Selection by a legal oligarchy

Selection by a legal oligarchy

JNC commission named

The newly-appointed members of the shiny new Judicial Nominating Commission have been announced. For what it's worth, 15 of the 17 are lawyers.

Here's a list of [the Speaker of the House Kent] Williams appointees:

-David Bautista, an attorney and adjunct professor in East Tennessee State University's Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology.

-Mary Helen Beard, senior attorney with FedEx Corp. in Memphis.
-Ana L. Escobar, a Nashville attorney specializing in criminal defense.

-Russell Johnson of Loudon County, who is district attorney general in the 9th Judicial District and a former Republican state representative.

-Edward L. Martindale Jr., a Jackson attorney.

-William Scott Sims, a Nashville attorney.

-Denise Terry Stapleton, a Morristown attorney.

-C. Barry Ward of Tipton County, a lawyer who practices in Memphis.

Here is a list of [the Lt. Gov. Ron] Ramsey appointees:

-Miles Burdine, president and CEO of the Kingsport Area Chamber of Commerce.

-Christopher Campbell, a Memphis attorney.

-Christopher Clem, a Chattanooga lawyer and former Republican state representative.

-William Jenkins Jr., a Dyersburg attorney and son of former U.S. Rep. Bill Jenkins of Rogersville.

-Theresa Lee, senior vice president and chief legal officer for Eastman Chemical Co. in Kingsport.

-Thomas Lawless, a Nashville lawyer

-Jack Lowery, a Lebanon lawyer.

-William Young of Signal Mountain, general counsel and senior vice president of Risk Management for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee in Chattanooga.

See also, AP for the politically correct breakdown.