Former Gov. Phil Bredesen, left, speaks with former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Mickey Barker during a meeting with Chattanooga Times Free Press editors and reporters Thursday to discuss the Vote YES on 2 campaign. The campaign is in support of the Amendment 2 judicial selection proposal that will appear on the November statewide ballot.For former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, the vote on Amendment 2 is simple - "Yes."
The state has argued for decades over how it selects its top judges, and on Nov. 4 voters will be asked to resolve the issue.
Bredesen met with Times Free Press editors and reporters on Thursday morning about the "Vote Yes on 2" campaign he has been stumping for across the state.
"This is not a partisan issue at all," said Bredesen, a Democrat, citing his work with Gov. Haslam and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, both Republicans, and support from interest groups including the Tennessee Sheriffs' Association, the Farm Bureau, the NAACP and the Chamber of Commerce.
The proposed amendment would put a modified version of the state's current judicial selection plan into the Tennessee Constitution and end repeated challenges to the process. Opponents of the amendment say the current system violates the constitution, which calls for direct election of judges.
But Bredesen said that while Tennesseans have the opportunity to observe their local Sessions and Circuit Court judges up close to judge their competence, there's no way they can know all of the state's 29 appellate and Supreme Court judges.
He said that would leave judicial campaigns "wide open" to manipulation by monied special interests, and added that judges "ought to be as isolated from that process as you can get."
Former Tennessee Chief Justice William "Mickey" Barker, who accompanied Bredesen, said if judges had to campaign like other officeholders, the biggest money-raisers would win, regardless of the candidates' qualifications.
In states where voters directly choose judges, he said, "judges campaign instead of writing opinions."
Under the present system, the governor appoints appellate judges and voters decide at the end of their terms whether to retain or replace them. Amendment 2 would enshrine the process in the constitution, and would add a check and balance by requiring state legislators to confirm the governor's picks.
State Rep. Gerald McCormick of Chattanooga, a Republican House majority leader, said that the system provided by Amendment 2 is constitutionally sound and provides a "triple-check process to make sure we have the right judges."
But some Tennesseans think the present system infringes on the people's right to choose.
Dan Rawls, a Bradley County commissioner and a Libertarian, said he believes approving Amendment 2 would continue down "a bad slippery slope" of circumventing the constitution.
Tennessee's Constitution is pretty specific, Rawls said, and voters, not elected officials, should choose their Supreme Court judges.
"Even if the proposed amendment is a little better, it is still wrong," he said.
And political scholar Bruce Oppenheimer, professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt University, said the widespread support among statewide political and civic leaders may not overcome Tennesseans' reluctance to change.
He said that the language on constitutional amendments, such as this one, is not always clear and can cause confusion and error voting.
"Typically, with referendums, unless people know what they are, they vote against them," Oppenheimer said. "Amendment 2 is not simple and you're not sure who is on which side or how it will change things."
Oppenheimer believes Amendment 2 will have a difficult time passing unless well-known people, such as Bredesen, function as cue-givers for voters.
"So far, I have not seen enough influence," he said. "It is so deadly quiet that you wouldn't even know there is an election in November," he said.
Contact staff writer Kendi Anderson at kendi.anderson@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6592.