Policies that send non-violent offenders to jail and require fees for many services and products should be reconsidered, a former public defender contends. Bill Shulman, a 25-year associate professor of criminal justice at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro and former elected public defender for Davidson County, told the Daily News Journal he thinks the solution is to quit locking up so many people who are not a threat physically to society and allow more to serve punishments in other ways. 

Tennessee lawmakers Tuesday discussed changing state law so that some terminally ill patients believed to have less than six months to live could legally participate in assisted suicide, the Tennessean reports. Oregon approved the nation's first assisted suicide law in 1997, but only Washington state and Vermont have followed with their own laws in the nearly 18 years since the first "Death with Dignity Act." State legislators will take up the legislation when they return for regular session in January.

Gov. Bill Haslam today signed into law three new bills that could impact children and victims’ advocates, WATE reports. The Victim’s Rights Photo bill will allow a photo of a victim to be admissible evidence in a trial and show what the person looked like when alive. The Mabry Kate Act — named after a 10-month-old from Powell who died from a rare disorder called Krabbe disease — allows Tennessee’s genetic advisory board to decide if all babies born in the state will be screened for Krabbe disease. The Cannibis Oil bill allows it to be used for some medical conditions where other therapies haven’t provided relief.

Nashville attorney Waverly Crenshaw Jr. sailed through his Senate confirmation hearing today, and his appointment to the federal bench seems likely to receive strong bipartisan support, the Tennessean reports. Crenshaw, a partner at Waller Lansden Dortch and Davis, was nominated in February by President Barack Obama to become a U.S. district judge in Tennessee's Middle District. If confirmed by the full Senate for the lifetime post, Crenshaw would replace U.S. District Judge William Joseph Haynes Jr., who took senior status in December.

Most Americans expect the Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide when it rules on the issue within the next few weeks, a new poll by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute shows. Of its nationwide survey of 1,009 adults, only 25 percent expect the high court to leave existing state bans on gay marriage intact, while 65 percent expect the bans to be overturned. The Greeneville Sun has more from the AP.

NALS will host its third annual After Hours Silent Auction on July 16 at 5:30 p.m. All proceeds benefit Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, the state’s largest non-profit law firm. Attendees will have the chance to bid on donated items such as massages, gift certificates, hotel stays and more. 

The Metro Council voted Tuesday to kill Nashville Mayor Karl Dean’s plans for a $113 million jail consolidation in Southeast Nashville and a $23 million police headquarters proposed for North Nashville, the Tennessean reports. The jail plan and police headquarters move were met with heavy opposition from both communities. The council also rejected a $100 million downtown flood wall and protection system.

Gov. Bill Haslam issued a call to local officials to help influence what he described as a “changing” state legislature, less concerned with the interests of traditional institutions, Memphis Daily News reports. In a speech to the Tennessee Municipal League yesterday, Haslam said local officials need to get directly involved in engaging with state lawmakers on key issues if they want them to get passed. "We have a changing Legislature and the old ways of doing things won't necessarily work," Haslam said.

A Senate panel today blocked President Barack Obama’s request for $50 million to pay for legal help for unaccompanied immigrant children coming to the United States after fleeing violence in Central America. Under federal law, immigrant children have two options to seek legal status, including requesting asylum for fear of returning home to face gang violence. Without legal help, the maze of documentation and legal requirements is far more difficult for a child to maneuver, the Washington Times reports.

Former judge Matt Sweeney was recently named chair of the National Judicial College (NJC) board of trustees. Sweeney is currently a shareholder in the Nashville office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC.  Founded in 1963, the NJC is the nation’s leading provider of judicial education.