Law letting Tennessee attorney general argue certain capital cases is constitutional, court rules

Associated Press

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee appeals court has ruled that a state law giving the appointed state attorney general authority to argue certain death penalty cases and removing that power from the hands of locally elected district attorneys is constitutional. Tennessee’s Court of Criminal Appeals issued a decision Friday striking down a Shelby County judge’s ruling that the law passed by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature was unconstitutional. The law allows the attorney general to step in and take over certain post-conviction capital cases. Judge Paula Skahan had ruled that the law did not follow Tennessee’s constitution because it removes the power of the locally elected district attorney to argue them. The state attorney general is an appointed position, not elected.