A lawyer has created a new app to help people know their rights when dealing with police during a traffic stop, Local Memphis reports. It was named "Driving While Black" because the app's maker, Marianne Hyland, says African Americans get pulled over nearly two times more than their white counterparts. The app includes a contact function so drivers can alert people when they have been pulled over. It also has a record function so the traffic stop can be captured on video. The app has a complaint function, which includes a commendation, to give police feedback.

Thomas Boyers V, Mike Carter and M. Allen Ehmling have been recommended to members of the Sumner County Commission for Sumner County General Sessions Judge, the Tennessean reports. An 11-member committee selected the three candidates from nine qualifying applicants based on resumes, cover letters, interviews and a poll from the Sumner County Bar Association. Commissioners will also take nominations at their January meeting, adding the new names to the slate of candidates. Based on how fast the process moves, commissioners could vote in February and the newly appointed judge would take office between April and June.

Pay by the hour CLE programming runs Dec. 22, 29-31 at the TBA's annual CLE Blast. Pay for only the hours you need. Live credit hours start at 7 a.m. and end at 6:45 p.m. each day of the CLE Blast. Sign up for the CLE Blast or review other TBA CLE offerings at TBA CLE. 

Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Phillips refused former Knoxville lawyer John Oliver Threadgill’s bid to have the court amend a report to say that he was a longtime alcoholic in need of treatment. Threadgill is now blaming “alcohol use and addiction” as “factors” in his theft of client money and failure to pay the IRS more than $3 million in taxes and penalties, Knoxnews reports. The new report would have helped Threadgill get into a substance abuse program, which, if completed successfully, would earn him an early release.

Republicans and Democrats yesterday agreed on a $1.1 trillion spending bill to avoid a government shutdown and delay a politically-charged struggle over President Barack Obama's new immigration policy until the new year. Speaker John Boehner said he hoped for a vote on the measure on Thursday, and officials expressed confidence they could overcome opposition from tea party-backed Republicans and avoid a government shutdown. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has more.

States that tax diesel fuel differently for railroads and trucks aren’t unfairly favoring one industry over the other, officials from Tennessee and several other states argued before the Supreme Court  yesterday. Tennessee, Alabama and others say they will lose millions in tax revenue if the court sides with the railroads and finds the system discriminatory, the Tennessean reports. “Tennessee’s experience ... demonstrates that the tax burden on railroads cannot be adjusted to the railroads’ satisfaction,” Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper Jr. wrote in court papers.

U.S. District Court Judge William Haynes dismissed at least 19 lawsuits this week filed by Maury County Jail inmates who claimed their civil rights were violated because of jail procedures and conditions, specifically the food service they received.  The dismissals come less than two months after a Maury County jury determined former Sheriff Enoch George, jail administrators, and the facility’s former food provider did not violate the constitutional rights of six former inmates who claimed they suffered severe weight loss due to inadequate food, The Columbia Daily Herald reports.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide Friday whether Texas' denial of a specialty license plate featuring the Confederate flag was an infringement on free speech, WRSP reports from USA Today. In doing so, the court held in abeyance another case in which North Carolina approved a "Choose Life" license plate but denied one defending a woman's right to choose.

The Carter County Sessions Court had to convene in Elizabethton City Council Chambers Tuesday because of renovations underway in Judge Keith Bowers Jr. and Criminal Court Judge Lisa Rice’s courtrooms. Bowers said prisoners who had to be transported from the jail were heard first so they could be back in jail as soon as possible, the Johnson City Press reports.

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, Majority Leader Mark Norris and Caucus Chairman Bill Ketron all were re-elected to their posts without any opposition during today’s caucus leadership elections. House Speaker Beth Harwell defeated Rep. Rick Womack with a margin of 57-15 to retain her post. Rep. Kevin Brooks was re-elected as assistant majority leader over Rep. Jeremy Faison, and Rep. Jeremy Durham defeated the incumbent majority whip, Rep. Cameron Sexton. Rep. Sheila Butt was elected as floor leader, replacing Rep. Vance Dennis who was ousted in the August primary. The Nashville Post has more.