A Chattanooga attorney is one of the prominent voices speaking out against a bill in the Tennessee legislature that would create a “super court” of three judges initially appointed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee that some say is a politically motivated tactic to control the state’s judicial system.
The piece of legislation would create a new statewide chancery court that would hear constitutional challenges, as opposed to the current system in which such cases are heard by a local judge in Nashville. The court would cost $2 million a year.
Republicans note that local judges are elected, and Nashville has one of the most liberal voting constituencies in the state. They objected to a ruling last year by a Nashville judge, Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle, who found that concerns about the spread of COVID-19 qualified under the law as an excuse to cast an absentee ballot rather than going to the polls.
A new amendment to the bill says the governor would appoint the three-judge panel and would also allow the attorney general to move pending cases to the statewide chancery court.
Chattanooga attorney Lee Davis told the Times Free Press on Friday that the idea to have a new statewide chancery court, instead of just local ones, is not only unnecessary but jeopardizes the integrity and independence of the judicial system in Tennessee.