Knoxville nonprofit Lawyers Education Advocacy Group has won the right to offer free legal services during truancy cases in the lobby of the Knox County Juvenile Court, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. Their request last year to distribute literature on legal rights and offer free legal representation in the court was denied. "We are pleased that Knox County is now allowing the Lawyers Education Advocacy Project access to young people who need help," American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee legal director Thomas H. Castelli said.

The American Bar Association will offer a free webinar, “Civility & Free Expression: Developing a Public Dialogue through the Arts,” on Oct. 27 from 1 – 2 p.m. EDT. Speakers will share their experiences with being involved in community programming that has utilized the arts to foster conversations on contemporary and controversial issues.

Former Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Jerry Smith will join the faculty of Belmont University College of Law to teach appellate practice starting in October of 2016. Smith, who retired from the bench in 2014, has been an instructor at the Nashville School of Law since 2002.

The 11-year-old White Pine boy charged in the Saturday shooting and killing of 8-year-old McKayla Dyer will be detained until his Oct. 28 hearing by order of a judge at the Jefferson County Justice Center, WATE reports. Defense attorney Greg Isaacs said that there have been no cases in Tennessee where an 11-year-old was tried as an adult in a homicide case. “It’s not going to be the lawyers, it’s going to be the mental health experts, and they’re going to tell the court and petition the court when they feel he is rehabilitated,” Isaacs said.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that its website will identify and highlight changes in the text of the opinions after they are released to the public, the Associated Press reports. Both the old and new material will be shown when readers place their cursor over highlighted sections.

Chattanooga firm Patrick, Beard, Schulman & Jacoway PC filed a class action lawsuit against Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. and related corporate entities following the company’s admission that it installed “defeat devices” in certain Volkswagen and Audi diesel automobiles in order to pass emissions tests. The lawsuit joins the more than 175 class actions filed in 32 states. The firm's lawsuit contains plaintiffs from Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. “Volkswagen has been an important part of the Chattanooga community, but we are certainly disappointed in Volkswagen’s intentional actions in mispresenting the true nature of its diesel engines,” managing partner Gary Patrick said.

The Legal Aid of East Tennessee will host two free legal clinics this week. A Juvenile Court Clinic in Chattanooga is planned for Oct. 8, 1 p.m. at the Juvenile Court, 1600 East 3rd St. For more information, contact Charlie McDaniel. The Tri-Cities Veteran’s Stand Down Event in Johnson City is open to all veterans Oct. 9, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. at Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church, 201 East Market St. Contact Christy Harris for more information.

The Memphis Bar Association Saturday Legal Clinic will be held Oct. 10, 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. at the Benjamin L. Hooks Library, 3030 Poplar Ave. Volunteers can contact Anne Fritz, 901-527-3575. See the full list of Celebrate Pro Bono Month events.

Harvard University Law School professor Jonathan Zittrain created a new legal archival tool – Perma.cc – that allows users to submit legal research to Harvard’s library in order to be permanently preserved. Zittrain found that nearly three-fourths of links cited in law journals no longer worked properly, including links cited in U.S. Supreme Court opinions. “Link rot is especially worrisome when it comes to judicial opinions and scholarship,” Zittrain said. “If you can’t see what’s being linked to, then it makes it hard to give credit to what you’re reading.” Read more from the ABA Journal.

The U.S. Supreme Court began its new term today and NPR released its list of cases to watch that includes abortion regulations and affirmative action disputes. The Court rejected hundreds of appeals today, including an appeal by Richard Baumgartner, the former Knox County Criminal Court judge convicted in 2013 of lying to cover up his mistress’s drug crimes. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that attorneys Ann Short and Donald A. Bosch filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to review misprision of a felony – the law under which Baumgartner was convicted – and to determine if the law properly applied in Baumgartner’s case.

Should prosecutors carry guns? The Associated Press highlights an emerging national debate on the topic following a New York district attorney banning her prosecutors from keeping handguns at work. “To say you are forbidden from exercising a constitutional right that can protect yourself and your family — I can’t imagine a district attorney would want to do that,” Rensselaer District Attorney Joel Abelove says. “We deal with dangerous criminals who know us, who see us around,” he said. “You don’t get to pick the time or place when a criminal decides they want to attack you.”