Two graduates of Williamson County’s Special Sessions DUI Court program told their story to a gathering of community members during a breakfast at Puckett’s Tuesday morning. Judge Denise Andre founded DUI Court in 2010 to provide chronic DUI offenders an opportunity to change their lives and break the cycle of alcohol and drug dependency. Attendees included the DUI court judge, public defender, and the defense attorneys working with law enforcement, a case manager, probation officer, evaluator, treatment provider and others who have gone through or are in the program. The Williamson Herald has more.

Judge Pamela Reeves credits the youth development program 4-H with helping to prepare her to become the first female to serve on the federal bench in the Eastern District of Tennessee. Growing up in the mountains of southwest Virginia and in Bluff City, the former TBA president came from an economically challenged family and says 4-H —  whose H’s stand for head, heart, hands and health — gave her opportunities to travel and to grow that would otherwise not have come her way. “I would not be the person that I am today had it not been for 4-H,” she states. “That was just an eye-opening opportunity to learn so much, including leadership skills and public speaking. It was hugely impactful.” Tennessee Alumnus magazine has more on Reeves' life and accomplishments. 

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands’ Volunteer Lawyers Program presented its annual Pro Bono Leadership Award to the Nashville Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division (NBA/YLD) last night at the NBA’s Annual Banquet. The award recognizes the NBA/YLD’s ongoing support of a legal clinic at Casa Azafrán, which provides free legal assistance every month to Nashville’s immigrant and refugee communities. Twenty lawyers from the NBA/YLD have worked with the Volunteer Lawyers Program since the first clinic was held at Casa Azafrán in May.

The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Dec. 18 in Nashville in an appeal by the State opposing the requests of several death row inmates who are seeking the identity of individuals involved in the lethal injection process. The appeal arises from a challenge to the constitutionality of the Tennessee Department of Correction’s execution procedures for lethal injection on various grounds by 11 of the state’s death row inmates, the Administrative Office of the Courts reports.

A new poll by Vanderbilt University reveals that most registered voters in Tennessee (56 percent) say they strongly or somewhat support expanding Medicaid to provide medical care for people living on low incomes and favor accepting federal dollars to do so. Even so,  the Affordable Care Act itself continues to be unpopular, with 44 percent saying they generally feel unfavorable to it. The Vanderbilt Poll is conducted just prior to and then after each session of the Tennessee General Assembly in order to gauge how closely the concerns of citizens align with their representatives in Nashville.

House Republicans today issued a stern rebuke to President Barack Obama over immigration, passing a bill declaring his executive actions to curb deportations "null and void and without legal effect,” the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. The bill stands little or no chance of advancing through the Senate, so is mostly symbolic. Obama's executive actions last month will extend deportation relief and work permits to some 4 million immigrants here without documents, mostly those who have been in the country more than five years and have children who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.

The number of empty federal judgeships is now at its lowest level since President Obama’s first year in office, the Brennan Center reports from The Bulletin. As of Nov. 28, there were 56 federal court vacancies, of which 19 were considered judicial emergencies. The Senate is poised to conclude its most productive two-year period of judicial confirmations since the Clinton administration when it confirmed 128 judges during 1993-1994. The current Senate has confirmed 122 since January 2013, with more confirmations likely upcoming.

Fix the Court executive director Gabe Roth calls for reforms that would make the U. S. Supreme Court more transparent and accountable in an opinion piece published this week by the Los Angeles Times. Fix the Court is a non-partisan group that was recently launched to promote Supreme Court reform. “In spite of [the Court’s] vast power, the justices have little accountability,” writes Roth. “Not only do they decide for themselves when to recuse themselves from cases in which they have conflicts; they also aren't bound to a code of ethics the way the rest of [the] federal judiciary is.” The Brennan Center for Justice has more.

The McMinn County Judicial Complex was officially dedicated Tuesday in a ceremony Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Lee called a "truly historic moment for this county." Lee, who is originally from Madisonville, recently became the first female chief justice from East Tennessee. After the dedication, tours were given of the new establishment, which includes three courtrooms, court clerk offices, a grand jury room and space for more than 100 more inmates. The Daily Post Athenian has more.

Dickson County Municipal Court Judge Reese Holley has been accused of judicial misconduct for ordering indigent defendants to perform public service work at charities favored by the judge prior to sentencing and before they were allowed access to a public defender. Jake Lockert, public defender for the 23rd Judicial District, filed the complaint against Holley, claiming the judge also allowed some defendants to donate funds to the charities to decrease the hours of community service the judge orders. Holley has 30 days to respond to the allegations, WKRN reports.