Caseloads are too high, turnover is constant and morale has reached new lows, according to a survey of workers responsible for protecting Tennessee children from abuse and neglect, Tennessee Lookout reports. The internal Department of Children’s Services survey included scores of comments about working conditions, including unmanageable caseloads that impact workers’ ability to adequately do their jobs.  Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, and Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, who obtained the report, called for legislative action to cap the number of cases each worker handles. DCS has come under scrutiny recently for letting children sleep in offices and for licensing a Chattanooga-based facility that housed migrant children.

Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton was in Memphis today to hold a roundtable on criminal justice reform with Shelby County leaders, News Channel 5 reports. Sexton, R-Crossville, was to meet with Mayor Jim Strickland, Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner and District Attorney Amy Weirich to discuss legislative priorities for the next session, including truth in sentencing laws. Strickland has called for truth in sentencing laws for violent crimes, which means those convicted would serve their full sentence. Critics of such laws say they contribute to mass incarceration. Watch the group’s press conference on News 5’s Facebook page.

A coalition of media companies is seeking to unveil the jurors who found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murdering George Floyd, Law360 reports. The companies note that the verdict did not spark unrest as feared, which means it is safe to identify the jurors in one of the most-watched trials in American history. The judge overseeing the case took great pains during the trial to keep jurors' identities anonymous. He since has said he would release their names and maybe email addresses when it is “safe to do so.” 

Volunteer attorneys are needed for the Shelby County Expungement & Court Costs Clinic set for tomorrow in Memphis. The clinic will offer help with dismissal, diversion and conviction expungements, voter restoration and court cost waivers and covers charges filed in Shelby County only. To volunteer for the clinic sign up here.

The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands will hold one phone clinic and two in-person legal advice clinics next week for those with questions about housing and renters’ rights, bankruptcy, medical bills, debt collection, domestic violence, SNAP benefits and unemployment benefits. The phone clinic will take place Tuesday from 2-3:30 p.m. CDT. The in-person clinics will take place Wednesday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. CDT at Operation Stand Down Nashville, 1125 12th Ave. S., and Thursday from 3-4:30 p.m. CDT at Greenhouse Ministries, 309 S. Spring St., Murfreesboro 37130. To help answer questions, contact Andrae Crismon or Kendra Cheek or call 615-780-7131.

The TBA Litigation Law Section now will offer its annual forum virtually on Sept. 16. The program, produced by Todd Presnell with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings in Nashville, will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. CDT and offer four general CLE credits. Speakers include Tennessee Supreme Court justices Holly Kirby, Sharon Lee and Roger A. Page; Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge W. McBrayer; 30th Judicial District Chancellor Gadson “Will” Perry; and former TBA president and Baker Donelson shareholder George T. “Buck” Lewis III.

The Tennessee Innocence Project, a non-profit law firm working to free wrongfully convicted Tennesseans, recently announced an expansion of its staff with the hiring of senior legal counsel Jason M. Gichner. Prior to joining TIP, Gichner was a partner at Morgan & Morgan, an attorney with Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella, and a Nashville public defender. He also is an adjunct professor of law at Vanderbilt University Law School, where he earned his law degree. Gichner has served as advisory counsel to the Tennessee Indigent Representation Task Force and as a member of the Criminal Justice Act Panel for the Middle District of Tennessee. He is a graduate of the TBA Leadership Law Program.

The last time lawyers in New York City received a pay raise for appointed work was 2004. Now seven bar associations in the city are suing to increase those rates, the New York Law Journal reports. Supporters of a rate increase say low pay is forcing many lawyers to stop taking such cases, which in turn makes it difficult for remaining attorneys to adequately represent the children and low-income clients who rely on them. The leader of the bar coalition talked to the journal about this "extremely unusual" collaborative effort. Read the complaint. The TBA has actively supported efforts to increase the reimbursement rate for lawyers accepting appointed work in Tennessee.

Approval of the U.S. Supreme Court fell to an average of 49% down from 58% a year ago, according to Gallup. It’s the first time the rating has fallen below 50% since 2017. The poll also found that Republicans and Democrats viewed the court the same, with 51% of both approving, while only 46% of independents approved. Read more about the survey from USA Today.

Now that the Sullivan Baby Doe settlement has been announced, leaders in Washington County are considering options for spending the windfall, the Johnson City News & Neighbor reports. “With the pervasiveness of the opioid problem in our region, the options for using this money to make an impact are wide open,” said First Judicial District Attorney General Ken Baldwin. “I’m hoping the counties and cities that were part of this settlement can get together and use a portion of the money for a treatment facility.” He also said he hopes that the region’s county commissions use funds to help “the community, addicts and law enforcement agencies that have had to deal with this problem.” Distribution of the funds — estimated to total just over $21 million — will be on a per capita basis.