The public is invited to attend a forum on Criminal Justice and Mental Health “A Mental Health Court for Hamilton County,” next Monday from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center in Chattanooga. “A mental health court in Hamilton County will significantly reduce costs and improve public safety by connecting mentally ill defendants with community resources,” Judge Christie Sell said. “The goal is to reduce the likelihood of continued crime by stabilizing these individuals, who cost more than 7 times more to jail and who are subject to worsening mental conditions when incarcerated.” The Chattanoogan has more.

Former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Penny White said she supports Chief Justice Gary Wade and Justices Cornelia Clark and Sharon Lee and believes they will be retained despite the political attack against them. In 1996, White became the only justice not to be retained by voters on a statewide ballot after facing an ouster campaign that portrayed her as soft on capital punishment — an argument being used today against Wade, Clark and Lee. White said she could not defend herself from the attacks due to judicial ethics rules at the time that kept her from speaking. "The whole playing field for judicial elections was different than it is today,"  White told the Daily Times. "They are now well within their rights to speak out."

Sen. Lamar Alexander has declared his support for passage of all four amendments to the state constitutions that will be on the November ballot, including Amendment 2 dealing with the gubernatorial appointment of judges to the state Supreme Court and other appellate courts. Amendment 1 would insert into the constitution new provisions giving the Legislature authority to enact abortion restrictions, Amendment 3 would prohibit the Legislature from ever enacting a state income tax and Amendment 4 would allow veterans groups to hold fundraising raffles and the like that involve gambling. Knoxnews has more.

The Administrative Office of the Courts has approximately $200,000 in grant funding available for the development or continuation of initiatives that will aid self-represented litigants in accessing the Tennessee court system regarding child support issues. To receive funding, the initiatives must address the needs of divorced or never married parents, and focus on services to help them resolve any or all issues concerning parenting and visitation in child support cases or cases involving child support issues. Proposals must be received by Aug. 8.

The country’s already backlogged immigration courts have seen a deluge of tens of thousands of Central American children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border in recent months, WSMV reports. The court system is so overwhelmed that it can currently take three years to get a hearing. The courts have more than 375,000 cases being handled by just 243 judges, according to the Department of Justice. The Obama administration has said it will move quickly to process the thousands of immigrant children and families and has asked Congress for $3.7 billion in emergency funding to cope with the crisis, including hiring more judges.

The Department of Justice yesterday indicted FedEx Corp. in connection with an investigation into illegal pharmaceutical shipments, the Commercial Appeal reports. The indictment is based on claims that FedEx and rival United Parcel Service aided and abetted illegal online drug sales by not having proper controls over their shipments. The Memphis carrier proclaimed innocence and said in a statement that it would plead not guilty.

Charles Randy Pettigrew was suspended for three years, retroactive to May 16, 2013, for failure to supervise a non-lawyer assistant to whom he had given significant authority over his trust account. The assistant engaged in a pattern of inappropriately transferring significant sums of money between the trust and operating accounts, and engaged in kiting checks between Pettigrew’s trust accounts for months in an effort to conceal the misappropriations. View the BPR notice.

Brandon Michael Booten received a public censure for failing to communicate with his client for extended periods of time, not being diligent in his representation and failing to submit orders to the court until long after hearings were held in contravention of the local rules of court. View the BPR notice.

Andrew Lee Messick was suspended for one year and one day for a complaint of misconduct related to criminal conduct. Messick must contact the Tennessee Lawyer’s Assistance Program and follow any recommendations prior to reinstatement. View the BPR notice.

Edward T. Kindall was reinstated to the practice of law on July 2. Kindall had been suspended for one year retroactive to May 13, 2013. View the BPR notice.