Finding Supreme Court justices not an easy task for Tennessee case
September 28, 2012
Tennessee: This week three more special justices were appointed to hear the case Hooker et al. v. Haslam et. al. in the Tennessee Supreme Court. Governor Bill Haslam appointed Criminal Court Judge J. Robert Carter, former U.S. Attorney James R. Dedrick and attorney Monica N. Wharton to join attorneys Andree Sophia Blumstein and W. Morris Kizer to hear the case. The new appointments were made after three previously appointed judges recused themselves from the case. All of these appointments were made after all five sitting justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court recused themselves.[1][2]
What case could provoke a conflict of interest for so many judges? One having to do with Tennessee's method of judicial selection, the Tennessee Plan. Under this plan, the governor appoints judges to fill vacancies on the state's appellate courts, and later judges stand for retention to the courts.[3] John Jay Hooker is challenging this system, believing that it is contrary to the state constitution's language that "judges...should be elected by the qualified voters of the state."[4]
Thus far, Hooker's argument that the Tennessee Plan is unconstitutional has been struck down by Judge Hamilton V. Gayden of the Davidson County Circuit Court and Tennessee Court of Appeals. The appeal to the Supreme Court marks the end of the road for the challenge.[5]
The original justices recused after their was called impartiality into question, since they were appointed using this system. The three special justices who recused did so after their connections with the group Tennesseans for Fair and Impartial Courts came to light.[6]
This case is the most recent challenge to the state's method of judicial selection, but it has become a hot topic in the state. In 2011 and 2012, legislation was proposed to require all judges to be subject to popular elections. For more on the history of judicial selection form in Tennessee, see: Judicial selection in Tennessee.
Footnotes
- ↑ Office of the Tennessee Governor, Press Release: "Haslam Appoints Three New Special Supreme Court Members," September 21, 2012
- ↑ Office of the Tennessee Governor, Press Release: "Haslam Appoints Special Supreme Court," July 27, 2012
- ↑ Tennessee Plan
- ↑ Tennessee Constitution#Section 3
- ↑ Tennessee Courts, John Jay Hookes et. al v. Governor Bill Haslam et. al., July 25, 2012
- ↑ KnoxNews.com, "Three Special Supremes Bow Out of Hooker Case," September 3, 2012
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