Lisabeth Tabor Hughes
Lisabeth Tabor Hughes was a judge of the Kentucky Supreme Court 4th District. She assumed office on September 10, 2007. She left office on January 1, 2023.
Hughes was appointed to the Kentucky Supreme Court by Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) in 2007.[1][2] Hughes was re-elected without opposition in 2014 to an eight-year term.[3][4] To read more about judicial selection in Kentucky, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[5] Hughes received a confidence score of Indeterminate.[6] Click here to read more about this study.
On March 17, 2016, President Barack Obama (D) nominated Hughes to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.[1][7] On January 3, 2017, Hughes' nomination was returned to President Obama at the sine die adjournment of the 114th Congress.[8]
Biography
Hughes received her undergraduate degree in English from the University of Louisville in 1977 and her J.D. from the University of Louisville School of Law in 1980.[9][10]
She worked in private practice for 15 years in Louisville with a focus on business and commercial litigation. From 1997 to 1998, she was a judge on the Kentucky Court of Appeals. She then served on the 30th Judicial Circuit from 1996 to 2006.[2]
Hughes returned to the Kentucky Court of Appeals from 2006 to 2007 before being appointed to the Kentucky Supreme Court.[2]
Elections
2022
- See also: Kentucky Supreme Court elections, 2022
Lisabeth Tabor Hughes did not file to run for re-election.
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| Nominee Information |
| Name: Lisabeth Tabor Hughes |
| Court: United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit |
| Progress |
| Returned 292 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: March 17, 2016
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| ABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
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| Questionnaire: Questionnaire |
 Hearing:
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| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported:
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| Confirmed:
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| Returned: January 3, 2017
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2016
Hughes was nominated by President Barack Obama (D) to be a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit on March 17, 2016. Obama commented on the nomination, "Justice Lisabeth Tabor Hughes has a long and impressive record of service and a history of handing down fair and judicious decisions ... She will be a thoughtful and distinguished addition to the Sixth Circuit, and I am extremely pleased to put her forward."[7]
The American Bar Association rated Hughes Unanimously Well Qualified for the nomination.[11]
On January 3, 2017, Hughes' nomination was returned to Obama at the sine die adjournment of the 114th Congress.[8]
2014
- See also: Kentucky Supreme Court elections, 2014
Hughes won re-election to the Kentucky Supreme Court. She was unopposed in the general election on November 4, 2014. [3]
2008
Hughes successfully ran for re-election to the Kentucky Supreme Court on November 4, 2008, against challenger Jim Shake. She won 55% of the vote to retain her seat.[12]
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[13]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[14]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Lisabeth Tabor
Hughes
Kentucky
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Indeterminate - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Appointed by a Republican governor
- Received donations from Democrat-affiliated individuals or organizations
- Endorsed by Democratic-affiliated individuals or organizations
Partisan Profile
Details:
Hughes was appointed by Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) in 2007 to fill a vacancy. She received donations from and was endorsed by the UAW, a Democrat affiliated group.
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
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.
Hughes received a campaign finance score of -0.12, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of 0.17 that justices received in Kentucky.
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.[15]
State supreme court judicial selection in Kentucky
- See also: Judicial selection in Kentucky
The seven justices of the Kentucky Supreme Court are elected to eight-year terms in nonpartisan elections. They must run for re-election if they wish to serve subsequent terms.[16]
Qualifications
To serve on the Kentucky Supreme Court, the judge must be:
| “ | ” |
Chief justice
The chief justice of the court is chosen by peer vote. He or she serves in that capacity for four years.[16]
Vacancies
If a midterm vacancy occurs, the governor appoints a successor from a list of three names provided by the Kentucky Judicial Nominating Commission. If the term the appointee will fill expires at the next election, the appointment is for the remainder of the term. If the term does not expire at the next election and that election is more than three months away, the appointee must stand for election, and the election is for the remainder of the unexpired term. If the term does not expire at the next election, but the election is less than three months away, the appointee must stand for election in the election following the next. The election is for the remainder of the unexpired term, if any; if none of the term is left, the election is for a full term.[16]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Courier-Journal, "Obama nominates Louisvillian to 6th Circuit Court," March 17, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Kentucky Supreme Court, "Justice Lisabeth Hughes Abramson," accessed November 17, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kentucky SOS, "2014 General Election Results," accessed July 1, 2021
- ↑ Judicial selection in Kentucky
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 White House, "President Obama nominates Justice Lisabeth Tabor Hughes to serve on the United States Court of Appeals," March 17, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 United States Congress, "PN 1268 — Lisabeth Tabor Hughes — The Judiciary," accessed January 3, 2017
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Justice Lisabeth Hughes Abramson (KY)," accessed November 17, 2014
- ↑ Kentucky Supreme Court, "Lisabeth T. Hughes," accessed July 1, 2021
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III Judicial Nominees: 114th Congress," accessed April 19, 2016
- ↑ Kentucky Secretary of State, "2008 General Election Results," November 26, 2008
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed September 15, 2021
- ↑ Kentucky Board of Elections, "Candidate Qualifications," accessed March 31, 2023
- ↑ Kentucky Legislature, "Kentucky Constitution, Section 122," accessed June 1, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
Federal courts:
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Kentucky, Western District of Kentucky • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Kentucky, Western District of Kentucky
State courts:
Kentucky Supreme Court • Kentucky Court of Appeals • Kentucky Circuit Courts • Kentucky District Courts • Kentucky Family Court
State resources:
Courts in Kentucky • Kentucky judicial elections • Judicial selection in Kentucky
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