A group of California school teachers backed by a conservative political organization, has asked the Supreme Court to rule that unions representing government workers can't collect fees from those who choose not to join. Half the states currently require state workers represented by a union to pay "fair share" fees that cover bargaining costs, even if they are not members. Union opponents say it violates First Amendment rights to require nonmembers to pay fees that may go to causes they don't support. The justices could decide as early as next week whether to take up the case. WRCB has the story from the AP.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch says the government is reviewing the deadly church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, to determine whether any federal crimes were committed. Lynch said an investigation is continuing, and she can't discuss specifics, but said hate crimes are what she calls "the original domestic terrorism." WMC News 5 has more from the AP.

Supreme Court justices' annual reports on investments, paid travel and other financial matters remain shielded from public view more than five weeks after they were filed, the Associated Press reports. The Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, the central repository for federal judges' disclosure forms, said Wednesday that the reports should be released before July 4. For the first time since John Roberts became chief justice in 2005, the justices probably will leave town for their summer break before the reports are released. ABC News has more.

Starting July 1, domestic violence victims will no longer need to show visible marks to prove a strangulation assault, Nashville Public Radio reports. Just a few years ago, strangling wasn’t even a felony in Tennessee if the victim survived. The new law makes Tennessee one of the first to lower the amount of evidence required in strangulation cases.

Attorney Yolanda Kight was appointed judicial commissioner on Monday. Kight, who was chosen after nearly an hour of multiple rounds of nominations and votes, replaces Mike Cross, who retired. Shelby County has eight judicial commissioners, with someone on duty 24 hours a day. The Commercial Appeal has more.

Shelby County Schools on Friday opened an Open Records Reading Room where citizens will be able to dig into the district’s business. For a handful of public information advocates in the city, it is a triumph. “We feel like this is a breakthrough in Memphis and Shelby County,” said Joe Saino, president of memphisshelbyinform.com, an open-records advocacy group he founded in 2002. The Commercial Appeal has the story. 

In the wake of racially motivated murders in South Carolina, Republican U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker of Tennessee say they believe South Carolina should remove the Confederate flag from outside its statehouse. "It is up to the people of South Carolina, but I hope they remove a flag that many see as a symbol of racial intolerance,” Alexander said in a statement to the Tennessean. On Friday, alleged shooter Dylan Roof appeared at a bond hearing during which families of the victims addressed him and did something many didn't expect: they said they forgave him. CNN has more.

One of the 12 jurors who convicted Clarksville attorneys Fletcher Long and Carrie Gasaway of extortion in May says that some jurors made up their minds that the two attorneys were guilty well before deliberations began and claims she felt intimidated and in danger if she did not go along with a guilty verdict. Long’s attorney, Mark Olson, plans to use the juror’s affidavit to ask that the guilty verdict be set aside for juror misconduct. The Leaf Chronicle has more.

Retired attorney Jim Emison hopes to solve the 1940 murder of Elbert Williams, who is believed to be the first NAACP member killed for daring to speak up for civil rights. Williams was a charter member of the NAACP's Brownsville branch and worked to register black voters in West Tennessee in the early days of the civil rights movement. Emison wants the case reopened and Williams' body exhumed, despite some resistance from a few people in the community. "We should do everything we can do to see who killed this man," Emison said. "If there is anybody in a group that may have done it that's still living, they need to be brought to justice." The Times News Net has more from the Asssociated Press.

With an increase of nontraditional legal careers and the industry shift to utilize more outside resources, there has been a surge in what employers deems "J.D. advantage" positions. And while the largest percentage of jobs secured are those where bar passage is required, this growth has helped to ease the swell of unemployed graduates. According to the Huffington Post, many stats being reported point to only those bar passage required positions and put J.D. advantage positions into the "Other" category, which has led to grossly inflated unemployment rates for recent graduates.