The Chattanooga NAACP will host its 8th Annual Criminal Justice Seminar this Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Imperial Ballroom. The theme of the event is "Know your Rights." Speakers include NAACP National Director of Criminal Justice Carlton Mayers, Tennessee ACLU Executive Director Hedy Wienberg, District Attorney General Neal Pinkston and the president of Georgia NOBLE, Robert Ford.  The Chattanooga Times Free Press has more.

The Davidson County Election Commission is prepared to cut the number of early voting sites in the upcoming general election from 10 to one unless money is added to the mayor's requested budget, the Tennessean reports. The election commission yesterday voted to operate only one early voting site ahead of Nashville's August election — the number required by state law — if the Metro Council approves the mayor's recommended budget without changes. The budget from Mayor Karl Dean is $868,000 short of the funding needed, according to the commission.

State lawmakers are preparing for a debate over whether terminally ill Tennesseans should be able to get a doctor's help to end their own lives, Nashville Public Radio reports. The Senate Health & Welfare Committee announced it will hold a special meeting next week on the proposed "Death With Dignity" bill. No votes are anticipated, but a variety of witnesses are expected to testify, including bill supporter John Jay Hooker. The civil rights attorney and two-time Democratic nominee for governor has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has made passage of the legislation a personal goal.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Williams-Yulee v. Florida State Bar -- which upheld a Florida law prohibiting judicial candidates from personally soliciting or receiving funds -- may create uncertainty as to the constitutionality of other restrictions on candidates' speech, Erwin Chemerinsky writes in the ABA Journal. According to Chemerinsky, the court’s emphatic declaration that judges are not politicians is in tension with a 2002 decision in Republican Party of Minnesota v. White.

The West North Central region has the best employment statistics for 2014 law graduates, according to the Institute for the Advancement of the Legal System, which used its interactive online tool to crunch the numbers. About 79 percent of all 2014 law school graduates from the area were employed in full-time, long-term legal jobs, requiring bar passage or in JD-preferred jobs about 10 months after graduation. The national rate came in at 71 percent, while the Pacific region had the worst ranking at 63.7 percent. The ABA Journal has more. 

The Madison County Juvenile Court program opened its new HERO program on Monday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the University of Memphis at Lambuth. The HERO program is an alternative option for youth ages 12 to 17 with nonviolent offenses and will meet every night on the Lambuth campus. Judge Christy Little said she hopes the program will provide a positive influence for the youth involved by seeing students on campus during the school year. The Jackson Sun has the story.

The Tennessee Supreme Court rejected a Memphis defendant’s argument that he was entitled to a new trial because a witness on the stand said he was unable to recall his earlier statements about the murder. Marlo Davis was convicted of second degree murder and reckless homicide in the 2006 death of a man working on a rental property. During the investigation, one witness gave a sworn statement to police and then later testified at a preliminary hearing that he saw Davis shoot the victim. At trial, that same witness said he could not recall what happened that day and did not recall what he had said to police or at the hearing. On appeal to the Supreme Court, the court rejected the argument regarding feigned memory loss, saying that the trial court had no way of definitively determining if a witness was being truthful about their lack of memory. The AOC has more.

Additional rooms are available at the DoubleTree Hotel for the Tennessee Bar Association's 134th Annual Convention, June 17-20 in Memphis. Call (901) 528-1800 to reserve your room now. Visit TBA.org to register and for more information on convention events.

First Tennessee Bank has agreed to pay $212.5 million after admitting to making bad mortgage loans. According to the U.S. Justice Department, the bank kept approving Federal Housing Administration loans for ineligible borrowers through its subsidiary, First Horizon Home Loans Corporation, between January 2006 and October 2008. When many of those loans later defaulted, the banks holding the loans were able to submit insurance claims to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for their losses. News Channel 9 has the story.

A state inmate convicted of a 2013 armed robbery at a Sevier County adult lingerie store has been indicted in connection with the mailing of a suspicious substance to the Sevier County courthouse in February, Knoxnews reports. The white, powdery substance was mailed to the Sevierville offices of 4th Judicial District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn. The package also contained threats targeting an assistant district attorney general who had prosecuted the case against Rhodes, the release states. The substance proved to be benign, although six courthouse staffers were evaluated at a local hospital as a precaution.