COVER STORY Faces of justice By Julie Swearingen Justices Adolpho A. Birch Jr., left, and E. Riley Anderson PHOTO BY DANA THOMAS 14 TENNESSEE BAR JOURNAL, AUGUST 2006 ■ Growing up in poor, single-parent families during the Great Depression, neither E. Riley Anderson nor Adolpho A. Birch Jr. were likely candidates to one day serve together on Tennessee’s highest court. ■ From their homes in East Tennessee and Washington D.C., the two were called upon early to help support their families and put themselves through school. They sacked groceries, delivered newspapers and messages for Western Union, operated a switchboard and sold food at ball parks to bring in money. ■ But from these humble beginnings grew a drive, determination and a work ethic that propelled both men into respected legal careers. ■ As they approach the end of their careers on the Tennessee Supreme Court — each will retire Aug. 31 — it is appropriate to look back at their lives and review the impact they’ve had on Tennessee, its system of justice and its legal community. Justice Anderson t’s 1951 and a young engineering sions and serving a rare four terms as “I just feel extremely fortunate, student walks along Kingston Pike in chief justice. lucky, that I was in the right place at IKnoxville, trying to cover the four- And it all might never have the right time,” he insists. or five-mile distance from his home to happened except for the seed of inspi- However, colleagues, friends and the University of Tennessee campus in ration planted by the Knoxville lawyer his opponents on the tennis court will time to make his first class of the day. who drove Anderson to class that day, tell you that he is an intense He has his thumb out, hitchhiking. speaking enthusiastically about his job competitor who is not afraid of hard A car pulls over and the driver, a all the way. work, qualities that seem to be, at least local lawyer whose name has long been Anderson toured the lawyer’s office partially, a result of his upbringing. forgotten, offers him a ride. later that afternoon and found it all When Anderson was two years old, Little does young Riley Anderson very interesting. Armed with his his father, a college student with a know, as he settles himself into the newfound admiration of the law, he part-time engineering job, died in an passenger seat of the lawyer’s car and changed course, got his undergraduate automobile accident, leaving his shuts the door, that he is about to degree in finance and went on to grad- mother, Mary Catherine Tillery embark upon a journey that ultimately uate with honors from the UT College Anderson, to raise their two young will carry him all the way to the of Law in 1957. boys on her own. Both of Justice hallowed corridors of the Tennessee Today, Justice Anderson, 73, is a Anderson’s parents were orphans, so Supreme Court. soft-spoken man with a ready smile there was no family to lend support. In On Aug. 31, Tennessee Supreme and a friendly chuckle. Reminiscing many respects, Mrs. Anderson’s story is Court Justice E. Riley Anderson will about his career in the cozy sitting just as inspiring as her son’s. retire after writing or participating in area of his office, he says he’s simply Mrs. Anderson went to work as a more than 3,000 appellate court deci- been lucky. (Continued on page 16) TENNESSEE BAR JOURNAL, AUGUST 2006 15 Faces of justice (Continued from page 15) ward attendant at Eastern State Hospital, by delivering newspapers and working in decided I wasn’t a good fit for the job. I a mental hospital in Knoxville. a nearby grocery store. There’s only one had the job about six months.” “It was a depression era job,” Anderson job he remembers that “wasn’t a Later, as an undergraduate, he worked says, “a job where you got housing and you successful venture. the 3-11 shift at the local Fulton plant, a were paid a little money, not much. You “Around the age of 12, I worked as a bellows assembly business that also got meals. It was sort of a cradle-to-the- switchboard operator at Eastern State produced naval shells for the military. grave job except there wasn’t any Hospital on weekends,” he says. “I worked It was his job to inspect the four-foot provision for children. She had a single the night shift, and I couldn’t stay awake. cylindrical shells. room at the hospital, so we stayed with a It was a security system for the wards and After law school, Anderson joined the friend of hers who kept children.” they would call on the hour just to check Oak Ridge law firm of Frank Wilson & For about four years, the boys saw their in and let you know they were OK. Well, Gene Joyce. He was managing partner his mother mostly on weekends though they I went