TN General Assembly confirms new justice
State associate solicitor general to join high court
The General Assembly on Thursday confirmed Tennessee associate solicitor general Sarah Campbell to the Tennessee Supreme Court, with a near-unanimous vote elevating the attorney to state’s highest court.
Campbell received a standing ovation following the joint chamber vote.
She joined the Tennessee Attorney General’s office in 2015 following a clerkship for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. Campbell previously clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals. She is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and Duke University School of Law.
As legislators in recent weeks considered her nomination, Campbell confirmed she would recuse herself from any cases she might have encountered as an attorney for the state.
“As a judge, I will be firmly neutral on the issues that come before me,” Campbell said. “The role of a judge, in my view, is to decide cases based on neutral, objective principles that don’t lend themselves to any one outcome or the other.”
Campbell, 40, fills the seat left by Justice Cornelia Clark, who died in September. Clark was appointed to the bench in 2005 by former Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat.
Though the court is technically nonpartisan, Campbell is expected to add a conservative voice to the bench.
“Given that the moderate conservatives already have a majority, I don’t think this particular seat is going to dramatically change anything,” Brian Fitzpatrick, a professor at Vanderbilt University Law School, said last fall when applications for the position opened. “It’s not a situation where the court will flip from one orientation to the other.”
Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-knoxville, was the only lawmaker who voted against Campbell’s confirmation. Johnson said she is concerned about the “partisan nature” of her work in the attorney general’s office.
“There are many more qualified jurists in TN,” Johnson said in a statement. “I feel her experience does not reach the level to be a Supreme Court Justice in our state. I heard from lawyers in my district who did not feel she had the needed qualifications.”
Eleven people initially applied to Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments for the position last month but two withdrew from consideration before interviews began.
Lawmakers needed to confirm Campbell’s appointment under a 2014 amendment to the state Constitution requiring legislative approval. Justices then face retention elections every eight years.
Reach Melissa Brown at mabrown@tennessean.com.