KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Her portrait may be the first of a woman in the ornate downtown Knoxville courtroom. But retiring Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee knows it won't be the last.
It better not be.
"I promise, I will not be the last," the retiring Madisonville native told a room filled with judges, law officers and dignitaries Thursday afternoon.
Lee, appointed to the high court in 2008 by Gov. Phil Bredesen, leaves the court after this month. Knoxville lawyer Dwight Tarwater has been tapped by Gov. Bill Lee, no relation, to replace her.
Colleagues gathered to celebrate Lee's career, her new portrait and her service to the law and to justice.
The painting will hang in the courtroom where the Tennessee Supreme Court hears cases when in session in this grand division.
Again and again, speakers Thursday talked about Lee's dedication to ensuring equal justice under law for all and her determination to help women succeed in a field once reserved for men.
"It's about time we have a woman in here," Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Page told the crowd, smiling and noting the place Lee's portrait will now occupy in the room.
In joining the paintings of respected former male judges, Lee's portrait carries the message that any woman at any time can rise to the highest ranks of leadership, attorney Celeste H. Herbert said. But women cannot be complacent, Herbert said.
Lee's parents, Charles and Judy, taught her values that she carried with her throughout her time in public service, said attorney George T. "Buck" Lewis. For one thing, as her late mother would remind her, You're no better or worse than anyone else.
Toward the end of her time on the court, Lee, a Democrat, was at times the lone dissenting voice on a panel dominated by Republicans.
But in November she wrote an opinion that will have a lasting effect for juveniles convicted of murder. The court narrowly ruled that the state's existing mandatory sentence of life in prison when imposed on a juvenile homicide offender was cruel and unusual punishment and violated the juvenile’s rights as guaranteed by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Lee's retirement comes at the same time this month that women are observing the 103rd anniversary of the formal certification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ensuring women had the right to vote.
Lee, a former chief justice on the court, said that as she got ready to retire she was filled with gratitude and warm memories and also hopeful for the future.
"Serving in the Tennessee judiciary has been the honor of a lifetime," she said.
