Tennessee's three Supreme Court justices facing retention elections continued to fight back against a campaign to oust them with just two days left before election day. Justices Connie Clark and Sharon Lee took to Nashville's Public Square yesterday to lambaste attacks orchestrated from within the state and from out-of-state, the Tennessean reports. The pair were joined by former U.S. Attorney Ed Yarbrough and former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice William Koch, both Republicans who said they support retaining the three justices. Chief Justice Gary Wade made a stop at the Sullivan County Courthouse where retired U.S. Rep. Bill Jenkins, a Republican from Rogersville, defended Wade against claims that he is liberal and anti-business, the Times News reports.

As campaigning wraps up tomorrow, Justice Wade will spend election night with friends and family in East Tennessee, while Justices Clark and Lee will be at Jed's Sports Bar and Grille in Nashville, 114 28th Ave. South, for an informal gathering with friends and supporters.

Travis McDonough, chief of staff for Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, has been selected for nomination to fill the federal judge vacancy in Hamilton County when U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier steps down in October, sources say. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that multiple sources with knowledge of the process have confirmed that McDonough, a former attorney for Miller & Martin, has been notified that he will be President Barack Obama's nominee to the U.S. Senate to fill the upcoming vacancy.

In the new August issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal, TBA President Jonathan Steen stresses the importance of civics education for kids, and Chattanooga lawyer Russell Fowler takes a detailed look at the Tennesseans who have served on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Next Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit will take up the largest number of marriage equality cases to be heard in a single day, including a case from Tennessee. The Tennessee case, Tanco Vs. Haslam, seeks to recognize the same-sex marriages of three couples. This will be the fourth argument to be heard by a federal circuit court since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) last summer, the Memphis Flyer reports.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in an interview with The Associated Press yesterday that the Supreme Court won't duck the issue of same-sex marriage the next time a case comes to the court. She said she expects a case to be heard and decided by June 2016, and possibly a year earlier. Ginsburg also predicted that the justices would not delay ruling as they did on interracial marriage bans, which were not formally struck down until 1967. WRCB has the story.

Editorials from both the Chattanooga Times and the Free Press are urging voters to retain Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Gary Wade and Justices Cornelia Clark and Sharon Lee in the Aug. 7 election. A Free Press editorial opinion calls Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey’s campaign to oust the three incumbent justices “almost entirely politically driven.” The Times editorial opinion says that Ramsey is driven only by his desire to have a Republican Supreme Court and a Republican Attorney General. “But that's not how courts work,” the newspaper says. “The judicial system is the portion of our government that is designed to be the balance to partisan politics.”

Knox County prosecutor Leland Price faces Scott Green, an attorney and former prosecutor in the Aug. 7 election for the Knox County Criminal Court Judge Division III seat being vacated by the retiring Mary Beth Liebowitz. WATE sat down with the two candidates to find out what qualities each candidate would bring to the bench, how they hope the changes in the criminal clerk’s office will impact the courtroom and what quality they believe is most important in being a judge.

A poll done by an adviser to U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander shows the senator holding a 29-point lead in the Republican primary, the Tennessean reports. Alexander stands at 53 percent in a ballot test conducted July 27-29 by North Star Opinion Research. State Rep. Joe Carr, who received support from radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham, stands at 24 percent and Memphis physician George Flinn stands at 5 percent. Carr says the race is much closer, however. He cites a poll taken earlier this month on behalf of Tea Party Nation that showed him seven percentage points behind Alexander.

Dickson Municipal Court Judge Reese Holley asked the Dickson Council to consider upping his $24,000 annual salary, the Tennessean reports. Holley reminded council that the only time an elected official can request a change is at the beginning of a new term. He is unopposed for municipal court judge in the upcoming August elections.

Vacancies on U.S. courts of appeal have declined from 16 on Jan. 1, 2013, when President Obama was beginning his second term, to eight vacancies this week, Gavel Grab reports. Not since 1990 has the vacancy rate been so low, approaching 4 percent. Law Professor Arthur Hellman of the University of Pittsburgh said that part of the decline in vacancies is due to a change in Senate filibuster rules.