Elected Judges does not mean approve after a term

Both Democrats AND Republicans are dancing around this issue.

Elected Judges does not mean approve after a term of service…READ and APPLY the State’s Constitution!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JFgf5qGCq8

Duly, legally and constitutionally elected

from Kay Brooks

Lt. Governor Ramsey should not ask for my vote for governor and the chance to take that oath of office again if he cannot honor the oaths he took on January 13, 2009. He was ‘duly, legally and constitutionally’ elected. Tennessee’s judges should also be ‘duly, legally and constitutionally elected‘.

The Tennessee plan clearly ‘lessens and abridges [citizen] rights and privileges’ in direct contradiction to the oath every legislator took. Let the Tennessee plan die. If some want to change the Tennessee Constitution they should start by filing a legislative bill and not by continuing to enable the usurping of the rights of citizens because they can.

It’s time for Lt. Gov. Ramsey, and Gubernatorial Candidate Ramsey, to show us his ability to lead this state and that unlike another prominent legislator he can be trusted to fulfill his promises.

For more information on this very important issue:
http://JudicialReformCoalition.org and
Terry Frank

Who will choose judges in Tennessee, voters OR trial lawyers?

Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives and State Senate are well accustomed to being judged, but when they reconvene in Nashville next month to begin the working session of the 106th General Assembly, they will have to collectively decide how to select judges.

Last year, the Legislature failed to reach a consensus on what is known as the “Tennessee plan” or in what form it will exist in the future. Some legislators are calling for the direct election of judges while others want to continue a merit-based system.

State Sen. Mark Norris, Republican Majority Leader, has been working on the issue for the past several years. So has Daniel L. Clayton, president of the Tennessee Association for Justice (formerly known as the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association). It represents two sides of what likely could be a contentious debate.

“The Constitution of Tennessee means what it says,” Norris said. “Article VI, Sec. 3, states, ‘(t)he Judges of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the qualified voters of the State.’ So it is also with the election of judges of the ‘inferior’ courts. If the people of Tennessee wish it to be otherwise, then we should set in motion the process to amend the Constitution accordingly.”

Norris added that until then, the General Assembly must agree upon the means by “which we shall transition from the plan we have to the plan we must have” to assure that the administration of justice is done properly.

The Trial Lawyers would like to keep the process in their trustworthy hands, so that they can detemine the meaning and thus, enforcement of our state’s constitution.

According to Clayton, there is already a plan in place that administers justice fairly but it can be improved.“We are in favor of a plan which brings about a fair and balanced representation of all practices of the law,” he said. “There are always ways to improve the current merit-based system, and we look forward to an open and honest discussion along those lines. We are opposed to turning our appellate judges into politicians who would be forced to raise and spend huge sums of money in an effort to get elected.”