judgesonmerit.org

During a recent trip to Memphis, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen expressed his continued commitment to renewing the “Tennessee Plan” for Merit Selection of the state’s judges. Governor Bredesen acknowledged that the current plan isn’t perfect, but he believes in it, and he’s working to preserve it.

The preservation of the Tennessee Plan is the vastly more important thing to me than any messing around or fooling around with the mechanics of the selection. I’d like to see it opened up. I’d like to see something like some additional selections… but preservation of the Tennessee Plan is a must-do for the state.

The governor also noted that other state officials, including Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and Tennessee House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, support renewal of the Plan.

Memphis attorney Buck Lewis also expressed his opinion that the Tennessee Plan should be renewed. Lewis is the new president of the Tennessee Bar Association, and is a former judicial candidate that the governor had previously refused to nominate. But on the importance of the Tennessee plan, Lewis and Bredesen see eye to eye. “If you care about diversity and quality on our state’s appellate courts, you ought to care about us retaining the Tennessee Plan,” Lewis said.

It’s good to know that these officials are committed to preserving Merit Selection of judges in Tennessee. We wish them the best of luck.