Tennessee’s chief justice announces his retirement
At issue are modifications to a consent decree that would save the state money and allow thousands of enrollees who are designated as “medically needy” to remain on the expanded Medicaid program. The medically needy include the sickest TennCare patients who are not eligible for Medicaid, which covers the poor.
Gov. Phil Bredesen has said cuts are necessary to save the state $500 million to $600 million in the coming year. The nearly 226,000 currently scheduled to be cut will start receiving notices this week.
The hearing that was originally scheduled for June 13 is for attorneys for enrollees to spell out their concerns to state lawyers so the necessary modifications can be made. One main concern is to make prescription drugs more cost efficient.
The hearing before U.S. District Judge John Nixon was tentatively reset for June 28. That date could change depending on when the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rules on the rest of the state’s plan to save money on TennCare, largely through benefits cuts.
State attorneys said they expect a ruling as early as Tuesday. If that happens, Nixon plans to have a conference call with all parties and schedule a definite date for the hearing.
All the attorneys have said they would like the hearing to start at least three weeks from when CMS rules to give experts testifying enough time to review the decision.
Meanwhile, Nixon is urging a compromise.
“If any agreements on modifications can be made, I would like the attorneys to discuss that,” Nixon said.
Attorney Lenny Croce of the Tennessee Justice Center, the enrollees’ main representative, said such an agreement is unlikely.
“We’ve never received any concrete proposals from the state concerning changes to the consent decree, and that’s what we’ve been waiting on all this time,” Croce said.
Regardless of whether an agreement is reached, attorney Ted Carey, who has been allowed to intervene on behalf of those who are losing TennCare coverage, said it’s critical that something be done this month.
“The state has a limited amount of money,” Carey said. “If we start going too far into July, they’re going to start disenrolling the 97,000 people in the medically needy category.”
Gov. Phil Bredesen has made it clear he wants to spare those people, but his ability to do so hinges on the outcome of the hearing.
Last month, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way for the governor to make cuts when it overturned another federal judge’s ruling that Tennessee’s procedures for disenrollment were inadequate.
Bredesen is taking steps to help those who will be disenrolled by implementing a so-called “safety net” plan, which spends roughly $100 million to bolster local health clinics, help hospitals with indigent care costs and other measures. It also helps the severely mentally ill with prescription drug costs.
e2667 TN Chief Justice Retirement, 4th Ld-Writethru
Tennessee’s chief justice announces his retirement
Eds: ADDS Bredesen statement in new graf 18. No pickup.
By COLIN FLY
Associated Press Writer
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Chief Justice Frank Drowota, the second longest serving member in the history of the state’s Supreme Court, announced Monday that he will retire Sept. 2.
Drowota, who will turn 67 next month, has been on the Tennessee Supreme Court since 1980. He has been chief justice twice, from January 1989 to September 1990 and again since September 2001. Only Grafton Green served on the state’s highest court longer, from 1910 to 1947.
Drowota announced his retirement to more than 100 journalists attending a training session on news coverage of the courts, just after delivering a resignation letter to Gov. Phil Bredesen following a 45-minute meeting. He said his colleagues had kept his plans secret for more than a year.
“It’s truly the most collegial court I’ve ever served on,” he said after announcing his decision.
The state Supreme Court hears criminal and civil appeals from the state’s lower courts, including appeals in all death penalty cases.
During his more than 30 years as a judge on the state’s appellate courts, Drowota participated in more than 4,500 decisions, wrote more than a thousand majority opinions and more than 100 dissenting and concurring opinions.
Drowota has said he thinks the most important opinion he has written was the one that reshaped Tennessee’s tort law by adopting the standard of comparative fault for lawsuit litigation in 1992.
The justice also participated in nearly every death penalty appeal since capital punishment was reinstated in 1977 and wrote the opinion that ruled on the constitutionality of the state’s death penalty laws.
Drowota, (pronounced droh-WOH-tuh), saw many changes on the court during his service, including the swearing in of the first woman and the first black as justices.
He said after his selection as chief justice the second time that the additional administrative work was made easier in part by his court colleagues, E. Riley Anderson, Adolpho A. Birch Jr., Janice M. Holder and William N. Barker.
On Monday, the other justices said his contributions will be missed.
“He is the court,” Holder said. “I can’t imagine the court without him.”
Birch said Drowota kept the court focused as he served as chief justice.
“He was a very strong justice,” Birch said. “He kept us on task.”
Colleagues outside the court also commended Drowota’s efforts.
“He’s done an outstanding job as chief justice and judge before that, and he’s done a good job of leading people and the court,” said Suzanne Keith, executive director of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association. “They don’t agree on every issue that comes along, but they work well together. Justice Drowota’s leadership fostered that.”
