The Tennessee Supreme Court amended Rule 10B, Section 2 that sets out the procedures for seeking the disqualification or recusal of a judge. The rule provides that a party seeking the disqualification or recusal of a judge must file a written motion stating the specific grounds for disqualification or recusal and that the judge must then act promptly on the motion by written order. Section 2.07 now provides for a discretionary appeal to the Supreme Court following an intermediate court's decision in a recusal appeal. The Tennessee Bar Association submitted the only comment on the proposed rule change.

There are still 14 still cases awaiting Supreme Court action, and Scotusblog reports that it expects the release of several opinions tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. Eastern time. It will begin live blogging at 9 a.m. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, is urging Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. to allow live broadcast of the court’s opinion announcements in blockbuster cases, the Blog of the Legal Times reports, “It is not unreasonable for the American people to have an opportunity to hear firsthand the arguments and opinions that will shape their society for years to come," Durbin wrote to Roberts in a letter released Tuesday.

A unanimous Supreme Court ruled today that “naturally occurring” DNA segments cannot be patented, the Blog of the Legal Times reports. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion for the court in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, which is considered by some a victory for civil liberties and consumer groups that argued corporations should not be able to lock up the uses of new DNA that could benefit patients if widely available. The Myriad patents at issue in the case were for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene segments which, when mutated, can increase the risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Myriad developed diagnostic tests from the segments that could reveal cancer risk in women.

Of the 350 largest law firms in the country ranked by the National Law Journal NLJ350, Constangy Brooks and Smith was one of 15 firms profiled that entered, or rejoined, the list this year. Ranked at number 264 with 148 lawyers, the Atlanta-based firm has an office in Nashville.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell struck down the 64-year-old law that prohibits demonstrations and displays on the grounds of the U.S Supreme Court, the National Law Journal reports. “The absolute prohibition on expressive activity in the statute is unreasonable, substantially overbroad, and irreconcilable with the First Amendment,” Howell wrote in the 68-page ruling issued in the case Hodge v. Talkin. If the government appeals the decision, Tuesday's ruling could set the stage for the Supreme Court's first review of the no-protest law in 30 years.

Diversity may be a priority for some law schools, but minority law students still face a harder road to a juris doctor than their white counterparts, according to an article in the latest edition of the Berkeley Journal of African-American Law & Policy. ?"Measuring Racial Uneveness of Law School" concludes that minority law students face additional hurdles as a result of the structure of law school, the relatively small number of minority students and faculty on law campuses, and racial bias. ?The National Law Journal has the story.

U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger has ruled that state officials violated the First Amendment rights of Occupy Nashville protesters who were arrested in 2011, the Nashville Business Journal reports. Trauger awarded monetary damages to the plaintiffs, including seven arrested protesters, though the amount will be determined at a later date. A spokesperson for the Haslam administration told The City Paper that the ruling "is being reviewed."

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and House Speaker Beth Harwell said that the legislature’s Fiscal Review Committee should re-examine the no-bid deals awarded to Jones Lang LaSalle, a real estate firm in which Gov. Bill Haslam has invested. According to the Tennessean, Jones Lang LaSalle won a contract to manage state building and arrange leases on the state’s behalf. While Ramsey and Harwell defend the firm’s work as having saved the state money -- and say they see no evidence of impropriety by Haslam or others -- they said the manner in which the deals were awarded should be reviewed.

Youth in Tennessee juvenile correction facilities are at greater risk of being sexually victimized than the national average, according to a report recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice. The report estimates that 9.5 percent of youth in state or private correctional facilities across the nation were sexually victimized in 2011-2012. The rate for Tennessee facilities was 13 percent. The report defines sexual victimization as forced sexual activity between youths and all sexual activity involving youth and staff. The Tennessean has the story.

Attorney General Robert Cooper issued a formal opinion stating Cordova area residents have no legal authority to demand a referendum for de-annexing from the City of Memphis, the Commercial Appeal reports. Issued at the request of state Rep. Steve McManus, R-Memphis, the opinion confirms that under state law, any de-annexation referendum must be initiated by the legislative body of the incorporated city or town -- in this case, the Memphis City Council -- by passing an ordinance calling for a referendum on the issue.