(06/26/2001)
Supreme Court Elects Drowota Chief Justice Effective Sept. 1
Justice Frank F. Drowota, III, of Nashville was elected chief justice Tuesday by the Tennessee Supreme Court, effective Sept. 1. He will succeed Chief Justice E. Riley Anderson of Knoxville, who is stepping down from the position, but will remain on the court.
Drowota, elected to the Supreme Court in 1980, is the court’s senior member and served as chief justice in 1989-90. He also is the senior member of the Tennessee Judicial Conference, which includes the state’s 178 trial and appellate judges. His judicial career began in 1970 when he was appointed by Gov. Buford Ellington to the Chancery Court of Davidson County. Four years later, he was appointed by Gov. Winfield Dunn to the state Court of Appeals.
" I am honored to have been chosen chief justice by my colleagues on the court. I have the highest respect for their intellectual integrity, enthusiasm, work ethic and commitment to service,” Drowota said. “We have a great Supreme Court, and I look forward to serving as chief justice because the members of the current court work so well together.”
The chief justice-elect said he will continue the court’s “commitment to remaining accessible.” He cited programs such as the SCALES Project, which makes it possible for high school students across the state to attend Supreme Court sessions in their local communities, and a recent Law School for Journalists, co-sponsored by the Supreme Court and the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. He said the court’s outreach projects “give the citizens of this state a better understanding of the court system and, we hope, a greater confidence in the courts.”
“I believe we will continue to be a court with vision, “ Drowota said. “I am delighted that Chief Justice Anderson is remaining on the court because he has great vision and energy, is even-handed and has been a tremendous administrator. In carrying out the administrative responsibilities of chief justice, I also look forward to working with the strong leadership and staff of the Administrative Office of the Courts as we attempt to modernize Tennessee’s court system to make it more responsive to the needs of all Tennesseans."
Drowota’s first term as chief justice was a period of transition for the court, including the swearing in of Martha Craig "Cissy" Daughtrey as the first woman Supreme Court justice in Tennessee history. She now serves on the federal 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
"We presently have the most diverse Supreme Court in our state’s history,” Drowota said. “Diversity has brought new ideas and a new vision which have strengthened the court, benefitting all Tennesseans."
Drowota said his goal is for courts in the state to “continue to adjudicate in a timely and efficient manner.”
“My wish is that justice will be both perceived and achieved in courtrooms throughout Tennessee,” he said.
Drowota is married to the former Claire Hooper. They have two children, Helen Drowota Close and Dr. Frank R. Drowota, and three grandchildren. He is active in legal and civic organizations, including having served on the boards of directors for the Cumberland Museum & Science Center, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Children’s House, Opportunity House, the Bill Wilkerson Speech and Hearing Center, Disciples Divinity House and the YMCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee. He has served as president of the Nashville Rotary Club and the Nashville area chapter of the American Red Cross. He is a trustee of Montgomery Bell Academy, where he attended school; the Dantzler Bond Ansley Fund and The Frist Foundation.
Drowota earned his undergraduate and law degrees at Vanderbilt University. He later served as a Naval officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-la and was commanding officer for a local reserve unit. He retired after 27 years of active and reserve military service and is a member of the Naval Reserve Association. He is an Elder of Woodmont Christian Church, where his father was the church’s founding minister and served that congregation for 30 years before his retirement.
(5/31/2001)
Supreme Court, Freedom Forum Sponsor State’s First Law School for Journalists
Nearly 100 print and broadcast reporters and editors from across Tennessee have registered to attend the state’s first Law School for Journalists, co-sponsored by the Tennessee Supreme Court and The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University.
“The Freedom Forum is a perfect partner for this project since it is dedicated to a free press,” said Chief Justice Riley Anderson, a member of the faculty for Monday’s Law School for Journalists. “Legal issues and the judicial system are complex, yet reporters are expected to understand and explain them with little or no legal training. And, for the most part, they do an excellent job. Those who attend the law school will be better equipped to cover courts, legal issues and legal proceedings. And that, in turn, will benefit all Tennesseans.”
