U.S. Supreme Court justices argued Tuesday whether to let police take DNA without a warrant from those arrested in order to use it to solve old cases, according to Knoxnews. In the case Maryland v. King, Alonzo King was arrested and charged with felony second-degree assault. Police took a cheek swap of King’s DNA, which identified him in the 2003 rape and robbery of a 53-year-old woman, and he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. However, the state Court of Appeals said warrantless DNA samples violated King’s rights and that he had “a sufficiently weighty and reasonable expectation of privacy against warrantless, suspicionless searches.” The court is reviewing that ruling and will make a decision later this year.

The Tennessee Supreme Court sent a Hamblen County case back to Chancery Court for retrial after ruling that the trial court allowed evidence to be presented that was irrelevant and prejudicial, and saying that allowing the jury to hear it probably affected the verdict. The trial court had invalidated the marriage of Raymond Smallman and Linda Caraway, which had been conducted shortly before Smallman's death, and refused to allow Caraway to have Smallman’s will admitted to probate as his widow. The Chattanoogan has this story. Read Justice Sharon Lee's opinion and Justice William Koch's concurring and dissenting opinion.

Vehicles less than three years old would be exempt from Tennessee’s mandatory emissions testing under a bill working its way through the General Assembly, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. House Transportation Committee Chairman Vince Dean, R-East Ridge, calls the proposal a “common sense bill," saying that there is no need to test newer cars. There are only six counties in the state that, because of their air quality, require emissions testing: Hamilton, Davidson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson.

The state Senate voted 29-2 in favor of a constitutional amendment that would end the current merit selection process and let the governor select appeals court judges with legislative confirmation. “The people of Tennessee have never been asked whether they favor the judicial selection plan that our founding fathers in the U.S. Constitution came up with,” the measure’s sponsor, state Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, told the Tennessean. If approved by the House, the measure will appear on the ballot during the general election in November 2014.

Hamilton County commissioners have unanimously approved building a new, $8,000 bulletproof bench in courtroom 6. The courtroom, which was once a jury assembly room, lacks some of the safety and access features standard in most courtrooms. Sessions Court Judge Clarence Shattuck told the Chattanooga Free Press other changes would improve security as well, such as reversing the orientation of the room once the new bench is built in order to reduce exposure of the judges in a crisis situation.

Polk County General Sessions Judge Billy D. Baliles was issued a public reprimand from the Board of Judicial Conduct in response to a complaint filed by Jeff S. Patterson. The complaint and subsequent investigation found that Baliles issued an order altering child custody without engaging in proper procedural elements of a petition or hearing. Judge Baliles also engaged in a telephone conversation with the child’s grandfather that was an impermissible contact. Download the public notice.

The Judicial Nominating Commission is accepting applications for the Circuit Court vacancy in the 3rd Judicial District created by the retirement of the Hon. Kindall T. Lawson, effective May 31. The commission is also accepting applications for a Chancery Court vacancy in the same district. Interested applicants must submit an application to the Administrative Office of the Courts by March 11. Candidates wishing to apply for both vacancies may submit one application. The 3rd Judicial District serves Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins and Greene counties.

The Tennessee Supreme Court upheld a trial court’s ruling that termination of a mother’s parental rights was not in the best interest of the children. In 2002, a Bradley County couple divorced and entered into a parenting plan for their two minor children. The mother was incarcerated in 2003 after pleading guilty to attempted second degree murder of the father. The mother and father entered into an amended parenting plan stipulating that they would follow the original plan upon the mother’s release from prison. In 2009, the father remarried and sought to terminate the mother’s parental rights. The Supreme Court reversed a Court of Appeals ruling that the father and stepmother established clear and convincing evidence that the termination was in the best interest of the children.

The Department of Justice is in talks with Anheuser- Busch InBev and Grupo Modelo about resolving a legal challenge to their $20.1 billion deal, WRCP News Channel 3 reports. In January, the DOJ filed suit to block the merger due to market monopolization. The beer makers recently revised the terms of the acquisition to give more control of Modelo’s U.S. beer brands to a wine company in a side deal. Both parties are asking the court for a stay of all litigation proceeding until March 19 while the government weighs whether the revised terms of the deal resolve its concerns about market competition.

In the wake of the viral video of a Florida judge’s harsh reaction to a disrespectful teenage defendant, Vanderbilt law professor Terry Maroney held a session for roughly 40 judges in Washington about how to channel a range of feelings on the bench in an appropriate manner. “We tell judges, 'If you ever detect an emotion, squelch it.' That's an extremely bad idea," she told the Newstimes. "You're going to have emotions as a judge, no matter how many people tell you you won't or aren't supposed to."