Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, has introduced a “Merry Christmas” bill that he says will assure schoolchildren and their teachers have a legal right to use what the bill calls “traditional greetings” during “winter celebrations.” Inspired by Texas legislation, the polarizing lawmaker has pre-filed SB 1425 for consideration by the General Assembly in 2014. “This stops all these silly lawsuits that say you can’t say ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Happy Hanukkah’ or have a Christmas tree,” Campfield said. “The ACLU is always freaking out about that stuff.” Hedy Weinburg, executive director of the ACLU in Tennessee, said the senator’s concerns are greatly exaggerated and she cannot recall any legal action involving a Tennessee school’s holiday activities or even a case of the “blatant religious proselytizing” in schools that would trigger ACLU concern. Knoxnews has the story.

With law school applications dropping more than 18 percent from last year's, according to figures from the Law School Admissions Council, law school hopefuls are bargaining as never before for financial aid to defray the significant costs of three years of legal education. CNN Money delves into the financial aid arms race at law schools as they are they sift through a smaller pool of applicants, making it harder to enroll students with sufficiently impressive grade point averages and law board scores — key elements that undergird their place in the national law school rankings.

The attorney for 14-year-old Jonathan Ray, who is charged with murder after his mother was killed in a fire he is accused of setting, was denied the opportunity to have his case sent back to juvenile court, WREG reports. Juvenile court special judge Dan Michael decided in June to transfer Ray’s case to criminal court where he would be tried as an adult, stating it appeared Ray could not be rehabilitated through the juvenile system. The nature of Ray’s transfer worried Justice Department due process monitor Sandra Simkins who was appointed by the DOJ to oversee changes to the court following a two-year investigation into the Shelby County juvenile justice system.

Chief federal judges in every state but Nevada are urging lawmakers to avoid another round of automatic spending cuts that would have a “devastating and long-lasting impact” on federal courts. In a letter sent this week to congressional leaders in both parties in the House and Senate, the judges said that the $350 million reduction in the judiciary's budget for the current year has dramatically slowed court proceedings and put public safety at risk. The judges say there are fewer probation and other law enforcement officers to deal with record numbers of convicts who have been released from prison or given alternative sentences. Congress will return in September to try to negotiate a long-term spending deal. The Nashville Ledger has the story.

Attorneys for the Obama administration and House and Senate Republicans last week filed "friend of the court" briefs in the case of Greece v. Galloway, in which a New York woman sued the town of Greece to halt prayer before public meetings. The Supreme Court case closely parallels a federal case in Hamilton County, where residents Thomas Coleman and Brandon Jones are suing to halt prayers before the Hamilton County Commission meetings and have them replaced with moments of silence. Coleman said Tuesday he was disappointed by the White House's move. "We were extremely shocked and certainly saw this as causing more problems for freedom of religion down the road," he said. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has the story.

James Henry Ford received a public censure on Aug. 7. Flood entered a fee contract with his client which stated he would receive a fee of 25 percent of past due social security benefits owed to the client. The client made periodic payments to Flood to be held for expenses or for satisfaction of the contingency fee. Flood received six payments from the client, and failed to deposit three of the payments into his trust account. An overdraft resulted in Flood's trust account when he wrote a check to himself for the earned fees. In another matter, Flood earned an attorney fee in May 2012 and failed to remove the fee from his trust account for more than seven months. Download the BPR notice.

Jill R. Talley received a public censure on Aug. 7 for harming a client whom she represented in a divorce. Talley filed a motion and affidavit to withdraw in which she stated that “there have been several instances where [client] has not been completely truthful concerning certain issues, including her actions, in the case.” Download the BPR notice.

H. Owen Maddux of Chattanooga was suspended on Aug. 9 for nine months for allegedly committing ethical misconduct in his representation of plaintiffs in a civil action regarding a business dispute. In an effort to collect money due to the company, Maddux sent letters to customers demanding that payment be made directly to him and that he would deposit the funds with the court pending a resolution, however he instead gave the money to his client. Further, Maddux did not notify the opposing party that the funds had been collected until after he made the distribution to his client and a motion had been filed seeking payment of the funds into the court. Download the BPR notice.

The 3rd Annual Solo in the Park autocross competition will be held Saturday and Sunday at Knoxville’s Chilhowee Park. More than 100 competitors are expected during the two-day event. Driver check-in begins at 8:30 a.m. with “first car off” at 10:30 a.m. All proceeds benefit Knoxville Family Justice Center and Legal Aid of East Tennessee. For more information, contact Bill Evans at (865) 251-4948.

U.S. News and World Reports recently released the Best Law Schools ranking for 2014. Vanderbilt University tied for 15th place with University of Texas Austin. University of Tennessee College of Law came in at 61, while the University of Memphis Cecil B. Humphreys School of Law tied for 144th place.