by Robert Luther III
Every day, federal judges make decisions that impact the businesses we build, the constitutional freedoms we exercise, and the safety of our communities. As U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty stands for his first reelection to the U.S. Senate, it’s worth reflecting on his contributions to the federal courts across Tennessee. During President Trump’s second term, Sen. Hagerty has recommended three generational legal talents to the federal bench, covering all corners of the state from Memphis to Nashville to Chattanooga. The quality of these appointments reflects the kind of judgment that we need to return to Washington on Election Day next Tuesday.
When President Trump returned to office last year, his first federal judicial nominee was Nashville’s Whitney Hermandorfer, who was nominated to a seat on the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit—which covers all federal appeals over Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan. After graduating from Princeton University and first in her class at George Washington University Law School, she clerked for four federal judges, including three Supreme Court Justices: Alito, Barrett, and then-Judge Kavanaugh. Prior to her confirmation, Judge Hermandorfer served in the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office where she litigated the most pressing legal issues impacting Tennesseans’ rights in the U.S. Supreme Court and in other courts across the country.
Sen. Hagerty described Judge Hermandorfer as “principled, genuine, kind, and a brilliant legal mind that will make all Tennesseans proud.” On the bench, Judge Hermandorfer is already fulfilling that prediction by making a difference for property owners. In August, she overturned a ruling for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County that had blocked a downtown property from development for years and imposed $200,000 per month in carrying costs on the landowner. Judge Hermandorfer’s unanimous opinion held that that the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause authorized the property owner’s suit to proceed against the government. At this rate, there is a good chance we see Judge Hermandorfer on a future list of potential Supreme Court Justices.
The impact of Sen. Hagerty’s judicial recommendations are not just felt on the appeals court here in Nashville but also on the trial court benches in the western and eastern parts of our state. Earlier this week, Sen. Hagerty was in Memphis to celebrate the investiture of Judge Brian Lea to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee in Memphis, whom he also recommended to President Trump.
Supporting Lea’s nomination from the Senate Floor, Sen. Hagerty said that Lea: “has the patience, courtesy, humility, and thoughtfulness of a good trial judge” because he “recognizes that the Constitution should be interpreted according to its original meaning, and it must be followed—regardless of the ebbs and flows of public opinion, or the personal preferences of the one who dons the robe.” Lea learned these values growing up in Memphis as the son of former Major League Baseball All-Star pitcher and Tennessee Sports Hall of Famer Charlie Lea. Like Hermandorfer, Lea served as a law clerk on the U.S. Supreme Court—to Justice Clarence Thomas. Lea also served as a high-ranking official in President Trump’s Justice Department, where he worked to advance the President’s America First agenda.
In a recent interview, Sen. Hagerty stated that his work to make Memphis safer has been one of the highlights of his Senate tenure. Judge Lea’s appointment is a critical part of that effort. Moving forward, appointments in the mold of Lea are essential for the continued preservation of public safety—in Memphis and across the state.
Even as the first two years of President Trump’s second term draw to a close, Sen. Hagerty has not stopped working to keep Tennessee’s federal judiciary fully staffed. On November 10, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will take up the nomination of Samuel Adkisson of Chattanooga for a judicial seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Adkisson graduated from Vanderbilt University and Yale Law School and then served as a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the D.C. Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court to Chief Justice John Roberts. After practicing law at a conservative boutique firm, he was appointed to the White House Counsel’s Office, where he currently serves as Associate Counsel to President Trump and advises him on constitutional law.
Together, Hermandorfer, Lea, and Adkisson reflect Sen. Hagerty’s vision for judicial excellence across all three grand divisions of Tennessee. When the time comes to cast your ballot on Tuesday, consider the judicial legacy of the man who is poised to serve as our next senior Senator and who will continue taking the lead on judicial selections in Tennessee for the foreseeable future. By re-electing Sen. Hagerty, Tennesseans can ensure that our federal courts will remain filled with similarly principled jurists.
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Robert Luther III is a law professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. He resides in Brentwood.
Image “Sen. Bill Hagerty” by Sen. Bill Hagerty.
