made during the children's employment, which will go to the children.

Make plans now to join colleagues from across the state at the TBA’s 2024 Annual Convention, set for June 12-15, at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. Perennial favorites such as the Bench Bar program and lunch, Lawyers Lunch and joint event with the Tennessee Judicial Conference return to the agenda alongside new offerings including a Wednesday night dine-around for all attendees; a Public Service breakfast, where TBA will honor legal aid, private practice and law student pro bono work; a ticketed reception on Thursday night open to the entire legal community; and a chance to be the honorary Peabody Duck Master! This year’s theme — “A Bridge to the Future” — also will bring compelling CLE programs focused on artificial intelligence and how this rapidly expanding technology will impact the practice of law. During the week, the Tennessee Lawyers' Association for Women, Tennessee Alliance for Black Lawyers and Tennessee Trial Lawyers' Association also will hold meetings and events at the Peabody, making Memphis the place to be this June. Access registration, hotel reservation information and more on the event website.

Isaiah 117 House, a northeast Tennessee-based nonprofit ministry, broke ground on a new facility in Memphis earlier this month. The organization allows children to go to a comfortable environment where trained volunteers can care for them during the period between removal and placement with a foster family. The Daily Memphian reports that in Shelby County, 1,200 children are in state custody. Teenagers make up the largest group, followed by small children from infancy through age 4. The Department of Children's Services (DCS) and Isaiah 117 House leaders began collaborating after they met at a monthly meeting of the Memphis Interfaith Foster and Adoption Ministries, an alliance of churches, agencies, ministries and community advocates who serve foster, adoptive and kinship children and families.

A nearly $2 billion tax and refund for businesses passed the Senate on Thursday on a vote of 25-6, the Associated Press reports. “This bill will put this issue behind us and address it in a responsible way,” said Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, adding that doing so could make the state more competitive in attracting businesses to move to Tennessee. At issue are concerns that the state’s franchise tax violates a U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause provision, which bans states from passing laws that burden interstate commerce. Further adding to the legal woes is a 2015 case involving the U.S. Supreme Court striking down down Maryland’s tax that the justices ruled had the effect of double-taxing income residents earn in other states. The proposal is designed to prevent threats of a potential lawsuit. Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, told reporters that the House version will be different.

On Monday, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led 24 states in sending a letter to the Department of Labor stating that its proposed rule to embed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into the National Apprenticeship System "exceeds congressional authority, illegally promotes racial-discrimination and is antithetical to the American ideal of equality." On Thursday, the AG's office joined a coalition of 22 states in filing an amicus brief at the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Texas’s state law SB4, which would allow state officers to arrest people suspected of entering the country without documentation, and state magistrates and judges to order them back to the country from which they entered. Also on Thursday, Skrmetti, alongside 15 state and district attorneys general, joined the U.S. Department of Justice in filing a civil antitrust lawsuit against Apple for monopolization or attempted monopolization of smartphone markets in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. Today, Skrmetti praised Tennessee’s Opioid Abatement Council for releasing its first ever round of community grants totaling $80,936,057. Programs funded through the grants will support work in response to opioid addiction throughout Tennessee for up to three years.

The Senate on Thursday passed a bill to vacate Tennessee State University's (TSU) board of directors in a 25-6 vote. All six senators who voted against the bill were Democrats. The Tennessean reports that the bill has stirred intense controversy over $2.1 billion in historic underfunding of TSU by the state and disparities in how TSU has been treated by lawmakers. University leaders have pleaded with lawmakers to extend the current board and allow it to build upon the progress it has made in the last year. The House version of the bill is at odds with the newly passed Senate version, instead moving to keep three of the board's 10 members, along with its student and faculty trustees, and is set for a full House vote on March 28.