Some of you have been asking for the ever-growing list of endorsements. This isnt the entire list, but it hits the highlights. Well update as fast as we can! Share with your friends: Fourteen current and retired prosecutors from across the state endorsed the Justices, refuting the myth that they are “soft on crime.” The Tennessee State Fraternal Order of Police announced its support as well. Tennessee Bar Association today announced that nine out of 10 of its members voted to retain Justices Connie Clark, Sharon Lee and Chief Justice Gary Wade in a poll of its 12,000 members concluded last month. Each of the Justices earned recommendations of at least 92% to retain with at least 74% of that rating being “highly recommend.” The TBA Candidate Evaluation Poll was the first ever conducted by the association. The Nashville Bar Association, the Kingsport Bar Association, the Sevier County Bar Association, the White County Bar Association, and the Putnam County Bar Association have each adopted resolutions urging members to supporting the three Justices who are under partisan attack. In addition, the Memphis Bar Association announced recently that 8 out of 10 of its members voted to retain the Justices. The Women’s Political Collaborative of Tennessee, a bipartisan organization, also supports upholding our Tennessee Constitution and is working to educate the public about the dangers of politicizing our courts. Memphis Mayor A C Wharton formally endorsed Justices during a press conference in his city. Retired U.S. District Court Judge Robert Echols, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and former U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Edward M. Yarbrough, appointed by President George W. Bush, and both Republicans, support retention efforts and the justices. Retired Justice William C. Koch, a Republican, now Dean of the Nashville School of Law, supports retention of the Justices and has called negative, false ads “smear tactics.” Former Appeals Court Judge Lew Conner, a Republican and Chief Justice Frank Drowota, a Democrat, both of Nashville, are supporters of the Justices and the retention effort. In addition, former Chief Justice William M. “Mickey” Barker, a Republican of Chattanooga, said in a May interview in the Chattanooga Times Free Press that he found efforts to inject politics into the courts “frightening.” Barker is featured in a new television ad endorsing the Justices. A sampling from editorial pages: Last Thursday, keeping politics out of the courtroom was the topic of the editorial page of the Jackson Sun.. “When executives or legislators seek to meddle with the power of the judicial branch, especially when the choice of who stays on the bench is meant to be decided by popular vote, the powers of the justices are not infringed upon so much as the powers and rights of the electorate,” the editorial stated. The Knoxville News-Sentinel endorsed retention of the Justices with a strong recommendation: Wade, Clark and Lee have been solid justices whose decisions typically are well-reasoned applications of the law to the particulars cases at hand. The Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, whose members were selected by the GOP legislative leadership, recommended the three for retention. The Kingsport Times-News also urged support, writing, “. . . the incumbent Justices should not be defeated on the facts because the facts are on their side. The Knoxville News-Sentinel’s editorial page yesterday also called to keep politics out of the courtroom. The Citizen-Tribune in Morristown and all Tennessee Lakeway Papers: Keep politics out of the judicial branch The Tullahoma News and all Tennessee Lakeway Papers: Keep politics out of the judicial branch The Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro: Judicial ouster plan shows worst of politics The Chattanooga Times Free Press – Times Page: Keep the court above politics The Tennessean - Politics has no place in Tennessee appellate courts The Chattanooga Times Free Press – Free Press Page: No current need to overturn current state justices Jackson Sun: Keep politics, big money out of state judicial races Memphis Flyer: Tennessee Should Keep a Nonpartisan Supreme Court Johnson City Press: Efforts to oust judges crosses more than the constitutional line Johnson City Press: Voters should question motives for targeting judges Commercial Appeal, Memphis: Partisan bullying of the state’s appellate judges not in the best interest of Tennesseans
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 17:11:34 +0000
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