Kentucky Supreme Court

The Kentucky Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Prior to its creation by constitutional amendment in 1975, the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky. The Kentucky Court of Appeals is now Kentucky's intermediate appellate court.

Kentucky Supreme Court
The chamber of the Kentucky Supreme Court
Established1976
LocationFrankfort, Kentucky
Composition methodNon-partisan election
Authorized byKentucky Constitution
Number of positions7
WebsiteOfficial Website
Chief Justice
CurrentlyLaurance B. VanMeter
SinceJanuary 2, 2023

Criminal appeals involving a sentence of death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment of twenty years or more are heard directly by the Kentucky Supreme Court, bypassing the Kentucky Court of Appeals. All other cases are heard on a discretionary basis on appeal from the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

The Kentucky Supreme Court promulgates the Rules of Court and Rules of Evidence. Through two of its subagencies, the Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions (KYOBA) and Kentucky Bar Association (KBA), it is the final arbiter for bar admissions (KYOBA) and discipline (KBA).

In the event that two or more justices of the Kentucky Supreme Court recuse themselves from a case, the Governor of Kentucky appoints Special Justices to sit for that particular case.

The court meets in a courtroom located on the second floor of the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort. The second floor of the capitol building is also home to offices for the justices and Supreme Court personnel.

The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), under the aegis of the Kentucky Supreme Court, serves as the administrative support agency for Kentucky courts and Circuit Court Clerks. The role of the AOC is similar to that of the Legislative Research Commission (LRC) for the Kentucky General Assembly.

Notable cases

In its short history, the Kentucky Supreme Court has not produced much jurisprudence of note. A study published in 2007 by the Supreme Court of California found that of all state supreme courts in the United States, the decisions of the Kentucky Supreme Court were the least followed by other states' appellate courts.[1]

Notable decisions of the Kentucky Supreme Court include Kentucky v. Wasson, 842 S.W.2d 487 (Ky. 1992), in which the court invalidated the criminalization of same-sex sodomy as a state equal protection violation. This Kentucky decision, based on the Kentucky Constitution, was made at a time when the applicable federal equal protection precedent was Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986), which held that federal constitutional protection of the right of privacy was not implicated in laws penalizing homosexual sodomy. In 2003, the United States Supreme Court reversed itself and overturned Bowers, issuing a decision in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) that mirrored Kentucky's Wasson ruling.

In Cameron v EMW Women's Surgical Center et al. (2023), the Court upheld Kentucky's total abortion ban by holding that abortion providers lack standing to challenge the statutes on behalf of their patients. The Court did not rule on the constitutionality of the ban.[2]

Current justices
Current districts of the Supreme Court.
Main article: List of justices of the Kentucky Supreme Court

Justices are elected in nonpartisan elections to eight-year terms. In case of a vacancy the governor makes an appointment from a list of three names provided by the Kentucky Judicial Nominating Commission.

District Justice Born Joined Term ends Appointed by Law school
1st Christopher Shea Nickell 1958 or 1959 (age 63–64) December 11, 2019 2030 —[lower-alpha 1] Kentucky
2nd Kelly Thompson 1947 or 1948 (age 74–75) January 2, 2023 2030 —[lower-alpha 1] Kentucky
3rd Debra H. Lambert, Deputy Chief Justice 1961 or 1962 (age 60–61) January 7, 2019 2026 —[lower-alpha 1] Kentucky
4th Angela McCormick Bisig 1964 or 1965 (age 57–58) January 2, 2023 2030 —[lower-alpha 1] Louisville
5th Laurance B. VanMeter, Chief Justice (1958-08-28) August 28, 1958 February 7, 2017 2024 —[lower-alpha 1] Kentucky
6th Michelle M. Keller 1960 (age 62–63) April 3, 2013 2030 Steve Beshear (D) Northern Kentucky
7th Robert B. Conley (1958-07-19) July 19, 1958 January 4, 2021 2028 —[lower-alpha 1] Northern Kentucky
  1. Took office after being elected in a nonpartisan election.

See also

References
  1. Jake Dear and Edward W. Jessen, " Followed Rates" and Leading State Cases, 1940-2005, 41 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 683, 694(2007).
  2. "Cameron v. EMW Women's Surgical Center, P.S.C."
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