"Tennessee justice is not for sale. . . ." Justice Sharon G. Lee

Now the conservatives are going after judges they deem too liberal -- in a big way.  Tennessee has the system that's a sort of compromise between judges being appointed and judges being elected.   They are initially appointed by the governor;  then, after a certain number of years, voters decide whether to "retain" them or oust them.

Three members of the Tennessee Supreme Court, including the chief justice, were up for a retention vote.   Conservatives groups spent big money on campaign ads trying to oust them.  All three won their retention votes.    As Justice Sharon Lee said:

"Tennessee justice is not for sale. . . .  They can spend all the money they want -- I think they spent well over #1 million -- but they cannot buy this election.   They cannot buy our system of justice."

That's encouraging to hear.   Unfortunately, it's not always the case.   In 2010, in a similar system, voters in Iowa voted to oust three State Supreme Court justices who had voted to overturn the ban on gay marriage in Iowa.    California ousted three justices back in 1986 over capital punishment.

What's new here is the amount and the sources of the money.  Yes, you guessed it.   A lot of it came from Americans for Prosperity -- meaning the Koch brothers.   The Lt. Governor also kicked in almost half a million from his own political action committee.

These three in Tennessee survived.   But they aren't going to give up easily.  For them, it's just another battleground in their effort to buy the kind of government they want.   Any politicizing of the judicial system is a terrible idea;  we need a better system for choosing judges.

Ralph