Penny J. White
[3] After graduating high school, she attended East Tennessee State University located in Johnson City, TN for her undergraduate education.
White was an attorney after graduating from the University of Tennessee College of Law at Richard Pectol & Associates, a private practice in Johnson City, TN, from 1981 to 1983.
[7][3] During this time, White argued Houston v. Lack in front of the United States Supreme Court which solidified her reputation in the legal community.
[3] While in the private practice of law, White briefed and argued before the United States Supreme Court in Houston v. Lack in April 1988.
[9] Tennessee's First Judicial Circuit Court selects judges through partisan or non-partisan elections depending on the county's statutes.
[17] McClellan was found guilty of sexual harassment during his teaching in the Department of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation at Middle Tennessee State University.
[17] McClung v. Delta Square Ltd. Partnership changed the precedent for liability cases for acts violence committed by third parties against victims.
[18] McClung's husband, the plaintiff, sought relief from the defendants, owners, operators, and tenants for negligence of not providing parking lot security.
[20] In Ramsey v. Beavers, the Court reviewed the issue of the viability of the zone danger test which limited the liability of a defendant when a plaintiff has not been physically injured yet but injury is possible.
[21] Ray v. Hoilman was a case about the defendant's counsel not receiving all of the information from the discovery and requesting to continue with the trial and all associated deadlines.
§ 1983 under the Uniform Administration Procedures Act if the sole relief requested in the Section 1983 claim is an award of attorney fees.
[15] Controversy arose when a different interpretation concluded that only judges who have been evaluated by the commission could go on the retention ballot meaning White would not qualify.
[15] The attorneys Hooker and Laska sued the State Coordinator of Elections, and their case was permitted to be heard by a Special Supreme Court since the current sitting Justices recused themselves to avoid conflict of interest.
[28] White was targeted for defeat by victims' rights advocates, the Tennessee Conservative Union, and death penalty proponents who opposed the decision.
[35] His son, Mike McWherter, has recounted that his father did not like the concept of capital punishment, but that he was committed to upholding the law and the state constitution.
[15][36] White was restrained from campaigning on her own behalf by the judicial code of ethics, but her opponents "flooded the state" with materials urging her defeat.
[37] The attack on Justice White began on June 13, 1996, when the Nashville Banner wrote an article about State v. Odom claiming that the Tennessee Supreme Court did not consider the crime heinous enough for the death penalty.
"[15][32] The Tennessee Republican Party in their brochures for the retention election misrepresented the judicial decisions in State v. Odomby printing that "Penny White felt the crime wasn't heinous enough for the death penalty-- so she struck it down.
[37][30] The mailed brochures did not report that the Supreme Court ruled that Odom's case required a new sentencing hearing due to a legal error.
[39][29] Justice Birch authored the majority opinion of the court citing that the evidentiary ruling was in error and the evidence presented was not sufficient to prove the crime as heinous, atrocious, and cruel.
[30] White's opponents led voters to believe she was responsible for the lack of any executions for the last 36 years in Tennessee, even though her time on the Supreme Court bench consisted of 19 months.
campaign from the conservatives is perceived as an attack on judicial independence comparable to the retention election of California Supreme Court Justice Rose Bird.
In a speech before the American Bar Association two days after White's defeat, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens stated that he considered the popular election of judges to be "profoundly unwise."
He stated: "A campaign promise to be 'tough on crime' or 'enforce the death penalty' is evidence of bias that should disqualify the candidate from sitting in criminal cases.
"[25] In discussing politicized Justice Stevens stated that the judiciary did not adequately anticipate that judges, who are responsible for protecting individual rights, must consider which judicial opinion will yield the most votes in an election.
[32] When Adolpho A. Birch, who was chief justice of the court at the time of the State v. Odom decision, came up for a judicial retention vote in 1998, death penalty supporters campaigned for his removal.
[2] Dean Wirtz suggested that former Justice White write and publish scholarly articles in addition to teaching at a highly ranked law school.
[6] From 1997 until 2018, Former Justice White served as faculty at Harvard Law School for the Winter Trial Advocacy Workshop during the month of January.
[7] After completing her one year at Washington & Lee, White moved to West Virginia University and created more professional relationships within academic circles.
[30] Stevens argued that political stances from judges establish evidence of judicial bias in promising to rule a certain way before a case.
