judgesonmerit.org

During the last year, we’ve periodically reported about the legislative wrangling over whether or not to renew Tennesee’s Merit Selection system.  Well, it seems that Tennessee is sticking with Merit Selection and as the headline reads in the Tennessean “rejecting the election of judges.”

As the Tennessean reports, the House and Senate have each passed bills to maintain the current system, which uses a nominating commission and retention elections.  There will be some changes to the process, including a reduction in the number of lawyers on the nominating commission.

The Chattanoogan’s report offers a run down of the votes and also quotes Tennesse Bar President Buck Lewis: “‘We are pleased that it now appears that Tennessee will continue to have a system of merit selection and retention elections for appellate judges.’”

Smart move, Tennessee.