In a Judicial Evaluation Commission report on the performance of justices prior to the 1998 election, Drowota received an overall performance rating of good to excellent for his patient and impartial behavior during oral argument, the quality of his written opinions and his general performance while serving on the court.
“We all owe a debt of gratitude to Justice Frank Drowota for his long judicial service,” Bredesen said in a statement. “He has been the model of all that a judge should be.”
It will be up to Bredesen to appoint a replacement for Drowota from three names recommended by the 15-member Judicial Selection Commission.
The new justice will serve until the next August general election in 2006. Voters decide whether to retain justices with yes-no votes every eight years. After July 1, the position will pay more than $129,000 a year.
The members of the Supreme Court pick their own chief justice.
Drowota said he expects the job will be filled by someone who hasn’t already been the court’s leader.
“I don’t think it will be Justice Anderson or Birch because they have both been there and done that,” he said.
Drowota is a native of Williamsburg, Ky., who moved to Nashville in 1943 as a child when his father was selected pastor of a new congregation. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees at Vanderbilt University.
He became a judge in 1970 when Democratic Gov. Buford Ellington named him a Davidson County chancellor. Republican Gov. Winfield Dunn named him to the Court of Appeals in 1974, and he served there until he was elected to the Supreme Court.
Drowota, who is married with two children and five grandchildren, said he won’t continue in the law after leaving the court.
“I’m just going to retire and do some social work,” he said.
Facts about Chief Justice Frank Drowota
A few facts about Frank Drowota, chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court.
NAME — Francis Ferdinand Drowota III.
AGE-BIRTHDATE — 66; born July 7, 1938.
HOMETOWN — Williamsburg, Ky.
EDUCATION — Graduated Vanderbilt University in 1960 with a bachelor’s of arts; earned juris doctor degree from Vanderbilt School of Law in 1965.
CAREER — Entered Navy 1960-62, commander in Judge Advocate Generals Corps, U.S. Naval Reserve. Practiced law in Nashville from 1965-70. Appointed Davidson County Chancery Court chancellor in 1970, elected in 1972, appointed to Court of Appeals in 1974, elected associated justice of Tennessee Supreme Court August 1980, re-elected 1982, 1990 and 1998; chief justice January 1989-September 1990 and September 2001-September 2005.
SALARY — All justices make about $126,000 through June 30 and more than $129,000 afterward. There is no additional stipend for being chief justice.
PERSONAL — Married to Claire Hooper for 42 years, two children and five grandchildren. Elder of the church where his father was founding minister.
HOBBIES — Snow skiing, fishing, traveling, swimming and watching the Tennessee Titans.
QUOTE — “The truth of the matter is I have served with 13 different justices in the past 21 years, and the four I presently serve with are just very special people. It’s the most collegial, cooperative court I’ve ever served on. If you had a court with cliques on it, I don’t think it would be a fun thing to do.”
Major opinions authored by Drowota
By The Associated Press
Some of the major opinions Chief Justice Frank Drowota has authored as part of the state Supreme Court:
— Drowota authored McIntyre v. Balentine (1992) in which the Court reshaped tort law by adopting the standard of comparative fault for lawsuit litigation. Drowota called it his most significant opinion and has authored dozens of opinions on the subject to further define the law.
Under the rule, the plaintiff can adopt a share of the damages, as long as the plaintiff’s negligence is less than the defendant’s. For example, if the court finds the plaintiff at fault for 20 percent of the incident, the plaintiff can recoup up to four-fifths of the total share of damages if the defendant was found totally at fault.
Before the rule, seriously injured workers could be denied any recovery, even when the victim’s negligence was minor compared to the defendant’s.
— Drowota has participated in nearly every death penalty appeal since capital punishment was reinstated in 1977. He has authored opinions on victim impact evidence (State v. Nesbit, 1998), comparative proportionality review (State v. Bland, 1997), pre-execution claims of incompetency (Thompson v. State, 2004, Coe v. State, 2000, Van Tran v. State, 1999), introduction of mental health evidence at sentencing (State v. Reid, 1998), the constitutionality of aggravating circumstances (State v. Godsey, 2001, State v. Bush, 1997, State v. Van Tran, 1993, State v. Bobo, 1987) and the constitutionality of the death penalty itself (State v. Black, 1991).
— Barranco v. Jackson (1985). Drowota dissented in a case in which the Supreme Court refused to abolish parental immunity as an absolute bar to a child’s recovery for negligence. In Broadwell v. Holmes (1994), Drowota’s opinion in Barranco v. Jackson became the rationale of a majority of the Court, which made his dissenting opinion the law.