Tennessee Chief Justice retires

William M. Barker, the Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court*, is retiring.

*or is the proper title "Chief Justice of the State of Tennessee"? I'm not sure.

Comments

[Jay Johnson]

Interestingly enough, I think, unlike the U.S. Constitution, the position of Chief Justice isn't specifically titled under any particular name.

If I were to guess, I'd say Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, but that's more because there's nothing in the Tennessee Constitution that specifically says otherwise.

Check Article VI, Section 2 of the Tennessee Constitution. "Section 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of five judges, of whom not more than two shall reside in any one of the grand divisions of the state. The judges shall designate one of their own number who shall preside as chief justice"

You could always ask someone in the building where you work, I suppose...

[Jay Johnson]

Oh yeah, one more thing to go for my preferred interpretation is the language used in the other sections of Article VI of the Tennessee Constitution is that whenever those sections speak of judges or justices, it refers to the "judge or justices of [insert court name here] Courts."

FWIW.

[Completely Baseless Rumor]

I heard Charles Susano is on the short list to replace the Chief Justice.

[Jay Johnson]

Completely Baseless Rumor quashed.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/apr/30/holder-become-states-first-female-chief-justice/