A persistent issue in Tennessee government is that of whether state law should trump the preferences of local jurisdictions. Two tests of the proposition are.
House Republicansâ Attempt to Remove Nashville Judge May Set Off War Metropolitik: On state Rep. Tim Ruddâs vengeful resolution to remove Judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle Tweet
State Rep. Tim Rudd
Somehow the simmering fight between business interests and the Republican base has ended up on the fourth floor of the historic Metro Courthouse in Chancery Court Part III.Â
Last week, state Rep. Tim Rudd (R-Murfreesboro) filed a resolution to have Judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle removed from her Part III bench. (Or more precisely, filed a resolution to establish a committee to consider removing her.) For what? The sin of allowing more people to vote by mail in Augustâs primary. Lyleâs pre-election ruling, which was partially overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court, said that the fear of contracting COVID-19 was enough justification for getting an absentee ballot. Since more than 11,000 Tennesseans have now died from the virus, those fears seem to have bee