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HS: There is a case pending now—West
v. Schofield. The Department of Cor- rections is prepared to carry out the sentence once the case is resolved. There are 10 pending death sentences that must wait until the outcome of litigation.
BF: There has been a push by some mem- bers of the legislature to move the attor- ney general’s position from appointed
to contested elections. How do you feel about that?
HS: It’s not going to surprise you that I think the current system is really good. In my prior position, the governor always opposed bills that would change that system. Now, I’ve become more con- vinced that the current system is best.
In most states—43—when an attorney general is elected, some folks say that “AG” stands for “aspiring governor.” In Tennessee, I believe the attorney general can just work for the citizens of Tennes- see. I’m the 27th attorney general, and
if you look at the system, we’ve had 26 great attorney generals—obviously the jury is still out on the 27th—but if you look at history, the state AGs have all been very good lawyers. There has never been a hint of scandal. If the system is not broken, why fix it?
BF: You are the 27th attorney general, but you’re also the first Republican attorney general since Reconstruction. What does that mean for the people of Tennessee?
HS: Obviously I’ll bring a different perspective to issues and probably a little different perspective to organization in the office, but as far as zealously advocat- ing for the position of the state, it’s going to be the same.
BF: How does the attorney general decide what the position of the state will be on hot-button issues, such as gay marriage or expansion of Insure Tennessee or “Obamacare”—issues that matter to the citizens of the state?
HS: It depends on our role. If someone requests an official opinion, then we’re going to render our legal opinion: We’re going to look at the law and determine
what we think the law says and issue the opinion. There are certain issues where the attorney general has discretion on whether to join lawsuits. And there are other lawsuits where the state is being sued, such as in the gay marriage lawsuit. One issue is really important to the state: Providing for the citizens of the state to determine their own rights. When the federal government decides to step out and increase their boundaries and influ- ence of power, that raises the issue of whether or not the federal government is encroaching on states’ rights—and we are going to be very vigilant in order to protect states’ rights. We think that’s the issue in the gay marriage case—it’s not what your opinion is on the fundamental issue. To us, it’s a question of how has the law has changed. We think that it is
a states’ rights issue. We have a consti- tutional amendment that was passed
by 81 percent of the people and in all 95 counties only nine years ago. Our posi- tion—argued in the Supreme Court—is that how you change a law is a states’ rights issue. We’re in the same situation on an immigration case. We joined the state of Texas and about 25 other states, questioning the executive directives issued by President Obama. It’s a ques- tion of separation of powers. Those types of issues are important to us—and I think they’re important to the citizens of the state of Tennessee.
BF: I know in the gay marriage Supreme Court case, Tennessee played a key role. Did someone from your office argue before the court?
HS: Yes, the associate solicitor general, Joe Whalen, argued the case. He was also the one who argued it successfully before the sixth circuit. Joe did a really good job.
BF: From your perspective, what are the most important issues facing Tennesse- ans today?
HS: I think the most important issue fac- ing Tennessee is: “Can we do what Ten- nesseans have done over and over again?” That is, can we practically make policy, enact laws, and implement the laws in a manner that has a tone of civility? One
of my favorite stories is from a forum on civility from UT’s Howard Baker Center for Public Policy that Governor Haslam, Governor Bredesen, and Governor Sundquist participated in. Senator Baker and his wife, Nancy Kassenbaum, were in the audience. Senator Baker had a saying: “Better always listen to the other guy because he may be right.” And then Governor Haslam said, “What you would probably like to know is that about three weeks after I was in office, I got a call from Senator Baker, and he said, ‘Bill, the other guy may be wrong, too.’ ” Tennes- see normally gets it right. I think the federal government is polarized. I hope that doesn’t happen in Tennessee.
BF: What are the most challenging issues you’re facing right now as attor- ney general?
HS: I’ve just been at the job for seven- and-a-half months. I think our office is functioning well. As in private practice, we want to be able to keep our people and recruit really good folks to be attorneys for the state. For instance, if we’re arguing something in the Supreme Court, we want a really top-notch lawyer doing that, and our office is just like a law firm: We really want to get the very best people there we can. There
are a lot of things that flow into that: Compensation is one, the type of law attorneys are interested in is another. As [business consultant and author] Jim Collins has said: Have the right people on the bus and in the right seats.
BF: What did you as the attorney general think of the move to make the Bible the official state book?
HS: We issued an opinion and I stand behind that opinion. [Editor’s Note:
The attorney general’s office wrote: “Yes, designating The Holy Bible as the official state book of Tennessee would violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amend- ment to the federal Constitution and Article I, § 3, of the Tennessee Constitu- tion, which provides “that no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship.”] It was somewhat surprising how much atten-