Stacey Barchenger

sbarchenger@tennessean.com

Three of Tennessee's top judges and seven others on the state's appeals courts are up for retain-or-replace votes on this year's ballot.

At the top are the conservative members of the Tennessee Supreme Court, each justice appointed by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam: Jeffrey Bivins, Holly Kirby and Roger Page, the court's newest member. Should half or more of voters decide one needs to be replaced, Haslam would then appoint a replacement who would need to be approved by the legislature.

Here are brief biographies of the justices, their track records in recent rulings and other things to consider when going to the polls.

The cases

The justices have, since their appointment to the bench, defined police authority in traffic stops, upheld the scope of public records law and evaluated inmates' rights, at least once denying the right to appeal in certain cases. The justices not only hear appeals in criminal and civil cases, setting statewide precedent, but they oversee lawyer conduct and create rules for the court system.

Page, who was appointed in January to fill a vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Gary Wade, has limited experience with the court and is yet to decide a case.

Bivins and Kirby, both on the bench since 2014, have joined the majority on recent cases. They have: sealed some police investigative records sought by The Tennessean and other media agencies in the high-profile cases rape against former Vanderbilt University football players; agreed that a single instance of a car crossing a street line was enough to warrant a traffic stop and redefined judges' ability to rule on the merits of civil cases before they get to a trial phase (a legal procedure called summary judgment).

In the records case, Kirby took the time to write a separate opinion chastising her former colleague, retired Justice Gary Wade, for his dissent in the case.

Along with justices Sharon Lee and Cornelia Clark, Bivins and Kirby declined to hear a mid-case appeal from noted politician John Jay Hooker before his death in January to review state law that criminalized prescribing life-ending medication. They stopped all executions in the state while the death penalty procedure is being challenged in courts.

RELATED:Tennessee Supreme Court stops electric chair lawsuit, for now

There were more than 40 cases pending before the court, about half of which deal with criminal matters, according to a report from early July. The court chooses which cases to hear. More than half of the total pending cases have been argued and are awaiting the court's opinion.

The future of lethal injection, constitutionality of the state's backup method of execution (electric chair) and a Knoxville case about parental rights for same-sex couples are major issues moving up the ladder that could soon be before Tennessee's appeals courts for consideration.

Want to know more about how the judges have ruled in recent cases? All opinions are online here.

RELATED: Tennessee's appeals courts lack diversity, raise concerns

Lawyer support

Two recent polls of lawyers, including some who argue cases before the judges, recommend that each of the three justices stay in their posts.

The Tennessee Bar Association in June surveyed its membership of about 13,000 lawyers and said nine of 10 who responded recommended or highly recommended retaining justices Bivins, Kirby and Page. The Nashville Bar Association, in a similar member poll of 524 people, found that 77 percent recommended retaining Bivins, 69 percent recommended retaining Kirby and 59 percent recommended retaining Page.

"The poll is used to encourage the selection of qualified judges and public officials in the judicial system by having attorneys with knowledge of these candidates provide an informed opinion on their qualifications," Joycelyn Stevenson, president of the Nashville Bar Association, said in a statement.

None of the appeals judges up for retention have signed the Tennessee Bar Association's Fair Judicial Campaign Code of Conduct, a pledge to keep the judges' legal opinions out of campaigns and upholding ethics rules for judges. Allan Ramsaur, executive director of the Tennessee Bar Association, noted that lack of participation was rare.

"It would also be accurate to say that this has never happened in the 12 years we have published the code," he said in an email. "As to why, that would be speculation on our part so we will not reply."

Justices Bivins, Kirby and Page responded via joint email when asked through the court administrator why they did not sign the code. They noted that each is a member of the bar association.

"We already are governed by the Code of Judicial Conduct, which contains provisions basically identical to the TBA’s Campaign Code of Conduct," their email reads.

They also said they are asked by numerous groups to sign pledges and decline to do so because of restrictions in the judicial conduct code.

