Tennessee GOP measure to oust Nashville judge fails

A resolution to remove Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle over her ruling last year to expand absentee voting during the pandemic is dead after the measure failed to clear a necessary House subcommittee.

Republican lawmakers targeted Lyle over her ruling that fear of COVID-19 was an adequate reason to request an absentee ballot. The resolution’s lead sponsor, state Rep. Tim Rudd, R-Murfreesboro, said Lyle “attempted to disregard state law and implement her own rules, personal opinions and policies that were in direct contradiction of existing state law.”

The legislation, which would have enabled state Speaker Cameron Sexton to appoint a committee to consider removing Lyle, failed to advance in the House civil justice subcommittee. A companion resolution was filed last week in the Senate by Sen. Frank Niceley.

The prospect of removing Lyle was strongly opposed by the legal community as well as Democrats. The Nashville and Tennessee bar associations came out in full-throttle opposition, and a statewide Committee for an Independent Judiciary, led by some of Tennessee’s most recognized attorneys, launched last week in response to Rudd’s proposal.

Read more: https://tennesseelookout.com/2021/03/10/tennessee-gop-measure-to-oust-nashville-judge-fails/