Today state lawmakers gave a stern warning to the board that polices judges in Tennessee. Members of both parties said if the Court of the Judiciary can’t keep judges in line, lawmakers will.
The Court of the Judiciary handles ethics complaints against judges. Lawmakers have scrutinized the body because some say it lets judges slide, despite patterns of sloppy work. Today a committee of lawmakers heard from several people about judges they said treated them unfairly, yet were held to no account.
Mike Turner, a leading Democrat on the mostly Republican committee, says if even some of those horror stories are true, judges are in trouble.
“I’m just telling the Court of Judiciary, you have a small window, and that window may already be closed. They’re getting ready to change this thing up here – people like me, people who might want to help you, can’t do anything about it right now.”
Part of the committee’s work was to weigh whether to renew the law that created the Court of the Judiciary, or let the board expire. Lawmakers opted not to make a recommendation for now, but the message to the panel was clear: get your house in order, or we’ll do it for you.
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The committee also discussed overhauling the system for selecting judges, but made no recommendation there either.
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