NASHVILLE - More than a dozen litigants and attorneys trooped before a Senate panel Tuesday where they accused a judicial watchdog agency of failing to rein in abusive judges in a process often shrouded in secrecy.
Among them was Wendy Rose-Egli, of Knoxville, who told the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee that 4th Circuit Court Judge Bill Swann kept control of her child custody case for 41/2 years.
She said Swann refused to recuse himself from her custody case even though her attorney was running against Swann - with her support - and the judge took out a print ad attacking her.
Rose-Egli said the state's Court of the Judiciary, which is charged with investigating judges, dismissed her first complaint. Later, Rose-Egli said, she was aided in filing another complaint by her second husband, Russell Egli, who is an attorney. The Court of the Judiciary later informed her that they had taken unspecified "private" disciplinary action against Swann, the couple said.
Russell Egli told lawmakers at one point, the then-chief disciplinary counsel of the Court of the Judiciary told his wife that he and Swann were "good friends."
Sen. Doug Jackson, D-Dickson, an attorney, said if that were true, "that is absolutely beyond the pale."
The chairman of the subcommittee, Sen. Dewayne Bunch, R-Cleveland, an attorney, said he was astounded by that and other accounts.
"Some of the examples I've heard testified to today, they shock my conscience - that someone would say something politically or publish something and then not recuse themselves," Bunch said.
He called that "just inviting disaster. They're inviting people to question the integrity of the court system."
The Court of the Judicary's presiding judge, Rutherford County Judge Don Ash, said he could not address specific cases, but he defended the 16-member council's actions generally. The council includes various state and local judges, attorneys and members of the public.
Private reprimands, censures and similar actions allow the council to warn judges of unacceptable behavior, much of it less serious.
But Ashe said said he and several other members are working on a new rule regarding judges who are asked to recuse themselves. He said the proposal would allow attorneys to press the issue with a member of the state Court of Appeals.
Both Bunch and Jackson said that would be helpful.
Speaking later about many of the people complaining, Ash said, "I think the key word's allegation. I think the majority of the judges in Tennessee work hard and do their best to serve citizens."
In fiscal year 2009, the Court of the Judiciary dismissed more than 90 percent of the 348 complaints filed against judges, according to the group's annual report. The court issued two public censures, three public reprimands, five private letter reprimands and five deferred disciplinary agreements.