In Memphis today, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said the federal crime fighting initiative “Operation LeGend” has resulted in 64 arrests, the Daily Memphian reports. Charges have ranged from homicide to narcotics to firearms offenses. Barr came to Memphis to provide an update on the operation and used the opportunity to thank Memphis police and the 40 federal agents in the city as part of the initiative for doing their jobs in spite of increased pressure on law enforcement in the country. Across the nation, Operation LeGend is operating in eight cities and a total of 5,500 arrests have been made.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced yesterday that it is spending $3 million to create a new center to help police agencies across the nation, WATE reports. The center, which will be run by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, will provide training on issues such as officer safety, mental health, recruitment and retention. State, local and tribal police will all have access to the resources, which are designed to prevent the use of excessive force.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is Oct. 24 and the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office says it will collaborate with community partners across the state to provide drop-off locations for unused, unwanted or expired prescription medication. In announcing the effort, Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III said, “Safely disposing of prescription drugs keeps them out of the wrong hands and helps prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths.” Find a location near you.

The Women’s Advocacy Center in east Shelby County received a grant earlier this year from the Administrative Office of Courts and the Collierville Community Fund to develop and implement a parenting course for women who are divorced or separated from an abuser. The monthly seminars are available now. They cover issues such as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and are designed to help participants co-parent from a healthy place. After participants complete the four-hour course, the center files a certificate with the appropriate court. For more information contact the center, 901-896-9055.

The Tennessee Department of Health today released preliminary plans for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines throughout the state, the Nashville Post reports. The plan provides a framework for how the state will allocate doses among counties and prioritized populations, including health care workers and first responders, who would be the first to receive a vaccine. Next in line would be high-risk populations in long-term care facilities or congregate living settings, followed by child care workers, educators and individuals with chronic health conditions. Finally, the vaccine would be provided to essential workers and then ultimately to the general population. Distribution across the state would be based on population but an additional allotment would be reserved for initial demand in smaller counties and for the state’s emergency stockpile.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr will visit the Memphis Police Department's Ridgeway Station tomorrow afternoon to talk about Operation LeGend, the Commercial Appeal reports. The government describes Operation LeGend as an effort to bring additional federal officers to combat violent crime in Memphis. It is named after a young boy who was killed in gun violence. Memphis and several other cities are participating in the initiative.

Three people with Better Days Tax Service in Memphis have been charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. after allegedly fraudulently obtaining $1.1 million from COVID-19-related economic injury disaster loans, the Daily Memphian reports. U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee D. Michael Dunavant announced the charges today, accusing the defendants of filing 401 fraudulent applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans for people impacted by the pandemic. The approved loans netted approximately $1.1 million. If convicted, each defendant faces up to 30 years in federal prison.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week decided it would not consider Tennessee’s lawsuit against the federal government over refugee resettlement funds, the Tennessean reports. The SCOTUS decision ends a years long legal battle over the matter, which was originally dismissed by a federal judge in March 2018 and again by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in July 2019. Attorneys for the state have argued that the federal government was forcing states to pay for refugee resettlement, violating the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit made Tennessee the first in the nation to sue the federal government over refugee resettlement under the 10th Amendment, which guides the split of powers between states and the federal government

The Justice Department on Tuesday filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleging the company abused its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and harm consumers, the Associated Press reports. The suit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleges that Google uses billions of dollars collected from advertisers to pay phone manufacturers to ensure Google is the default search engine on browsers. Attorneys general from 11 states joined the government in the federal suit, but several states were reluctant, including Tennessee. Attorney General Herbert Slatery and attorneys general from seven other states released a statement on the lawsuit today, saying they had not yet concluded their own investigation into Google. “We plan to conclude parts of our investigation of Google in the coming weeks,” the statement reads. “If we decide to file a complaint, we would file a motion to consolidate our case with the DOJ’s.” Google responded to the complaint immediately via tweet today, calling the lawsuit “deeply flawed.”

Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn said it was “human error” when a clerk in her office’s property and evidence room mistakenly grabbed evidence from another murder case and gave it to attorneys working on the death row case of Pervis Payne, the Daily Memphian reports. Kuhn had called for a forensic audit of her office and says new procedures are now in place to prevent another such  situation. Payne’s attorneys had announced there was new evidence found that had never been tested for DNA. But it was later revealed by Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich that the evidence was from a different murder case that occurred a decade after Payne was convicted.