Newly appointed Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Jeff Bivins addressed the Howell Edmunds Jackson Inn of Court last night, discussing the proposed Amendment 2 to the State Constitution, which will be on the ballot in the upcoming election on Nov. 4. "We stand at a crossroads in November," Bivins said. "We have to decide whether to go forward with a system that has been in place since the 1970s, a system that has not seen one single judge be the subject of any scandal, or to go with something else." The Jackson Sun has the story.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended the law license of Kent Lowery Booher based upon his entry of a guilty plea to two counts of statutory rape. View the BPR notice.

The U.S. Small Business Administration will open a temporary Disaster Loan Outreach Center in Memphis following widespread flooding in the area on Sept. 11, the Memphis Business Journal reports. The center will be open for a week, beginning Wednesday, at the Shelby County Equal Opportunity Compliance office. Businesses and nonprofits of any size can borrow up to $2 million at interest rates as low as 2.6 percent to repair or replace real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets, the release said. Homeowners can borrow up to $200,000 to repair or replace real estate, while homeowners and renters are eligible for loans up to $40,000 to repair or replace personal property. The filing deadline for property damage is Nov. 24, while the deadline for economic injury applications is June 24, 2015.

Twitter is suing the FBI and the Department of Justice to be able to release more information about government surveillance of its users. The social media company filed a lawsuit today in a California federal court to publish its full "transparency report," which documents government requests for user information. The San Francisco-based company said in a blog post that it believes it's entitled under the First Amendment to "respond to our users' concerns and to the statements of U.S. government officials by providing information about the scope of U.S. government surveillance." WRCB has more from the Associated Press.

Gov. Bill Haslam said he intends to vote for all four of the proposed amendments to the state Constitution on the Nov. 4 ballot, the Memphis Daily News reports. Haslam and former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice George Brown were featured during the Amendment 2 campaign stop at the Salvation Army’s Kroc Center at the Mid-South Fairgrounds in Memphis yesterday. 

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson yesterday denied the contempt of court order issued by House Republicans against Attorney General Eric Holder for failing to turn over documents to House Republicans investigating Operation Fast and Furious, the ABA Journal reports from the Associated Press. Jackson based her ruling on the fact that Holder had moved for the indefinite stay of her previous order that Holder turn over these “non-deliberative documents”. Because he had moved for the stay, Jackson says she should have ruled on it before the Oct. 1 deadline, but simply didn’t get around to it.

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder argued that the Supreme Court ruling in favor of an Ohio law that restricts early voting will disproportionately affect African-Americans, many of whom "heavily" use early voting. The law cut down the state's 35-day early voting window by seven days. "Early voting is about much more than making it more convenient for people to exercise their civic responsibilities,” Holder said in a video message posted on the Justice Department’s website. “It's about preserving access and openness for every eligible voter, not just those who can afford to miss work or who can afford to pay for childcare.” WCYB has more from CNN.

Special Judge Donald Ash said he will deliver his ruling in a few weeks on a lawsuit brought by former Monroe County Sheriff Bill Bivens that alleges current Sheriff Randy White was elected illegally in the Aug. 7 election. White defeated Bivens by about 700 votes. The ruling may come down to Judge Ash’ interpretation of a 2011 amendment to state law that requires candidates for sheriff to have three years of full-time law enforcement experience in the past 10 years. Knoxnews has more.

The Supreme Court on Thursday added 11 cases to its docket, including ones on redistricting, judicial elections and discrimination in housing and employment, the New York Times reports. The court, which will return to the bench on Monday, took no action on seven petitions urging it to hear cases on same-sex marriage. The cases it did agree to hear will be argued this winter and are likely to be decided by the end of June. The case on judicial elections is a challenge to bans on personal solicitations of campaign contributions by candidates for judicial office.

Music City is crawling with artists struggling to turn their passion into a living. When they run into legal needs, that’s when Thor Urness, a partner of the law firm Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, steps in. As board chairman at the Arts and Business Council of Greater Nashville (ABC), Urness provides free legal services for songwriters, authors, craftspeople and others in need, covering everything from copyright to leasing disputes to financial issues. After 25 years of practicing law, Urness intends to spend even more of his time helping the city’s starving artists. “With the exclusive privileges (lawyers are given), we have an obligation to the community and greater world to help people,” he said. The Tennessean has more.