Legislation that would make camping on public property a misdemeanor crime was yesterday cleared by the Tennessee House and now awaits Gov. Bill Lee’s signature. House Bill 978 would make camping on the shoulder, right-of-way, bridge, overpass or underpass of a state or interstate highway a misdemeanor offense, punishable by a $50 fine or community service. Sponsors Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, and Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, claim their bill would be a useful tool law enforcement could use to address homelessness. “This is not mandatory, but just gives them the ability to do so,” Bailey said during a Senate session. Critics of the measure say it effectively criminalizes homelessness. Democrats and some Republicans opposed the legislation, which last week cleared the state Senate with a 22-10 vote and the House yesterday with a 57-28 vote. The Tennessean has the full story.

With most legislative committees now closed, budget negotiations are ongoing from last weekend, and the state budget is expected to be released as early as tomorrow. After meeting with and educating legislators and the administration through the entire legislative session on the need to reduce or repeal the professional privilege tax, the TBA applauded Governor Lee’s proposal to reduce the tax by $100 in the previously released budget amendment, and we have continued to reach out to the Governor and House and Senate leadership to keep that reduction in the budget that is currently being negotiated. There are over 22,956 attorneys licensed to practice law in Tennessee; all of whom must pay the $400 professional privilege tax, regardless of their income, employment status or whether practicing law is their main profession. Eighty two percent of the lawyers who pay the professional privilege tax are Tennessee residents. We agree with Governor Lee when in his 2020 State of the State address, he called this tax “arbitrary and unfair,” and we will continue to push legislators to at the very least reduce this discriminatory tax.  Please take a second right now and reach out to your legislators and ask them to make sure the final version of the state budget includes the provision to reduce or eliminate the professional privilege tax.

Additionally, as you know, the Department of Revenue sent out the annual notice to all attorneys that they must pay the professional privilege tax today (talk about crazy timing).  Unfortunately, any changes made by the legislature to the professional privilege tax will not go into effect until next year; therefore, all attorneys are required to pay the professional privilege tax this year.

The White House has reportedly been vetting two female lawyers for a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, Bloomberg Law reports. Public interest lawyer and former state counsel for the Biden-Harris campaign in Ohio, Rachel Bloomekatz, and Alexandra Schimmer, Denison University vice president and general counsel and former Ohio solicitor general, are both being considered for the opening. If nominated, Bloomekatz or Schimmer would replace Judge R. Guy Cole Jr. on the court. Cole was nominated by Bill Clinton and has served on the 6th Circuit since 1995.

Vanderbilt Law School’s spring “Dean’s Lecture Series on Race and Discrimination” will conclude on Thursday with a lecture on “Implicit Bias, Structural Bias, and Implications for Law and Policy” from Associate Justice Goodwin H. Liu of the California Supreme Court. Drawing on recent work convened by the National Academy of Sciences, Liu will discuss the evidentiary basis for implicit bias and structural bias, as well as possible legal responses and mitigation strategies applicable to a variety of institutions and organizations. The virtual event will take place on Thursday via Zoom from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. CDT. Learn more about the program and register here.  

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is no longer enforcing the federal government’s mask mandate after it was struck down by a federal judge in Florida yesterday, The Hill reports. Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle voided the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) directive yesterday, writing that the agency exceeded its statutory authority with the order requiring mask use on planes, trains and other forms of public transit. Days before Mizelle’s ruling, the CDC had extended the mask mandate for another 15 days, saying it was reviewing the impact of a recent spike in COVID-19 cases. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters earlier Monday that the ruling was “disappointing” and that the administration was reviewing the decision.

Stacie Odeneal, a child welfare law specialist from Lawrenceburg, has announced she is running to fill the seat on the 22nd District Circuit Court recently made vacant by the retirement of Judge Stella Hargrove. According to a release from Odeneal’s campaign, she is one of only 31 child welfare law specialists in the state and focuses on serving children and families in Lawrence, Maury, Wayne and Giles counties. A graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, Odeneal says she has served more than 2,500 families in 15 years of practicing law. She’ll be running as an Independent on the August ballot. “I like my courts like I like America — Independent,” said Odeneal in the release. “In my courtroom, only the law and the facts can matter. You should be able to trust that to be true outside the courtroom as well.”

Tres Wittum, a research analyst for Sen. Bo Watson, R-Chattanooga, has announced he is running for the open 5th District Congressional seat, the Tennessee Journal reports. According to Wittum’s campaign announcement, he has been active in state politics for more than 15 years, serving the Senate since 2011 in both the Senate Speaker Pro Tempore’s office and the Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee. Wittum joins a growing list of candidates seeking the Republican nod, including  Geni Batchelor, Jeff Beierlein, Natisha Brooks, Beth Harwell, Baxter Lee, Timothy Lee, Andy Ogles, Morgan Ortagus, Stewart T. Parks, Robby Starbuck and Kurt Winstead. Ortagus, Starbuck and Baxter Lee all face formal challenges with the Tennessee Republican Party, which prompted a technical removal from the ballot. The GOP executive committee by Thursday will vote on whether to allow them back on the ballot.  

The Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL) is recommending that the American Bar Association replace Model Rule 5.5 with a new rule "to better reflect the way lawyers practice in the 21st Century.” The group’s proposal would allow a lawyer admitted in any U.S. jurisdiction to practice law and represent willing clients without regard to the geographic location of the lawyer or the client, the forum where the services are to be provided, or the rules that would apply at a given moment in time. Lawyers would still be subject to judicial authority in each state and the disciplinary jurisdiction of their state of licensure and any other state where they practice. The proposal was developed by the APRL’s Future of Lawyering Committee and approved by its board in March. Read the committee report and a letter from APRL President and Memphis lawyer Brian Faughnan to the ABA explaining the proposal.

The Administrative Office of the Courts yesterday announced that Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Norma McGee Ogle will retire at the end of June. Ogle was appointed to the court by then Gov. Don Sundquist in 1998. It was a career move that wasn’t on her radar even though her husband Rex Henry Ogle was serving as a circuit court judge, the AOC relates. Prior to joining the court, Ogle was in private practice in Sevierville. She earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1977. Reflecting on her time on the bench, Ogle says she has loved the work, has had wonderful colleagues and has never stopped learning. Looking to the future, she hopes to see more women on the bench. “We’ve come so far, but we’re still ... a very small minority on the intermediate courts. My hope is that in the future we’ll see more women apply.”

During a recent debate, challenger Sara Beth Myers accused incumbent Davidson County District Attorney General Glenn Funk of violating the state’s “Little Hatch Act” when he recruited several prosecutors from his office to speak during a campaign forum about domestic violence. The state law prevents public officials from using taxpayer resources for elections or pressuring employees to help them get elected. In a statement, Funk said that his employees were talking about their accomplishments prosecuting domestic violence cases and used personal time off to participate. WPLN has more on the story.