Tennesseans Governed Under System That Operates In Open Defiance Of State Constitution (Op-Ed By John Gentry)

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Submitted by By John Gentry [Constitutional Republican, Candidate for Tennessee State Senate District 18] –

Article VI, Section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution draws a hard constitutional line: judges may not hold any other office—period. That prohibition exists for one reason above all others—to prevent the dangerous concentration of power, to eliminate conflicts of interest, and to preserve the separation of powers that keeps a free government alive. It was adopted specifically to guard against the kind of entrenched, aristocratic corruption that plagued British rule and that the founders were determined never to tolerate on American soil.

Yet in 1953, the General Assembly created the Tennessee Code Commission. In the 1970s, it created the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct (TBJC). Both bodies were staffed with judges—judges holding second offices—in direct, unmistakable violation of the Tennessee Constitution.

For sixty-eight years, Tennessee’s constitutional structure has been quietly but unlawfully dismantled. For sixty-eight years, no branch of government stepped forward with the courage, the knowledge, or the integrity required to defend the Constitution they swore an oath to uphold.

For nearly seven decades, the people of Tennessee have been governed under a system that operates in open defiance of its own Constitution—either because the Tennessee Supreme Court and the Attorney General knowingly permitted it, or because they were so grossly incompetent that they failed to recognize a plain constitutional prohibition staring them in the face.

And the consequences have been catastrophic.

Judges serving on the Code Commission have usurped legislative power, rewriting and shaping the law while simultaneously sitting in judgment over it. Judges now help make the law and decide the law, collapsing the separation of powers into a single, unchecked authority.

This is not a technical oversight.
This is not harmless bureaucracy.
This is the very abuse of power the founders warned against—and expressly forbade.

When judges become lawmakers, constitutional government ceases to exist.

The Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct has never—not once—recommended a single judge for impeachment, despite years of widespread allegations of corruption, abuse of power, and constitutional violations within the judicial branch. Instead of serving as a watchdog, the Board has functioned as a shield—protecting judges from accountability and insulating misconduct from public consequence.

Across the state, judges accused of grave misconduct remain untouched. There are documented allegations of judges wrongfully incarcerating children, judges accused of sexual crimes against minors, and judges who have openly denied litigants basic due process—yet the Board remains silent. No referrals. No consequences. No accountability.

This is not oversight.

This is institutional protection.

The very body charged with policing judicial misconduct is staffed by judges policing themselves—a closed system where power answers only to power. The result is a judiciary effectively beyond the reach of impeachment, discipline, or meaningful review.

These are judges who wield extraordinary authority: the power to take your children, seize your property, strip you of liberty, and upend lives with the stroke of a pen—all while operating without objective, independent oversight.

When those entrusted with enforcing ethical standards instead conceal misconduct, the rule of law collapses. What remains is not justice, but unchecked power—exactly what constitutional government was designed to prevent.

As  a freedom-loving people, this is the moment to stand together. The unlawful alteration of our form of government will not correct itself. It will only be fixed if citizens demand constitutional compliance—now.

I am asking for your help.

In my ongoing effort to restore obedience to the Tennessee Constitution’s clear prohibition against judges holding second offices, I have prepared a formal Request for Written Legal Opinion to the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General. Under Tennessee law, when a Member of the House or Senate requests a written opinion, the Attorney General has a mandatory duty to respond.

This request must be signed by members of the General Assembly.

A copy of the request is linked in the comments to this post. I have already sent it to four members of the Tennessee House of Representatives and three members of the Tennessee Senate. One Senator and one Representative have already agreed to sign. Today, the request will be sent to **every member of the General Assembly—33 Senators and 99 Representatives—**with a single purpose: to force constitutional accountability.

This is where you come in.

Please call AND email your Senator and your Representative and urge them to sign this request for a written legal opinion from the Attorney General. A strong, unified request from multiple legislators will compel a clear, unavoidable answer.

Within the request, I document prior Attorney General opinions and Tennessee Supreme Court decisions on judges holding second offices and demonstrate how those interpretations conflict with the intent of the founders. I am asking the Attorney General to confront and reconcile these inconsistencies directly. Properly answered, this request leaves little room for continued mischaracterization of judicial service on the Code Commission and the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct.

The 2026 legislative session begins next week. The timing could not be more critical. This is an opportunity—perhaps the last in a generation—to correct long-standing constitutional violations and restore the separation of powers guaranteed to the people of Tennessee.

I urgently implore you: help secure as many legislative signatures as possible. Every call matters. Every email matters. Every signature strengthens the demand and lays the groundwork for returning our state government to constitutional compliance.

If you don’t know how to contact your Senator or Representative, ask me in comment.

I further encourage you to click the link in comment and read the request for written legal opinion.  In reading that document, you will understand what is an office of trust or profit prohibited to judges in Art VI, Section 7, and you will see how prior opinions of the AG and Tenn. Sup. Ct. dance around the prohibition.     

This is how citizens reclaim constitutional government—together.