Many Hamilton County judges and attorneys paid their respects to the members of the legal community who passed away in 2013 at the Chattanooga Bar Association’s annual memorial service on March 7. Presiding Judge W. Neil Thomas III and CBA President Timothy Mickel were among those providing remarks.The Hamilton County Herald has more.

The four attorneys vying for Sumner County Chancery Court Judge in the May 6 Republican primary pitched their qualifications to a roomful of voters Monday at a town hall meeting hosted by the League of Women Voters of Hendersonville, the Tennessean reports. Mike Carter, Patti B. Garner, Louis Oliver III and Devon Sutherland are running for the 18th Judicial District post vacated by Chancellor Thomas Gray, who announced in October his plan to retire. Since no one is running in the Democratic primary, the Republican winner will run unopposed in the general election.

Twenty-year incumbent Criminal Court Clerk Gwen Tidwell is facing opposition in the May 6 primary from fellow Democrat Brian White of East Ridge. The winner of that race will face State Rep. Vince Dean, R-East Ridge, who is leaving his District 30 seat to seek the court clerk post. He does not have Republican opposition. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has more as part of its series on contested races in the May 6 Hamilton County primary.

The Tennessee Senate yesterday unanimously approved a bill by Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, to end the statute of limitation on rape cases, WREG reports. Rape cases currently must be prosecuted within eight years; aggravated rape within 15 years. If the House approves the bill and the governor signs it into law, it will go into effect July 1. An amendment to the bill requires victims to report rapes within three years.

The first public meeting for the Hamilton County Family Justice Center will be on Tuesday from 6-7 p.m. at Stuart Heights Baptist Church in Chattanooga. This is the first in a series of public meetings to discuss the Family Justice Center's role in addressing family violence in the community. The Chattanoogan has more.

U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger has granted a preliminary injunction against the state’s ban on same-sex marriage for three couples, the Tennessean reports. A lawsuit was filed in October on behalf of three couples who were wed in marriage-recognition states where they lived but, when they moved to Tennessee, found their vows were irrelevant. “At this point, all signs indicate that, in the eyes of the United States Constitution, the plaintiffs’ marriages will be placed on an equal footing with those of heterosexual couples and that proscriptions against same-sex marriage will soon become a footnote in the annals of American history,” Judge Trauger wrote in the order.

The Memphis Bar Association will hold a pro bono legal clinic for veterans March 25 at the Veterans Administration Center from noon to 2 p.m., the Memphis Daily News reports. More attorneys are needed for the effort. Contact volunteer coordinator Jake Dickerson for more information.

The Williamson County Herald this week began featuring profiles to introduce candidates for government and judicial offices to residents. The first edition features candidates of contested races for 21st Judicial District Public Defender and General Sessions Judge Part I and Part II. The Herald will feature the candidates for the Williamson County Trustee race on March 27.

Nine students from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law spent an "alternative" spring break working with undocumented immigrants through a student-run event organized by the law school’s Public Action Law Society. The alternative break drew 73 law students this week, some in Memphis just for the week. The group is participating in legal clinics around the state. Next week, law students from Rutgers University will put on a similar event in Clarksville. The Commercial Appeal has the story.

Tennessee can lawfully use the electric chair in executions if lethal injection is stopped by the courts or because the state can't get the drugs to carry out the sentence, state Attorney General Bob Cooper said in a legal opinion this week. Tennessee and several other states have been grappling about what do about executions because of a European-led boycott on sales of sedatives to American prisons and legal challenges to drugs made by compounding pharmacies. Cooper's interpretation comes as state lawmakers consider a bill that would allow condemned prisoners to be electrocuted if lethal injection can't be used, Knoxnews reports.