Freedom Forum founder and veteran journalist John Seigenthaler will present opening remarks at Monday’s program. Seigenthaler is a former president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and served 43 yeas as a reporter, editor, publisher and CEO of The Tennessean newspaper. He also was founding editorial director of USA today.
Tony Mauro, who covered the U.S. Supreme for Gannett News Service and USA Today for two decades, will deliver the keynote address. Mauro is Supreme Court correspondent for American Lawyer Media. He also writes about the court for The Freedom Forum Online and authored “Illustrated Great Decisions of the Supreme Court,” published last year.
The law school will feature seminars and panels designed to provide useful information to journalists covering courts, the legal system and legal proceedings as their as their regular “beat” and those who may cover courts only occasionally. Journalists who have registered represent urban and rural newspapers, television stations, radio stations and the Associated Press wire service.
Faculty members, in addition to Chief Justice Anderson, are Attorney General Paul Summers; Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Jerry Smith; Circuit Court Judge Barbara Haynes and Chancellor Irvin Kilcrease of Davidson County; attorneys A. Gregory Ramos, Charles Grant and David Raybin of Nashville; journalists Chris Clark of NewsChannel 5 in Nashville, Dorinda Carter of WSMV Channel 4 in Nashville, Larry Buser of the Memphis Commercial Appeal and Kirk Loggins of The Tennessean; General Sessions Judge Hansel McCadams of Henry County; Court of Appeals Judge William Koch; Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joe Riley; Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Robert Wedemeyer; Criminal Court Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz of Knox County; David Keefe of the Public Defenders Conference; and Vanderbilt Professors Don Hall and Pauline Aranas.
Topics to be covered are an overview of the state and federal court systems; “Covering the Courts 101”; the appellate process; cameras in the courtroom; the legal process in capital cases; and basic legal research. The law school also will feature a panel discussion on “Fair Trial vs. Free Press.”
The law school is a project of the Supreme Court Committee on Public Trust and Confidence In the Courts.
(05/03/2001)
Chief Justice Anderson Resigning from Office, Remaining On Court
Chief Justice E. Riley Anderson announced Thursday he will step down as chief justice effective Sept.1, but will remain on the Tennessee Supreme Court. The five members of the court, including the chief justice, were re-elected in 1998 to eight-year terms.
Anderson, of Knoxville, was elected chief justice by members of the court in 1994. He was re-elected in 1997 and in 1998. He has served longer than any chief justice in the past 40 years.
"For the almost six years that I will have served, it has been a most challenging and demanding, but immensely rewarding, job," Anderson said. "I thank my colleagues on the court who entrusted me with this important public responsibility. I look forward to remaining on the court and having more time to devote to the important law development aspect of the court's work, such as decision-making and opinion writing.
During his terms as chief justice, the court has taken a number of steps to improve efficiency in the administration of justice and increase public confidence in the judiciary. He also served as chief during a transition in the judicial system toward automation.
Court initiatives during Anderson's tenure have included creation of a commission to improve foster care; adoption of a rule allowing cameras in courtrooms to give the public greater access to legal proceedings; a court web site; the SCALES educational program for high school students across Tennessee; an overhaul of the Code of Judicial Conduct for judges; adoption of a sexual harassment policy for the judicial department of state government; and the adoption of court-annexed alternative dispute resolution to settle legal disagreements without litigation.
The court also took steps while Anderson was chief justice to reduce unnecessary delays in capital cases. The delay-reducing initiatives included providing law clerks to trial judges; monthly monitoring by the chief justice of all capital cases to ensure they are proceeding through the system; increased standards and pay for court-appointed capital case attorneys to reduce appeals based on ineffective assistance of counsel; and proposing and obtaining funding for capital case attorneys to assist trial judges.
One of Anderson's final programs as chief justice is aimed at improving understanding of the court system. A June 4 Law School for Journalists in Nashville is being co-sponsored by the Supreme Court and the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center.
Anderson, a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, practiced law in Oak Ridge for nearly three decades before his 1987 appointment by Gov. Ned McWherter to the Court of Appeals. He was elected to the appellate court in 1988 and elected to the Supreme Court two years later. He was re-elected in 1998.
Under a Supreme Court rule adopted in 1997, the court will elect a member to succeed Anderson.