Justices plan more interviews for attorney general; 2 already cut from race

photo Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Lee, center, presides over interviews of candidates for attorney general at the legislative office complex in Nashville on Monday. Lee and fellow Democratic justices Connie Clark, left, and Gary Wade, right, last month won retention to another eight-year term despite a Republican effort to oust them from the bench.
photo Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper

NASHVILLE - Eight applicants on Monday made public pitches to and fielded questions from Tennessee Supreme Court justices for an appointment to an eight-year term as state attorney general.

Justices then went behind closed doors where they struck two of the hopefuls from the list and then announced further "personal" interviews will be held with the remaining six candidates.

"This is an impressive group of applicants and an important decision. Therefore, we need to do further interviews of six of the applicants," said Chief Justice Sharon G. Lee, a Democrat, in a statement.

Tennessee is unique among states in that the state's top attorney is named by the Supreme Court.

Current Attorney General Bob Cooper, a 57-year-old Chattanooga native, is seeking reappointment to the post. But there are no guarantees that Cooper will get the nod. The three Democratic and two Republican justices will "likely" make a decision in the next weeks, Lee said.

Most if not all the other applicants are Republicans.

Lee said in addition to the second round of interviews, justices are seeking further background information from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

After their five hour-plus public hearing, the justices met privately and struck William Helou and former 8th Judicial District Chancellor Andrew R. Tillman from the list of applicants.

That leaves still in the running Cooper; Herbert Slatery, Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's legal counsel; Republican Bill Young, who heads the state's Administrative Office of the Courts; state Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville; Eugene Bulso Jr., a Brentwood attorney; and Marks Fults, an attorney from Johnson City.

Earlier on Monday, Cooper went before the justices and strongly defended his decision not to join other states that filed suit against the federal health law.

His move became a flash point in a well-funded but ultimately unsuccessful effort by by Republican Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and national conservative groups to oust Democratic Justices Lee, Gary Wade and Connie Clark in the Aug. 7 retention election for the judges.

Ramsey and other critics accused the court of being "too liberal." Voters disagreed.

The two Republican Supreme Court justices -- Jeff Bivens and Holly Kirby -- were only recently appointed by Haslam and were not up for retention votes.

With regard to the lawsuit against President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, Cooper told the justices he was getting "pushed" by both sides to join their position in the suit. Twenty-eight state attorneys general filed suit. Almost all were Republicans.

Entering the suit "would have had no impact on the litigation," Cooper said. "It's only purpose would have been to make a partisan political statement on a divisive national issue.

"And," the one-time legal counsel to Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen told justices, "that would have weakened, not strengthened, this office. And the citizens of this state agreed. By their overwhelming vote in August, they clearly said that they want independence, not partisanship, in the judicial branch, including the office of the state attorney general."

Other candidates, most of whom are Republicans, said that while they respect aspects of Cooper's work as attorney general, they think they can equal him or do better.

"I do believe I have the background and professional expertise ... to make me successful," said Young, who was Cooper's solicitor general before stepping down last year when Supreme Court justices made him the head of the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Lee questioned Slatery about his close ties to Haslam and asked whether he could impartially make decisions in which different branches of government disagree.

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"I think the governor, frankly, would expect me to do what is right," Slatery said.

Young is a former general counsel for Chattanooga-based BlueCross BlueShield. Asked by reporters later, Young said he would have joined the lawsuit against the health care law.

"General Cooper and I would respectfully disagree on that one," Young said. "I think we needed to take a position."

He said there was legal justification for filing the suit.

Meanwhile, reporters asked Slatery following his initial presentation about reports he was related to Haslam as well as being friends since childhood.

"My great uncle, my grandfather's brother, I think was married twice, the second time I think to the governor's maternal grandmother," Slatery said. "That's pretty extended. I'm not sure what that means."

Later, when Slatery was questioned by justices, Justice Kirby noted that she underwent a vetting process for her initial appointment to the court by Haslam, a process in which Slatery participated.

"I just want to mark this moment as the shoe being on other foot," she jokingly said.

Contact staff writer Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550.

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