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.