posted February 21, 2007
Rep. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) has filed legislation to require that state Supreme Court justices be elected directly by the people.
House Bill 302 will be discussed Thursday at 1 p.m. by the Tennessee Judicial Council in the Nashville City Center sixth floor conference room of the Administrative Office of the Courts.
Currently, Tennessee supreme court justices are nominated by a judicial selection commission, which Rep. Kelsey described as "a little-known group of 14 lawyers and 3 nonlawyers named by special interest groups and the speakers of the House and Senate."
Nominees are then sent to the governor, who may appoint one of the nominees or reject all three—at which time the process starts over. Once appointed, justices are then retained by a yes/no vote.
“The process is unconstitutional. If judges can run in a yes/no election, there’s nothing stopping the legislature from applying the yes/no vote to themselves as well,” said Rep. Kelsey.
He said the Tennessee Constitution states, “The Judges of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the qualified voters of the state.” (Article VI, Section 3.)
Earlier today the state supreme court ruled that the judicial selection commission should submit a new list of nominees for the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Adolpho Birch. Last year, the Judicial Selection Commission submitted three nominees to Governor Bredesen for the position. After one of the nominees chosen by the commission withdrew from the process citing familial obligations, Gov. Bredesen rejected the other two nominees, Democrat activists Houston Gordon and Buck Lewis. The governor asked the commission for a new list that, “reflected diversity,” an action that incited outrage from supporters of Gordon and Lewis, Rep. Kelsey said.
Even though Attorney General Paul Summers said that Gordon’s application could not be resubmitted to the governor, the commission resubmitted the application. In response, Gov. Bredesen filed suit against the commission. The Supreme Court earlier today ruled in favor of the governor.
“Clearly, the system has failed to remove politics from the selection of judges in Tennessee. Instead, it has hidden politics from public scrutiny,” stated Rep. Kelsey. “The system has given us the current mess on our hands. It’s time to clean it up by allowing the people to decide, as our constitution requires.”
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