BALLOT BREAKDOWN
The Tennessee Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals Judges The state of Tennessee has three appellate courts, or courts that hear appeals from trial courts: The Supreme Court, The Court of Appeals and The Court of Criminal Appeals. In these courts, Judges hear oral arguments and review the attorneys’ written materials, and they issue written decisions, known as opinions. They also interpret the laws and constitutions of Tennessee and the United States. Since 2014, Judges that preside
on these courts are appointed by the Governor in office and then subject to approval by the General Assembly, and immediately take office upon approval. Prior to 2014, and the adoption of Amendment 2 to the Tennessee Constitution, three judges would be nominated by a bipartisan Judicial Nominating Commission, made up of 17 lawyers, and one of these nominees would be selected by the Governor to be placed on the ballot, with a final “yes or no”
vote by the public electing the judge. This is the first election where Tennessean’s will not have access to the findings of a 12-member Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, composed of lawyers. This commission reviewed the record of incumbent judges and published its findings approximately six weeks before the retention elections. This commission was also dissolved in 2014. The Court of Appeals hears appeals
in civil, non-criminal cases, from trial courts and certain state boards and commissions. The court has 12 members who sit in panels of three, the Eastern, Western, and Middle Divisions. The Court of Criminal Appeals has nine members that hears trial court appeals in felony and misdemeanor cases, as well as post-conviction petitions. All decisions made in these two courts may be appealed, with permission, to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
The Tennessee Supreme Court is the state’s court of last resort and consists of 5 judges. The Supreme Court may assume jurisdiction over undecided cases in the Court of Appeals or Court of Criminal Appeals when there is special need for an expedited decision. Tennessee Supreme Court opinions on federal constitutional issues can be appealed only to the United States Supreme Court, which may or may not agree to consider the appeals.
SUPREME COURT, AT LARGE Jeffrey S. Bivins Justice Bivins has served on the Tennessee Supreme Court since his appointment by Governor Haslam in 2014. He was elected as Chief Justice by his colleagues in 2016, and held that position until 2021. Bivins earned a J.D. from Vanderbilt in 1986 and a B.A. in Political
Sarah K. Campbell Justice Sarah K. Campbell is the newest member of the Tennessee Supreme Court, seeking retention after approximately 5 months on the bench. She was appointed by Governor Bill Lee in January 2022 and confirmed in a near
Holly Kirby Justice Holly Kirby has served on the Tennessee Supreme Court since her appointment by Governor Haslam in 2014. Kirby earned a J.D. from the University of Memphis in 1982 and a B.S. in Engineering from University of Memphis in 1979. Following law school, she
Sharon Gail Lee Justice Sharon Gail Lee has been a Tennessee Supreme Court Justice since 2008. Lee earned a law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1978. From 1978 to 2004 Lee practiced law in Madisonville, where she also served as County Attorney for Monroe County, City Judge, and
Science from East Tennessee State University in 1982. He practiced law in Nashville for Boult, Cummings, Conners, and Berry before serving on the Circuit Court for the 21st District from 1999-2000 and returning for a full elected term in 2006. He was appointed to the Court of Criminal Appeals in 2011. Justice Bivins has served as a past President of the Tennessee
Judicial Conference, member of the Board of Judicial Conduct, and member of the Tennessee Judicial Evaluation Commission. He was awarded the ABA’s Justice Frank Drowota III award in 2020, and has emphasized his work to support legal access for underserved communities, including serving as the Supreme Court Liaison for the Access to Justice Commission.
Most recently, Justice Bivins voted with a 3-2 split in a high-profile case concerning the “ESA Act.” The ESA Act is Tennessee’s school voucher program championed by Governor Lee, and it allows only Nashville and Memphis students to apply state funding for their public school education towards private school tuition and fees. Metro Nashville challenged this program, argu-
ing that Tennessee’s Home Rule Amendment should prevent the state from changing local education policy in only these two cities. Justice Bivins voted with the majority in the case, ruling for the state and against Nashville/ Memphis. He also authored the opinion for a unanimous court, finding for the Republican Party that had not erred in removing Newsom from the primary ballot.
unanimous vote by the General Assembly. Campbell earned a J.D and Masters of Public Policy Degree from Duke University in 2009, where she was managing editor of the Duke Law Journal, and earned a BA degree from the University of Tennessee. Prior to her appointment, Campbell clerked for Justice
Samuel Alito of the US Supreme Court and worked at Williams and Connolly LLP in Washington DC. From 2015 until her appointment, Justice Campbell served in the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, serving as Associate Solicitor General and Special Assistant to the Attorney General. Campbell is a member
of the Tennessee Bar Association, the American Law Institute, and the Federalist Society. Since joining the Tennessee Supreme Court, Justice Campbell has only recently had a chance to join opinions, as most cases decided recently are from the November 2021 term. She did join the
unanimous majority opinion authored by Justice Bivins in the Robert Starbuck Newsom case, finding that the Republican Party had not erred in removing Newsom from the primary ballot. The Court conclusively rejected Newsom’s arguments, and thus far it is the only opinion she has had the chance to participate in.
clerked for Justice Harry Welford on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals and practiced law in Memphis at Burch, Porter, and Johnson. In 1990, she became the firm’s first female partner. Justice Kirby was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 1995, becoming the first woman ever to sit on the Court of Appeals and served there until her appointment to the Ten-
nessee Supreme Court. Kirby has served on the Board of Judicial Conduct, the Tennessee Judicial Conference, and the Court of the Judiciary’s independent ethics panel. She is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association, the Memphis and Shelby County Bar Association, and the Tennessee Lawyers’ Association for Women. Kirby has received numerous awards as a
distinguished alumna from the University of Memphis. Most recently, Justice Kirby has authored unanimous opinions, in Harris v. Board of Professional Responsibility, upholding the one-year suspension of an attorney for misleading testimony and in Kampmeyer v. State of Tennessee, reevaluating the definition of “timely notice” in Tennes-
see Code for claims against the state. Justice Kirby also dissented in part from the 3-2 split in a high-profile case concerning the “ESA Act’’ school voucher program. The Court ruled against Metro Nashville, but Kirby disagreed, arguing that the Home Rule Amendment should bar the ESA Act from singling out Metro Nashville and Shelby County.
City Attorney for Madisonville. Justice Lee was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2004, and retained in 2006, becoming the first woman to serve on the Eastern Section of the court. Appointed to the Supreme Court in 2008 and retained in 2014, she served as Chief Justice from 2014 to 2016. Lee is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association, Tennessee Lawyers Associa-
tion for Women and the East Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women. In a 2014, Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission report, the Commission expressed positively to Justice Lee’s use of judicial restraint and loyalty to the original intent of interpreting constitutional and legislative provisions. Further, Justice Lee, “professed a jurisprudential
philosophy of deference to the co-equal branches of state government.” In the TN Supreme Court decision that ruled that Governor Lee’s Education Savings Accounts pilot program was not unconstitutional in Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, et al. v. Tennessee Department of Education, et al., Justice Lee alongside Justice Kirby wrote a
separate opinion from the majority concurring and dissenting in part on the ruling. In addition, Justice Lee joined in on the opinion in Robert Starbuck Newsom a/k/a Robby Starbuck v. Tennessee Republican Party, et al. which overturned a lower court’s ruling, and removed TN Congressional District 5 candidate Robby Starbuck from the Republican Primary ballot.
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