to sleep two or three times and final 10 years at the firm, now known as lived very close to the hospital. didn’t answer the calls,” he laughs. “They Joyce, Meredith, Flitcroft & Normand. “Later, she began taking in foster chil- dren and was able to establish a home where we could all stay together,” he says. One of Anderson’s many accomplish- Anderson contributed in all areas of law ments as chief justice was the creation of ustice E. Riley Anderson has helped implement numerous projects to a commission to help improve the state’s J enhance the public’s understanding of and access to the court system: initi- foster care system. ating the nationally acclaimed S.C.A.L.E.S. (Supreme Court Advancing Legal Eventually, Mrs. Anderson started a Education for Students) program; supporting new court rules creating a presump- nursing home business with some part- tion in favor of cameras in the courtroom; increasing the use of technology and ners, and that grew into a chain of automation; paving the way for mediation and alternative dispute resolutions; nursing homes. improving the administration of justice by appointing commissions for gender “She was active in association work, and racial fairness; creating a “law school” for journalists; and supporting the became president of the American Nursing Judicial Evaluation and Performance Program as a means for judges to improve Home Association, lobbied the legislature their performance at every level. and attended the very first White House Justice Anderson’s impact in the area of civil law includes McIntyre v. Balen- Conference on Aging,” he says. tine, 833 S.W.2d 52 (Tenn. 1992), the landmark decision adopting a system of “My mother was a very strong person. comparative fault in Tennessee. He has authored leading decisions concerning Not only did she work long hours but she the insurance contracts, conflicts of law, taxation, antenuptial agreements and was involved in a lot of civic activities. residential lease agreements. In 1993, Justice Anderson authored a unanimous She led by example.” opinion holding that in certain circumstances physicians have a legal duty to As a youngster, Anderson pitched in warn non-patients (Bradshaw v. Daniel). In Tennessee Small School Systems v. McWherter, Justice Anderson authored the third in a trilogy of cases challenging the inequality of the state’s school funding scheme. Justice Anderson’s decisions also have consistently protected the right of privacy for all citizens, including the right to procreational autonomy (Planned Parenthood v. Sundquist and Davis v. Davis). He has authored opinions involving criminal proce- dure, death penalty cases, search and seizure, confessions, evidentiary rules, and hundreds of other issues. He recently authored the court’s opinion joining a clear majority of other jurisdictions upholding the lethal injection protocol as a means of execution in Tennessee (Abdur’Rahman v. Bredesen). He has also written for a majority of the court in 1990: Justice Anderson is the last member of the “Court of the ’90s,” who holding that execution of mentally retarded defendants is cruel and unusual was sworn in by Gov. Ned McWherter in punishment under article I, section 16 of the Tennessee Constitution (Van Tran the old Supreme Court chambers in the v. State). state capitol. From left: Martha Craig — Compiled by Supreme Court Staff Attorneys (and former law clerks of Justice “Cissy” Daughtrey, Frank F. Drowota III, Anderson) RODD BARCKHOFF and LISA RIPPY. To read their complete analysis, go Lyel Reid, Charles H. O’Brien, E. Riley to http://www.tba.org/Journal_Current/200608/andersoncontrib.html. Anderson and McWherter. 16 TENNESSEE BAR JOURNAL, AUGUST 2006 could, the education of the public.” Improving public education about the court system is also the reason the court began the S.C.A.L.E.S project, which allows high school students throughout Tennessee to experience an actual hearing before the Supreme Court. Changes in the court system while Anderson was chief justice also included an overhaul of the Code of Judicial Conduct for judges; adoption of a sexual harassment policy for the judicial depart- ment of state government; and the adoption of court-annexed alternative dispute resolution to settle legal disagree- ments without litigation. The court also took steps while Anderson was chief justice to reduce unnecessary delays in capital cases. On the day of our interview, all five justices are gathered together at the Supreme Court Building. They are on Justice Anderson is surrounded by one daughter and his grandkids. In retirement, he what is called “death protocol” because says he plans to spend lots of time with them on the lake.