Tennessee is outsourcing the testing of at least 550 rape kits to a private Florida lab through a $1.5 million federal grant, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced Monday in a move aimed at reducing processing times, reports the Associated Press. In a news release, the TBI said it plans to submit up to 1,000 rape kits if more grant funding becomes available by the end of the year, at a cost of $2,155 per kit. The state’s turnaround times for sexual assault kits entered the spotlight after the high-profile killing of teacher Eliza Fletcher in September. The man charged with killing Fletcher was charged in a 2021 rape of a different woman shortly afterward, when the rape kit from that case was finally processed.

The Hill reports that SoFi, a personal finance company that sells products for student loan refinancing, is suing to end the Biden administration’s pandemic-era pause on federal student loan payments, claiming it is an overreach of power. President Biden in November extended the federal pause on student loan payments and interest accrual, which was first enacted by then-President Trump at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden said last year that the freeze was extended until beyond June while his administration faces legal challenges to its own debt forgiveness plan. In the SoFi filing, the company argues that the administration’s pause extension was to “alleviate ‘uncertainty’ for borrowers during the pendency of ongoing litigation regarding the debt-cancellation program,” as opposed to help borrowers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Journalists interested in learning from longtime Nashville reporters like Demetria Kalodimos, Steve Cavendish and Meribah Knight, or legal media experts Seth May, Paul McAdoo and others have just one more week to apply for the 2023 Reporters Workshop. Sponsored by the TBA’s Communication Law Section, the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters and the Tennessee Press Association Foundation, the program will be held in person April 28-29 in Nashville. Organizers will select 15 print, online, television and/or radio journalists who want to develop a deeper understanding of media law issues that may affect their everyday work, including access to government information, defamation and privacy concerns in reporting, and other timely topics. Journalists interested in attending should apply before 5 p.m. CDT on March 15. Stipends are available to help defer costs of participation. Read more about the program.

The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, part of The City University of New York (CUNY), and the National Italian American Bar Association (NIABA) have partnered to conduct a study on Italian Americans and the legal profession. This study is the first to explore Italian Americans’ representation and experiences in various sectors of the legal field. Law students and lawyers are invited to take this three-minute survey. The deadline to complete the survey is April 30. Read more about the effort.

The American Bar Association today named Alpha M. Brady as its interim executive director. Brady succeeds Jack L. Rives, who left the association last week after more than 12 years as executive director. The association is currently conducting a nationwide search for a new director. Brady joined the ABA in 1988 after a year as assistant corporation counsel with the city of Chicago. She started her ABA career as assistant director of the Commission on Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession (now the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession). Later, she became special assistant to the president, director of policy administration, senior manager of the Governance and Public Services Group, and senior associate director and chief governance officer. Most recently, she was named deputy executive director in September 2022.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed a motion today asking the Davidson County Chancery Court to enforce a request for information (RFI) served on TikTok Inc. in March 2022. The RFI requires the company to preserve relevant documents and produce internal messages in an appropriate and useable format. The attorney general’s office says the company has had ample time to respond and is engaged in a pattern of delay. The office is investigating whether TikTok is in violation of the state’s consumer protection statute by providing and promoting the use of its platform to minors, children and young adults. Read more or view the motion.

The Tennessee Bar Association is now accepting nominations for its 2023 Claudia Jack Award and Justice Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award. The Claudia Jack Award honors an outstanding public defender or court-appointed private practitioner who has served the legal community and clients in an exemplary fashion. It is named after the late Claudia Jack, a public defender and long-time champion of the poor and underprivileged. The Drowota Award is given to a judge or judicial branch official of a federal, state or local court in Tennessee who has demonstrated extraordinary devotion and dedication to the improvement of the law, the legal system and the administration of justice, as exemplified by the career of former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Frank F. Drowota III. The deadline to submit nominees for both awards is April 3.

A Tennessee man on death row, who was forced to act as his own lawyer, is seeking a new trial, claiming multiple violations of his constitutional rights, the Times News reports. Howard Willis went through nine lawyers before a judge ruled that he would have to represent himself, accusing him of creating conflict with counsel to avoid a trial. Willis was sentenced to death in 2010 for the murders of teenage newlyweds. In his bid for a new trial, Willis claims the original trial was unfair because he was forced to act as his own attorney and could not afford sufficient resources to defend himself. A hearing on Willis’ petition for post-conviction relief started today in Washington County Criminal Court.

Victims in a rape kit lawsuit must wait at least two more weeks for a ruling on whether the case can move forward as a class action, the Commercial Appeal reports. Three women, whose rape kits went untested for years, are suing to certify their suit as a class action. The judge in the case, Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Gina Higgins, said last October that she would have rulings to issue this month. But last-minute filings from plaintiffs' attorneys, city attorneys and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation added another hearing to the docket. Higgins now is expected to deliver a ruling on March 22.

Newly released video shows correctional officers punching, kicking, pepper spraying and eventually kneeling on the upper back of an inmate who died after attempting to run from a cell last fall. The video was released by the Nashville District Attorney's (DA) office, which was asked to conduct an independent investigation, the Commercial Appeal reports. According to Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, Gershun Freeman, 33, “suffered from psychosis and cardiovascular disease and died of a heart attack while being restrained.” He said it is unfortunate that parts of the video “are being shown out of context” because the full video shows Freeman’s “erratic and violent behavior that led to the need to restrain.” Bonner said he will wait for additional information from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Nashville DA's office before taking further administrative action. Freeman was arrested Oct. 1, 2022, after he was accused of attacking, threatening and kidnapping his girlfriend.