NASHVILLE — Gov. Phil Bredesen today appointed state Court of Appeals Judge Sharon Gail Lee of Madisonville to the Tennessee Supreme Court to fill a vacancy created by the recent retirement of Justice William M. “Mickey” Barker.

The other two finalists for the seat were Chattanooga attorney John W. McClarty and Kingsport attorney Bruce Shine.

“Sharon has served with distinction on the Court of Appeals and I am confident she will bring the same level of honor and integrity to the Tennessee Supreme Court,” Gov. Bredesen said in a news release. “I am very pleased she has agreed to accept this appointment.”

Mr. McClarty was the only black finalist for the vacancy on a five-member court that had and continues to have no black justices.

Justice Lee joins two other women justices on the court, giving Tennessee its first female-dominated court in state history.

Gov. Bredesen had named Ms. Lee to the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Eastern Section, in June 2004. She began her law practice in 1978 and had worked in several law partnerships and been a solo practitioner before her judicial appointment.

Mr. McClarty, who began practicing law in 1976, is a solo practitioner and had not served as a full-time judge, although he had filled in from time to time as a judge on Hamilton County General Sessions Court and in Chattanooga City Court.

In his application, Mr. McClarty noted that he thought his service on the Tennessee Supreme Court “will be of assistance in bringing diversity” to that panel.

The state’s only black justice, Adolpho A. Birch, retired in 2006.

For complete details, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.

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