[...] » George Soros and the Tennessee PlanPosted 111 minutes [...]

By Does George Soros Support The Tennessee Plan For Judicial Selection? : Post Politics: Political News and Views in Tennessee on 04.21.09 9:51 pm

Not much of surprise that these guys lean left.

By MAS1916 on 04.22.09 3:12 pm

Soros is a scumbag, New World Order type of freak. Rest assured anything he even remotely has his hands in is extremely left-wing and generally fascist.

By Ty on 04.22.09 7:32 pm

Now Soros has his own mole inside the Pentagon. Rosa Brooks. And no telling how many others have infiltrated thanks to the O-nooooooo!

By Pogo on 04.24.09 12:51 am

Blogger Dan Pero at AmericanCourthouse.com has been closely tracking George Soros/Justice at Stake’s national activities for over a year.

Check it out: http://americancourthouse.com/index.php?s=soros

TN is just one of many states where Justice At Stake is active – Soros is making a national push.

By KB on 04.24.09 8:19 am

Recently, harsh critics of our judicial selection system of merit selection, performance evaluation and retention elections for Tennessee’s appellate judges have unfairly assailed Supreme Court Justices and other members of the judicial branch for expressing their viewpoints in support of the current system. These critics have suggested that it is inappropriate or even unethical for judges to comment on matters related to the way in which judges are selected. Judges, and particularly Supreme Court Justices, who lead a separate and co-equal branch of government have a responsibility to speak for that branch. There is no legal or ethical prohibition restraining that responsibility, nor should there be.

The architects of our Constitution established three branches of government – the executive, legislative and judicial branch. Each of those branches is given specific responsibilities. The balance of power between those three branches has led to the world’s most successful model of self-government. When deciding cases, all judges are sworn to do so in a fair and impartial manner. In addition to the role of judge or impartial referee, justices of the Supreme Court, particularly the Chief Justice, as the head of the co-equal judicial branch, have a responsibility to advocate for measures which lead to the most effective administration of justice.

Suppose, for example, the Governor was to decide that he believes that the terms of state senators should be shortened from four years to two years. The Speaker of the Senate would be expected to speak to the merits of that proposal. Indeed, we would expect that the speaker would talk with the media and colleagues and try to persuade them to his viewpoint. No one would find this inappropriate or label it as unethical lobbying. The Justices of the Supreme Court and the judges of the other courts are doing no less than fulfilling their responsibilities as members of a co-equal branch of government when they advocate for their viewpoint on judicial selection.

The Code of Judicial Conduct adopted in virtually every jurisdiction in this country says that each judge has an affirmative responsibility to diligently discharge their administrative responsibilities. Judges are ethically permitted to speak concerning the administration of justice. Comments to Canon 4(b) of the Code of Judicial Conduct specifically say that, “Judges may participate in efforts to promote the fair administration of justice, the independence of judiciary and the integrity of the legal profession…”

The Tennessee Bar Association, representing the views of more than 80% of its members, and the unanimous view of its Board of Governors, continues to advocate for a continuation of a system for merit selection, performance evaluation and retention elections for Tennessee’s appellate judges. This viewpoint has achieved widespread support among the business and civic community. Attacks upon judges for sharing their views are terribly misplaced in our democracy.

George T. Lewis, President
Tennessee Bar Association

By George T. Lewis on 05.06.09 9:01 am

George–From what I’ve read in the code of conduct, it looks as if our judges, like Justice Koch, aren’t supposed to use their official letterhead.

There are other problems as well, but then as a citizen, I have no ability to ask the questions in order to receive an opinion, only file a complaint.

Perhaps I should do that in order to get it all straightened out.

By Terry on 05.07.09 12:20 pm