"While we understand that the TBA is a leading organization in our field, our concern is that members of the public might assume bias or lack of independence if we were to sign the TBA pledge while refusing to participate in other pledges, codes, or questionnaires," the email reads.

Politics

This campaign has gone quietly compared to two years ago.

The 2014 election followed a fierce campaign and more than $1 million spending. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, who announced this year he would not seek reelection, led a battle to replace three justices who were all appointed by Democratic governors.

And last year, Ramsey openly advocated for a conservative replacement for retiring justice Wade, one of the justices he fought to replace, saying it would lead to the first Republican majority court in Tennessee history. Page was appointed to that seat.

But this year, now that three Republican appointees are up for a vote, there is much less attention and much less money. There have been no TV commercials, for example, as was the case two years ago. Democratic leaders say they had no intention of pulling politics into the race.

"Supreme Court judicial races are non-partisan elections and we are not seeking to inject partisanship into this year's Supreme Court Justice elections," a spokesman for Mary Mancini, chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party, said in an email.

Each of the justices seeking retention have raised some money and received in-kind donations, but very little of that has been spent. With few exceptions, the money is coming from lawyers. And campaign finance records show large firms in Memphis, Nashville and Chattanooga have hosted the justices for fundraiser receptions and lunches.

Bivins raised $11,500, according to online campaign finance reports, and spent under $70. Kirby raised $14,400, according to the reports, and spent just more than $400 largely for accounting purposes. Page brought in $12,400 and spent about $50.

Biographies

Kirby, 59, was the first woman to serve on the Court of Appeals, which handles civil matters in the state. She was appointed in 1995 and served there until Haslam appointed her to the Supreme Court beginning in September 2014. She lives in Memphis and earned her law degree from the University of Memphis.

Bivins, 55, was appointed by Haslam to the Court of Criminal Appeals in 2011 and to the Supreme Court in 2014. He previously was a circuit court judge in Williamson, Hickman, Lewis and Perry counties. The Franklin resident's law degree is from Vanderbilt University.

Page, 60, is married to Davidson County Chancellor Carol McCoy, who is retiring in September. He was appointed by Haslam in January and was the first judge to be approved by the legislature in a system approved by voters. In 2011 the governor chose him for the Court of Criminal Appeals. For more than a decade before that he was a circuit court judge in Chester, Henderson and Madison counties. He attended the University of Memphis for law school and also has a degree in pharmacy.

He lives in Medina. During a public interview last year before he was appointed, Page said he thought the Supreme Court needed to address problems with attorney discipline and how long cases linger in the court system.

Lawyers' polls

Lawyer members of the Tennessee Bar Association and Nashville Bar Association recommend retaining three Tennessee Supreme Court justices facing retention election. Here are the results of the statewide poll conducted in June:

Justice Jeffrey Bivins

68 percent highly recommend

26 percent recommend

6 percent do not recommend

Justice Holly Kirby

68 percent highly recommend

25 percent recommend

8 percent do not recommend

Justice Roger Page

64 percent highly recommend

30 percent recommend

6 percent do not recommend



Additional races:

Seven judges on Tennessee's Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals are also up for a vote to retain as judges or be replaced. To read their opinions in cases, go here for civil matters and here for criminal cases. The judges are:

Court of Criminal Appeals, Eastern Division

Robert H. Montgomery, Jr., appointed 2014

Court of Criminal Appeals, Middle Division

Timothy L. Easter, appointed 2014

Robert L. Holloway, Jr., appointed 2014

Court of Criminal Appeals, Western Division

J. Ross Dyer, appointed in March, confirmed by the legislature in April

Court of Appeals, Western Division

Kenny Armstrong, appointed in 2006

Brandon O. Gibson, appointed in 2014

Arnold B. Goldin, appointed in 2002

Reach Stacey Barchenger at 615-726-8968 or on Twitter @sbarchenger.