Gov. Bill Lee today announced that he will chair a committee aiming to enshrine the right-to-work law in to the Tennessee constitution, NewsChannel5 reports. The Yes on 1 Committee, made up of executive directors of prominent business groups in the state and multiple Republican officials, was formed to support the right-to-work constitutional amendment, passed by legislators earlier this year. The measure requires voter approval and will be on the Nov. 8, 2022, ballot. “We believe [right-to-work] must be enshrined for freedoms for all workers... When people see Tennessee, they see opportunity and freedom for workers," Lee said Monday during an event in Nashville to announce the effort.

First Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Jean A. Stanley has announced that she will retire next year after 30 years on the bench. Stanley was elected in 1994 to the 1st Judicial District, which covers Carter, Johnson, Unicoi and Washington Counties. During her time as judge, Stanley created the First Judicial District Court Clinic in Johnson City, served on a number of committees and acted as the eastern section representative for the Tennessee Judicial Conference. “If you are in the legal field and you want to do something spectacular with your life, this is definitely something you should consider,” Stanley said of being a judge. “It’s a wonderful career.” Read more on Stanley’s career from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Hawkins County Courthouse celebrated National Adoption Day on Friday with music, testimonials and the adoption of three children. A video of the celebration can be found on YouTube. “It’s most apropos that we celebrate National Adoption Day through the season of Thanksgiving because in our community and communities all across America, adoptive families are going to experience the full, overflowing cornucopia of blessings,” said 3rd District Court of Appeals Chancellor Thomas Frierson III. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more on the story.  

Nominations are being accepted for the TBA’s Public Service Awards. The annual awards recognize outstanding commitment to access to justice in three categories: work performed by an attorney employed by an organization primarily involved in providing legal representation to the indigent; pro bono work performed by a private attorney; and a strong commitment to pro bono service by a Tennessee law student or recent graduate. Nominations are due no later than Dec. 3. Nominators are welcome to include supplemental information including letters or videos of support. For more information, contact TBA Director of Access to Justice & Special Projects Liz Todaro.   

Two attorneys have been appointed to a new government panel that will oversee the site of the future Ford Motor Co. assembly plant in West Tennessee. According to the Associated Press, Michael Banks of the Banks Law Firm in Brownsville was today appointed to the Megasite Authority of West Tennessee by Lt. Gov. Randy McNally. He will serve alongside First Horizon National official and former Baker Donelson CEO Charlie Tuggle, who was appointed to the board earlier this month by Gov. Bill Lee. The 11-member board includes Gov. Bill Lee, two House speaker appointees, one joint appointment by both speakers and the commissioners of economic development, finance and general services. Ford plans to build electric F-series pickup trucks at the massive $5.6 billion campus in rural Haywood County.

Eighteen-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse was today acquitted of all charges after he fatally shot one man and injured two others during racial justice demonstrations in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020, the ABA Journal reports. Rittenhouse faced homicide, attempted homicide and reckless endangerment charges. Rittenhouse maintained he acted in self-defense when he shot the three men, claiming one man put his hand on Rittenhouse’s rifle while the second hit him with a skateboard. The third man acknowledged he’d unintentionally pointed his gun at Rittenhouse. Jurors deliberated for more than 25 hours over four days.

The Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States says its studies show “considerable, bipartisan support” of term limits for the high court, the ABA Journal reports. President Joe Biden assembled the commission in April to study Supreme Court reform. The idea most often proposed is to create staggered 18-year terms for the justices, which would be timed to open up a seat every two years. Materials from a recent commission meeting point out that the U.S. is the only major constitutional democracy with no retirement age or term limits and the average length of a justice’s term has gone from around 15 years in the late 1960s to around 26 years for justices who have left the court since 1970. The commission will send a final report to Biden next month.

Wade Davies writes in the current Tennessee Bar Journal about newly expanded opportunities for expungement, after the General Assembly created ways to educate defendants on how and when they can obtain one. "What we are looking at here is expungement of actual judgments of conviction," he writes. "Expungement of a conviction is a significant development because under Tennessee law an expungement returns the defendant to the status he or she occupied before the prosecution and generally creates a right to deny having been charged." Davies encourages lawyers to do pro bono work in this area. "You do not have to be a criminal defense lawyer to help someone seek an expungement. Anyone can do it."

Hamilton County resident Kenny Morgan has announced his candidacy for the Third Congressional District seat, the Chattanoogan reports. Morgan served in the U.S. Army Health Services Command at Madigan Army Medical Center, worked at Tennessee Donors Services, Erlanger Medical Center, Hamilton Health Care System and the Family Resource Agency. The Third Congressional District seat has been held by Republican Chuck Fleischmann since 2010.

A legislative counsel to the govenor warned Tennessee lawmakers their bill limiting COVID-19 restrictions would violate federal law and put the state at risk of losing federal funds. According to records obtained by the Associated Press, Legislative Counsel Liz Alvey warned Senate Speaker Randy McNally’s chief of staff and a member of Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson’s office in an email on the night the bill was passed. “Proposed ADA accommodation in the bill is a violation of the ADA and will put us at risk of losing federal funding,” Alvey wrote. The bill was approved an hour later. It is not clear if Alvey relayed that advice to Gov. Bill Lee before he signed the bill into law less than two weeks later.