Lipscomb student appointed justice in first Tennessee Intercollegiate Supreme Court
Chris Pepple |
Lipscomb senior Austin Watkins has been appointed as one of five justices on the first Tennessee Intercollegiate Supreme Court (TISC). He was appointed by Gov. Ken Taylor, a University of Memphis student serving as part of the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature (TISL), now in its 42nd year. TISC will convene on November 13 in the Supreme Court chambers at the State Capitol.
The process for selecting justices for TISC mirrors the process that Tennessee uses to select Supreme Court Justices. The speakers of each house of the General Assembly of TISL appoint members to a nominating commission. In TISL's case, each speaker appoints three delegates from the previous TISL General Assembly. In addition, the Tennessee Political Science Association and the Tennessee Bar Association each appoint one member. The nominating commission establishes the application process and its own selection criteria. Students aspiring for the justice position were required to submit two essays along with their application. The nominating commission recommended seven qualified nominees to the Governor, who then conducted phone interviews with each of the seven nominees.
“Dr. Tays and Dr. Schwerdt asked me to apply so I could be a part of this program in its first year. All of the professors in the department of history, politics and philosophy look for ways for us to stay involved with projects outside of our work at Lipscomb. They are awesome teachers who are really involved in this project and others like it themselves. They have gotten me excited about the field of political science. I was thrilled when I heard that I had I made it past the first cut for TISC, and then selected as one of the justices. This is a great opportunity to work with other college students across the state. I will have the opportunity to meet state justices and experience the protocol of a supreme court,” said Watkins, a political science major from St. Francisville, La.
Justice William Koch of the Tennessee Supreme Court and Judge Frank Clement, Jr., of the Tennessee Court of Appeals will advise the TISC justices on ethics, decorum and procedure. In addition to addressing issues that arise from the TISL Constitution and the Legal Code of TISL, the TISC justices will preside over the Appellate Moot Court Collegiate Championship (AMC3), a competitive moot court program for non-law students at Tennessee colleges and universities. During the three-day program, four-member legal teams will argue both sides of a hypothetical legal problem in an appellate court format.
“This is a wonderful program that opens the doors of the State Capitol to students. The Capitol becomes their classroom. This is a unique opportunity for students across the state to work together on executive, legislative and now judicial issues that mirror our state government. The legislative program has been very successful through the years, and now we are getting a wonderful response to the judicial program we are initiating this year,” said Jeff Wilson, executive director for TISL and a program alumnus.
“To be considered for the program, Austin had to submit an analysis of the Tennessee-Georgia state line controversy as part of the application process. He did a great job, and this is a nice honor for him. Austin is a very dedicated student who works as a student recruiter for Lipscomb and plans to serve as a freshman mentor this year. He’s an asset to our department and to the university,” said Marc Schwerdt, chair of the department of history, politics and philosophy and assistant professor of political science.