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Daily Dose for February 22, 2007
Daily Dose
Bush in Chattanooga -- The Chattanoogan and the Chattanooga Times Free Press are busting with coverage of the President's trip to Chattanooga to speak on health care. Go there to find out all you want to know about the President's trip, including an enthusiastic endorsement from Mr. Bush of a Chattanooga bar-b-que joint. Also, I wonder how Governor Bredesen felt standing next to so many Republicans in this shot.
Kelsey Calls for Elected Supreme Court Justices -- Rep. Brian Kelsey has filed legislation to require that state Supreme Court justices be elected directly by the people. Currently, Tennessee supreme court justices are nominated by a judicial selection commission, which Rep. Kelsey described as "a little-known group of 14 lawyers and 3 nonlawyers named by special interest groups and the speakers of the House and Senate." Currently, judges are nominated by the panel and appointed by the Governor and then retained by a yes/no vote of the people. Kelsey calls the process unconstitutional because Article VI of the Tennessee Constitution says: "The Judges of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the qualified voters of the state."
Bredesen Wins Judicial Selection Commission Fight -- Speaking of the Judicial Selection Commission, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that the panel could not resubmit judicial nominees that Bredesen rejected in the first round of nominations. From the opinion: "The Governor's rejection of a first panel of nominees must be understood not only as a rejection of the panel but also as a rejection of each person nominated by the Judicial Selection Commission to be on the panel."
