Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey has an important column on statenewsshot.com documenting how Tennessee’s so-called “merit” selection scheme has rigged the state’s judicial selection process in favor of powerful special interest groups and moved the entire process behind closed doors, out of public view.

Currently special interests control the appointment process. Although I have eight […]

Tennessee’s Judicial Selection Commission yesterday submitted a list of three candidates it deems worthy to fill retiring Chief Justice William Barker’s seat on the state Supreme Court. How did the commissioners reach their decision? Did they weigh each applicant’s judicial temperament? Did they examine each applicant’s judicial philosophy? Did they take into […]

On August 7, Tennessee voters can head to the polls to lodge an up-or-down vote on two state Supreme Court justices and five appeals court judges, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports.
These so-called retention elections are often promoted by advocates of “merit” selection as a means to give the public a voice in determining who sits […]

Readers of this space know I’ve done several posts about judicial selection in Tennessee. Now TN State Senator Dewayne Bunch has written a piece in the Cleveland, Tennessee Banner, in which he accurately describes the stakes not only for the quality of judicial decisions but for democracy itself. (Hat tip: Stacey Campfield)
In Tennessee, the Senate […]

A tiny, unelected, unknown commission gathers in secret to decide who will hold a few of the most powerful positions in the government public officials who will make decisions affecting the lives of millions. The people never even know who is being considered for these important jobs until after they are appointed. After […]

In an interview with the Nashville City Paper, retiring Tennessee Chief Justice William Barker calls for opening the state’s secret judicial selection commission to the public – one of the key reforms demanded by Governor Phil Bredesen.
Chief Justice Barker also says he favors retaining the current system rather than using democratic elections as called for […]

Tennessee’s “current judicial selection process is a perfect storm of special interest control, closed government and lack of accountability,” says Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey in a well-argued oped in the Tri-City News (TN). Ramsey clearly spells out the problems with judicial selection Star Chambers – not just in Tennessee, but in all states that […]

Bill Hobbs has a very good historical overview of the roots of merit selection in TN. In providing the overview, Hobbs asks a pointed question about the state’s judicial selection system:
If the current system, enacted by the legislature statutorily after voters rejected it as a constitutional amendment, is constitutional, then why was a constitutional […]

Business TN Magazine has published a fascinating back-and-forth between Vanderbilt Law Professor Brian Fitzpatrick, who recently authored a very important report on merit selection in Tennessee, and C. Barry Ward, an attorney who is a member of Tennessee’s judicial nominating commission. Among other things, the interview exposes the elitist rationale behind “merit selection.”
I believe […]

Post Politics, the Nashville Post’s blog, reports that TN Governor Phil Bredesen – who fought valiantly to bring the state’s judicial selection commission out from behind closed doors, only to be rebuffed by the legislature – has come out against restoring the right of Tennessee voters to decide who sits on the bench.
In the past, […]