Gary R. Wade
Gary R. Wade was a justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court. He was appointed to the court on May 30, 2006, by Governor Phil Bredesen (D) and assumed office on September 1, 2006.[1]
Wade became chief justice on September 1, 2012. He was succeeded as chief justice by Justice Sharon Lee after his two-year term ended on August 31, 2014.[2]
Wade was retained by Tennessee's voters in 2008 and 2014.[3] He retired from the court on September 8, 2015. His term would have expired in 2022. Justice Wade was succeeded on the bench by Justice Roger A. Page.[4]
Education
Wade received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee in 1970 and his J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1973.[1]
Career
Wade was in private practice at Ogle & Wade, P.C. from 1973 to 1987 and was a city attorney for the City of Pigeon Forge during that same time. He served as the mayor of Sevierville from 1977 to 1987.[5]
Wade was appointed to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in 1987 and was elected 1988. He was re-elected in 1990, 1998, and 2006. Wade served as presiding judge of the court from 1998 to 2006. He was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court in September 1, 2006.[1]
Elections
2014
Wade was retained to the Tennessee Supreme Court with 56.6 percent of the vote on August 7, 2014. The state's Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission recommended Justice Wade be retained for another term.[6][7]
Three justices' seats were up for retention in 2014: Justices Gary R. Wade, Cornelia Clark and Sharon Lee. All three justices won retention.[8][9]
For a more comprehensive look at issues and news surrounding this election, click here.
Awards and associations
Awards
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Associations
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Community Involvement
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Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Wade received a campaign finance score of -0.14, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of -0.02 that justices received in Tennessee.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[13]
Noteworthy events
State senator sought review of procedures for complaints against judges
June 9, 2014: Senator Mike Bell, chair of the government operations committee, announced plans to hold a hearing focused on how the state handled judicial misconduct complaints. Bell became concerned about the issue after the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct dismissed a misconduct allegation he filed against Chief Justice Gary Wade.
Bell brought a complaint in November 2013 alleging that Wade violated state ethics rules for judges when he appeared to publicly endorse three state appellate court judges in 2013. Wade reportedly made the statements while speaking to a journalist for the Knoxville News Sentinel.[14]
While Wade was reportedly offering his opinions to the journalist, Andy D. Bennett of the Tennessee Court of Appeals as well as Camille McMullen and Jerry L. Smith of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals were appearing before the Tennessee Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission. The three had received poor preliminary reviews from some on the panel. At that time, judges had to receive a satisfactory final report from the commission in order to run unopposed for retention. Otherwise, they faced the possibility of a contested election. That law, Tenn. Code Ann. § 17-4-201, expired June 30, 2014.[15][16][17][18]
A November 10, 2013, story in the Knoxville News Sentinel quoted Wade as saying the three judges "deserve new terms."[15] Wade made positive comments about all three judges to the newspaper. Smith, who had entered a guilty plea after being stopped for drunk driving, withdrew his name from consideration on November 27, and said he would not seek another term on the bench. McMullen and Bennett were recommended for retention by the commission.
According to a letter from the chairman of the board of judicial conduct, Chris Craft, to an investigative reporter for Nashville's NewsChannel 5, an "internal complaint" against Justice Wade was investigated and later dismissed. Wade told the board the comments in the Sentinel article were accurate. However, the board found Wade's comments had addressed whether or not the judges should be allowed to run for retention instead of facing contested elections. The board's disciplinary counsel found Wade's comments were not a public endorsement of any of the judges, according to Craft. Craft issued a confidential notice of dismissal to Wade, dated December 18, 2013. However, the letter also cautioned the chief justice, noting his remarks could be construed as a violation of the Tennessee Code of Judicial Conduct's ban preventing judges from expressing support or opposition for candidates running for public office.[15]
Other senate Republicans expressed concern that the judicial conduct board was not thoroughly investigating complaints against judges. Tennessee's house majority leader, Gerald McCormick, also supported the senate hearing. McCormick was critical of the efforts by the three justices to coordinate their campaigns to remain on the bench. "They need to be replaced," he told the TN Report.[14] McCormick accused the justices of acting like "partisan Democrats" and criticized what he called their "aggressive" efforts to raise funds "so they can keep their jobs."[14]
See also
- News: Tennessee Supreme Court gets new chief justice, August 31, 2012
- Courts in Tennessee
- Judicial selection in Tennessee
External links
- Tennessee State Courts, "Justice Gary R. Wade"
- Tennessee State Courts, "Tennessee Supreme Court"
- Tennessee State Courts, "Tennessee Supreme Court Justices Biographies"
- The Chattanoogan, "Bredesen Appoints Gary R. Wade to Tennessee Supreme Court," June 6, 2006
- KnoxNews.com, "'Slobberknocker of debate is expected," August 19, 2011
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Tennessee State Courts, "Justice Gary R. Wade," accessed June 6, 2014 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "bio" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Tennessee State Courts, "Justice Gary R. Wade to be Sworn as New Chief Justice on September 1, 2012," August 28, 2012
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "August 7, 2008 judicial retention results"
- ↑ Times Free Press, "Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Gary Wade to retire," July 24, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Tennessee State Courts, "Gary R. Wade," accessed March 10, 2014
- ↑ Tennessee State Courts, "2014 Judicial Evaluation Report," accessed May 1, 2014
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "Unofficial Election Results," August 7, 2014
- ↑ Kingsport Times-News, "Tennessee Supreme Court justices vow to defend seats against Ramsey-led attacks," archived July 14, 2014
- ↑ Kingsport Times-News, "Some expect costly, divisive justice campaign in Tennessee," archived July 23, 2014
- ↑ TBA.org "Supreme Court Chief Justice Gary Wade Recognized by TBA for Service to Profession and Public" June 25, 2014
- ↑ TNCourts.gov, "Trial Group Honors Chief Justice Gary Wade, Judge Joe Binkley, Jr." May 6, 2014
- ↑ Blount Today, "Justice Gary Wade honored by Friends of the Smokies," February 17, 2010
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 TN Report, "Senate Hearing Set to Probe 'Judicial Accountability,' Justice Wade Complaint," June 9, 2014
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 TN Report, "Handling of Ethics Complaint Against TN Chief Justice May Undergo Legislative Scrutiny," May 31, 2014
- ↑ Tennessee State Courts, "Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission," accessed November 3, 2015
- ↑ LexisNexis, "Tennessee Code Annotated," accessed November 3, 2015
- ↑ Terry Phillips, "Telephone communication with Michele Wojciechowski, Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts," November 3, 2015
Federal courts:
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Tennessee, Middle District of Tennessee, Western District of Tennessee • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Tennessee, Middle District of Tennessee, Western District of Tennessee
State courts:
Tennessee Supreme Court • Tennessee Court of Appeals • Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals • Tennessee Circuit Court • Tennessee Chancery Courts • Tennessee Criminal Court • Tennessee Probate Court • Tennessee General Sessions Court • Tennessee Juvenile Court • Tennessee Municipal Court
State resources:
Courts in Tennessee • Tennessee judicial elections • Judicial selection in Tennessee
