Court Opinion

ID: 9767619
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 05:22:46.68335+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:32.080575
License: Public Domain

DROWOTA, Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur with that portion of the majority opinion which holds T.C.A. § 37-1-211, as amended by Chapter 629 of the Public Acts of 1988, to be unconstitutional. I also agree with the majority that the Shelby County Election Commission has standing to bring this action and that the doctrine of laches is not applicable in this case. I agree with the majority opinion that a “vacancy” in the office of Juvenile Court Clerk exists.
My only disagreement with the majority opinion concerns how the “vacancy” created by this holding should be filled. The *779majority opinion sets the date of the election to fill the vacancy “on the first Thursday in August, 1988.” The first Thursday in August, 1988, is August 4, only 7 days after the release date of this opinion.
Chapter 629 of the Public Acts of 1988, the statute in question, did not become law until March 81,1988. It was challenged on April 20,1988. On May 9,1988, Chancellor George Lewis found it to be unconstitutional. On motion of the Defendants, the Chancellor, on May 17, 1988, stayed the Shelby County Election Commission “from placing the position of Clerk of the Memphis and Shelby County Juvenile Court on the ballot for the August 4, 1988, General Election or any other ballot pending final adjudication of this cause by the Tennessee Supreme Court.” The Chancellor further ordered the Election Commission to continue to accept and process all qualified petitions for the position of Clerk up to the filing deadline. The qualifying deadline for Juvenile Court Clerk was June 2,1988. On June 13,1988, this Court dissolved the stay order issued by the Chancellor, and an expedited appeal was granted. Oral arguments were heard in this cause on July 13, 1988. Our decision affirming the Chancellor is being released 7 days before the election.
At the time of the qualifying deadline, June 2, 1988, the Shelby County Election Commission was stayed “from placing the position of Clerk of the Memphis and Shelby County Juvenile Court on the ballot-” The qualifying deadline is one element of the election process. A stay of election was in effect on the date of the qualifying deadline and I am of the opinion that this cast uncertainty on the whole election process. Although this Court dissolved the stay on June 13, 1988, the qualifying process was not reopened. Due to the uncertainty of any case in litigation, the uncertainty of the election itself, and the time constraints on the candidates, I feel the more orderly and democratic process would be to fill the vacancy in accordance with T.C.A. § 18-1-402 and hold the election at the next general election in August, 1990.
It should be pointed out that this Court’s decision in holding Chapter 629 of the Public Acts of 1988 unconstitutional will not only affect the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County, but other special Juvenile Courts throughout this State will also be affected. The elective process should not be in doubt until the eve of the election, the candidates and the public deserve more. Reason and logic support the Appellant’s position of holding the election in 1990 and filling the Clerk’s position in this case and other cases similarly situated by the appropriate vacancy statute.