Court of the Judiciary hearings in legislature begin
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As promised, State Senator Mae Beavers put hearings on the practices of the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary (COJ) at the front of her committee’s legisaltive agenda this week.
Beavers’ committee heard reports and testimony from Administrative Office of the Courts Executive Director Libby Sykes and Rutherford County Criminal Court Judge Don Ash, the presiding judge of the COJ.
Follow the link to see the video of the hearing.
1/12/10 State Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing
Beavers expressed concern that the COJ’s process is not transparent. Ash compared the COJ’s process – which keeps thousands of complaints against judges closed to public scrutiny – to a grand jury proceeding.
“Respectfully, I think the complainants need this process where it is confidential,” Ash said. “I am all for an open process, but I want people to be able to file complaints.”
The Court of the Judiciary keeps the vast majority of its actions against judges – including dismissing citizen complaints agains them – secret to the public, a power afforded to them under state law.
Beavers told Tennessee Watchdog this week she will continue to hold hearings on the Court of the Judiciary this legislative session. Beavers decided on the hearings and presumably some legislation to follow after hearing statistics on the COJ’s secrecy during Tennessee Watchdog’s reporting of “A Jury of Their Peers,” a special report on the COJ and its practices.
Posted under Blog, judicial accountability, State Government.
Tags: A Jury of Their Peers, Judge Don Ash, Libby Sykes, Senate Judiciary Committee, Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts, Tennessee Court of the Judiciary, Tennessee Watchdog
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[...] Each of the outlets represented on the panel have broken some big stories over the past year. In December, TennesseeWatchdog.org uncovered the secretive system of judicial accountability in Tennessee. It’s a system that in most cases prevents the public from knowing whether judges have even been punished. The report prompted the state Senate to hold hearings in January. [...]
11:22 pm on January 19th, 2010
Looking at the video and listening to Don Ash was very educational. If you were confused before about the role of the Court of the Judiciary now you get it. The Court of the Judiciary is not a disciplinary counsel , it is a REHAB CENTER for judges and the process is a very long one
Don Ash made it clear that his goal is to reeducate and cure bad judges .
When a citizen has to go to court , he or she is expecting to sit in front of a judge who will apply the law , he or she is not going to court to be treated like a laboratory mouse on which the judge will experiment his knowledge of the law. A Judge has no reason to be on a bench if he has an alcohol or drug problem, or if he breaks the law.
Don Ash has also a short term memory problem When Senator Beaver asked him what is happening in a case of several reprimands for the same judge. Don Ash blanked. He said he does not recall any case. Let me just refresh his memory and mention that he signed at least 4 sanctions for Judge Donna Fields West Tennessee.
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The Court of the Judiciary is in the business of helping judges to stay on the right track ,it does not protect the right of the constituent The State has a real need for a disciplinary body that will debench , punish bad judges.and treat them with the same acoountability as an ordinary citizen..
As Don Ash stated, most of the complaints are about divorce judges. We are talking about family courts It is shame that the victims are innocent children who cannot speak for themselves. Sending children in the hands of an abuser, a drug dealer or a radical terrorist should be considered a crime. We are supposed to live in the most advanced country in the world where the rights of women and children should be protected not gambled in corrupt courts.Unfortunately in the State of Tennessee , some family courts look like the Middle East or a third world country. Some of the victims are now over 21 years old and are ready to take on Don Ash and his healing process for out of control judges
We hope that Senator Beaver,Black and Jackson will continue to be the voice of the innocents
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