Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper issued an opinion yesterday stating Gov. Bill Haslam has the legal authority to fill judicial vacancies, despite the expiration of the state’s Judicial Nominating Commission this summer. Following a 2009 change in state law, the governor “has the authority to appoint any qualified person to fill a judicial office that becomes vacant after the termination and wind-down of the Judicial Nominating Commission,” the opinion states. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has more.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Conner yesterday spoke in favor of judicial merit selection during a “fireside chat” with First Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Bruce Selya at Roger Williams University School of Law, the Providence Journal reports. O'Connor opposes election of judges, and said states are better off with appointed judges because merit-selection appointment leads to higher quality judges, and keeps political money and advertising out of it.

State Republican Party Chairman Chris Devany is accusing the American Civil Liberties Union-Tennessee of using “scare tactics” to “intimidate” Tennessee public schools on the issue of prayer at high school football games. Last week, the ACLU-Tennessee sent a letter to school superintendents warning about reports of “school-sponsored prayer in numerous” football programs, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. In his own letter to superintendents, Devany charges that the ACLU missed a basic principle of the First Amendment and misrepresented a point in the U. S Supreme Court case Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe concerning prayer in public schools.

J.B. Bennett has announced his candidacy for Hamilton County Circuit Court Judge, Division 1, in the Republican primary, the Chattanoogan reports. Judge Jacqueline Bolton recently announced her decision not to seek re-election. Bennett is a shareholder at Spears, Moore, Rebman & Williams, where he has practiced for over 20 years.

Neal Pinkston and Boyd Patterson— both members of Bill Cox’s staff— are rumored to have been making rumblings about running for his district attorney position in the Republican primary elections next May. Cox announced recently that he would not run for an eight-year term in the upcoming election. The Chattanoogan has more.

Nashville attorney Patrick Frogge was recognized yesterday as Panel Lawyer of the Year at the 22nd Annual Criminal Justice Act Appreciation Banquet, sponsored by the office of the Federal Public Defender. The banquet honors the contributions of 65 court-appointed private attorneys who take cases representing federal defendants who lack funds to hire a private lawyer. “A panel lawyer is a good Samaritan,” said Father Charles Stroebel, who was one of the three who “roasted” and praised Frogge for his work. “(Frogge) has been a constant good Samaritan.” The Tennessean has the story.

Tonya Hunt Crownover of Hendersonville was publicly censured for committing the unauthorized practice of law by representing a client after she has been administratively suspended for failing to comply with her continuing legal education requirements. Download the BPR notice.

Shelby County General Sessions Court Judge John A. Donald has been charged with retaliating against an attorney who had filed a complaint against him. The Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct filed a five-page complaint following a probe by a three-member investigative panel. Donald did not return two messages left at his office by the Commercial Appeal, but his attorney, Theresa Patterson, said that the complaint is “without merit’’ and that “we will be vigorously defending’’ Donald.

A woman received a state citation yesterday morning for bringing a loaded handgun to Nashville’s courthouse. The Tennessean reports that Sara Mitchell had the gun in her purse and was stopped at a security checkpoint at the Justice A.A. Birch Building. She admitted she did not have a permit to carry the gun, and told police she bought the gun for home protection and had forgotten it was in her purse.

Former U.S Senate candidate Thomas Kenneth “T.K.” Owens of Jonesborough has been charged with solicitation to commit first-degree murder, the Johnson City Press reports. Washington County Criminal Court Senior Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood has appointed David Robbin to represent Owens, who allegedly plotted to have his uncle killed. Owens ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Bob Corker in 2012.