The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday evening recommended the General Assembly confirm Judge Roger Page to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Judge Page was nominated by Governor Bill Haslam to replace Justice Gary Wade who retired in September.
“It was a true honor to play a part in this historical event and I look forward to having a second western Tennessee Justice on the Supreme Court for the first time since 1997,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown).
The first of its kind hearing follows a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2014 which called for appellate judges to be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the legislature. State Attorney General Herbert Slatery outlined the history behind the changes which put the new system into place, spanning three General Assemblies and a plurality of votes cast in the gubernatorial election to ratify. The last step came with legislation, sponsored by Chairman Kelsey, which was approved last month that put the framework in place on how the state’s appellate judges should be confirmed or rejected.
Judge Page was introduced to senators on the committee by Dwight Tarwater, General Counsel to the governor, who called him a man of great integrity, humility and intellect. Afterwards, lawmakers asked him a wide variety of questions from judicial interpretation, and the death penalty to his record on the court.
Judge Page, 60, received his law degree with honors in 1984 from the University of Memphis, where he ranked fourth in his class. He has been a judge on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals since his appointment by Haslam in December 2011, writing more than 330 appellate opinions.
He previously served as a circuit court judge for the 26th Judicial District, which includes Chester, Henderson and Madison counties. In that position, he presided over more than 300 civil and criminal jury trials.
The nomination now moves to the full Senate for final consideration.