U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, a Republican from the Knoxville area, is calling on Congress to pass a bill he introduced earlier this year known as the “Fentanyl Traffic Elimination Act.” It’s an effort to bring forward more serious penalties after a smuggler is caught. “It really is going after the drug cartels and the heavy pushers that are doing it, and if they’re caught it increases their criminal penalty to life in prison,” Burchett said. WATE News reports that Tennessee ranks fifth in the country for overdose deaths. The Centers for Disease Control say nearly 106,000 people across the country died from drug overdoses in the last year.

The Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility has released a proposed formal ethics opinion regarding attorneys working remotely as in-house counsel, and what constitutes a “systematic and continuous presence in Tennessee for the practice of law.” The board is seeking comments about the proposal. The deadline to submit written comments is Oct. 16. Comments may be emailed to lchastain@tbpr.org or mailed to The Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, 10 Cadillac Dr., Ste. 220, Brentwood, TN 37027. Submissions should reference Opinion Number 2022-F-168. Read more on the board’s website.

All federal appellate courts but one and the federal circuit courts plan to continue live audio feeds of their proceedings post-COVID, Bloomberg News reports. The one exception is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to reveal whether its live streaming will continue. At an event this week in New York, Justice Elena Kagan said she expects the justices to discuss the future of live streaming when they gather for the first conference of the new term. Prior to the pandemic, just the D.C. Circuit and the 9th Circuit regularly provided a live feed of arguments. The 9th Circuit also went a step further, offering live video for arguments.

The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) said yesterday it will use a “carrots and sticks” approach to combat corporate crime: encouraging companies to report and prevent misconduct while enhancing penalties for repeat offenders. At an event at New York University, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the DOJ will make it harder for companies to enter into multiple settlements that defer or waive prosecutions, and it will try to reward companies that claw back executive compensation after learning of misconduct. Reuters has more on the story.

Chattanooga lawyer Randy Nelson died Sept. 13 at the age of 81. An Army veteran and 1968 graduate of the University Tennessee College of Law, Nelson joined the law office of Eugene Collins and Associates in Chattanooga. When Collins retired in 1990, Nelson succeeded him as the third city attorney of Chattanooga. Nelson served in that role until 2009. The family will receive friends from 4-7 p.m. EDT on Sunday at the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson 37343. A celebration of life will be held Monday at 2 p.m. EDT at Hixson Presbyterian Church, 1450 Jackson Mill Dr., Chattanooga 37343. Memorial contributions may be given to the American Parkinson’s Disease Association, P.O. Box 61420, Staten Island, NY, 10306, or Alzheimer’s Foundation at the National Processing Center, Alzheimer’s Association, P.O. Box 96011, Washington, D.C., 20090-6011.

Tennessee State Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, chair of the Legislature's Joint Government Operations Committee, has been advising multiple Tennessee universities to not adopt a new Biden administration proposal to protect LGBT and transgender individuals as a protected class under Title IX. Among the schools receiving the letter was East Tennessee State University, which announced Sept. 2 that its protections would remain in place. University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd tells the Daily Beacon that nothing has changed there and he does not believe current policies break either state or federal law. Before leaving office, former Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the directive. A federal judge in Knoxville blocked the policy so Ragan says it is not in force in Tennessee, Tennessee Lookout reports.

Rape kits in Tennessee can sit for nearly a year before getting tested, while the rapist is free to attack again, WKRN reports. Yesterday, state Democrats promised legislation to “fully fund” the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to eliminate that backlog. The issue recently resurfaced in the news after Memphis kindergarten teacher Eliza Fletcher was killed, and DNA from her crime scene matched a 2021 rape. The earlier kit had been sitting in a lab for nearly a year before it was tested. Memphis police blamed the TBI while the TBI blamed Memphis police for not ordering “rushed” testing. Ultimately though, the TBI confirmed a typical case might not be tested for a year because they do not have enough staff.

The Tennessee Supreme Court earlier this week named Jennifer Austin Mitchell to the hearing committee for Disciplinary District III. She will serve from Sept. 12 to March 16, 2025. Read the court’s order.

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands will be hosting a free lunch and learn workshop for social services workers, nonprofit leaders/organizations and nonprofit community advocates on Sept. 22. The event, “Be Empowered & Know Your Rights: Equipping Your Clients to Thrive,” will run from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CDT at the Howard Building in downtown Nashville. The event will help equip those working in social services with the tools they need to help clients navigate civil and criminal legal services. Multimedia veteran journalist Harriet Wallace will moderate the program. Get details or register here.

A dedication ceremony of the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building in downtown Nashville has been postponed to a later date at the request of the General Services Administration. However, on the originally planned date of Sept. 23, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee will host an open house at 3 p.m. CDT for the public to visit the courthouse. Read the court's official announcement.