BellSouth may have failed to give local governments as much money as the law requires for 911 fees, but it was not intentional, a lawyer for the company says. Attorney Scott Angstreich yesterday asked U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier to rule against Hamilton County 911 and nine other 911 districts in Tennessee that claim in a lawsuit that BellSouth didn't turn over 911 fees it owed them, intentionally lying to the emergency services providers to help its bottom line. Angstreich asked Collier to dismiss the suit, arguing that the claims are not true, and even if they are, the districts can’t prove the phone company did it on purpose. Attorneys for the local 911 districts say BellSouth knew it was paying less money than it was supposed to, and they want Collier to bring the case to trial. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has more.

The Justice Department’s Board of Immigration Appeals has determined for the first time that domestic violence victims may be able to qualify for asylum in the United States. The ruling by the board that decides appeals from federal immigration courts is significant because it means that the government now recognizes domestic violence victims as a potentially protected class of people seeking refuge in the United States. The decision establishes a broad and firm foothold for an untold number of women whose asylum claims have been routinely denied in the past. WATE has more.

A Hamilton County Concurrent Grand Jury report suggests that a Mental Health Court is on the way. The report says: "We were pleased to hear from some of our judges that a mental health court is in the works. As stated in past reports, the need to have such a court is very clear.” The panel also praised the work of the Drug Court. The Chattanoogan has more.

The ribbon formally was cut yesterday for the expanded Carey E. Garrett Juvenile Court Building in Knoxville, Knoxnews reports. The 8,926-square-foot project cost nearly $4 million — more than $600,000 over the original budgeted amount. It includes four new courtrooms, mediation rooms, holding cells, an enclosed sally port for law enforcement vehicles and expanded space for the clerk’s office. The building will now serve as the central location where all matters pertaining to juvenile justice and child support services in Knox County will be handled.

Criminal Court Judge Randall Wyatt yesterday dismissed the case against Leonard Embody, a Nashville-area Second Amendment advocate once dubbed “Radnor Lake Rambo” for his open carry habits. Embody had been charged with unlawful possession of a weapon after police said he walked in body armor with an AR-15 rifle with an attached silencer near the Historic Metro Courthouse in July 2013. Embody has long said he had a federal permit to carry the silencer. After the dismissal, Embody said he planned to return to downtown Nashville with the same type of weapon to hand out leaflets like he did last year. The Tennessean has the story.

In a Memphis Flyer opinion piece, attorney Mike Working questions the make-up of the new 27-member task force Gov. Bill Haslam formed to reform sentencing law in Tennessee. Of the six Shelby County residents appointed to the task force, all are white Republicans tasked with reforming a system that overwhelmingly affects people of color. Additionally, he notes, none have even defended a sentencing hearing. “I know several of these citizens, but my affection for them does not change the fact that each of them presents only one side of the debate about sentencing in Shelby County,“ Working wrote. “How can a commission this one-sided and completely lacking in practical perspective make any meaningful reform?”

The U.S. Supreme Court has made it very difficult, and often impossible, to hold police officers and the governments that employ them accountable for civil rights violations, University of California-Irvine School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes in a New York Times opinion piece. Last week, a grand jury was convened in St. Louis County, Missouri, to examine the evidence against the police officer who killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, and to determine if he should be indicted. Chemerinsky says that if the officer is found to have acted improperly, the ability to hold him or Ferguson accountable will be severely restricted by recent Supreme Court decisions.

Appellate, trial, general sessions, juvenile and municipal judges from across the state attended a weeklong training earlier this month in Murfreesboro, the Administrative Office of the Courts reports. The sessions included information on transitioning from a law practice to the bench, evidence, recent law updates, courtroom security, jury selection, social media and ethics. Most of the 85 judges participating as students will take office Sept. 1, although any judge appointed or elected within the past year also  was invited to attend.

The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law was ranked 24 out of 50 Most Impressive Law School Buildings in the world, according to the website bestchoiceschools.com. The law school relocated to the former U.S. Post Office, which also served as the U.S. Customs House before it reopened for students in 2010 after an extensive renovation. “This honor confirms what all of us in Memphis have long known,” said Peter Letsou, dean of the school. “We have an absolutely spectacular facility that instills a great sense of pride among our students, alumni, faculty, staff and the greater Memphis community.” The Memphis Business Journal has more.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Charlie Brown gave his first campaign speech Tuesday, at the steps of the old Roane County Courthouse, declaring — among other things — that he’s for “common sense” education and not the Common Core that Republican Gov. Bill Haslam is pushing. In his prepared remarks, Brown said he is the candidate who can relate to the working class. According to his website, Brown supports raising the minimum wage and wants to increase the speed limit on certain highways to 80 miles per hour. Tom Humphrey has more on his Knoxnews blog.