Nashville, Tennessee- Gov. Phil Bredesen requested minority candidates for the state Supreme Court, but the one nominated has been disciplined for promoting a Larry Flynt movie and has been recalled from the Berkeley, Calif., City Council for “wild, obscene outbursts.”

Tuesday, the Judicial Selection Commission, who nominates applicants for Bredesen to select from, picked D’Army Bailey, [pictured] a Shelby County Circuit Court judge, as their only black nominee.

Bredesen had previously rejected a slate of picks because the only black member of the Supreme Court was retiring and the slate of nominees consisted of two white attorneys.

The governor requested “qualified minority candidates” to be sent the next time so he could consider diversity in his selection.

The commission responded Tuesday in the nomination of Bailey, as well as resubmitting Houston Gordon, who was one of the white lawyers Bredesen previously rejected. Court of Appeals Judge William Koch of Nashville, who’s white, was also nominated.

In Bailey’s nomination, Bredesen can consider a judge who is a Yale Law School graduate and has been a licensed attorney in Tennessee since 1974 and a circuit court judge since 1990.

But Bailey was also disciplined by the state Court of the Judiciary for organizing the premiere of the film The People v. Larry Flynt, in which he also appeared. The proceeds from the premiere went to benefit Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Memphis.

Flynt is the founder of Hustler magazine, which prominently features pornography.

In a 1999 letter to Bailey explaining the punishment, the members of the Court of the Judiciary said Bailey violated various regulations, which included that he “should not lend the prestige of his office to advance the interests of others.”

Besides Flynt, Bailey has also appeared in a handful of other films, including How Stella Got Her Groove Back as well as a recent independent film entitled Street Life that was directed and produced by Tim Willis, who was the FBI’s informant in the Tennessee Waltz sting.

In Street Life, Bailey plays an FBI agent, but is seen in one clip dancing for a short time to a rap song with his shirt unbuttoned.

In addition, according to a 2006 Commercial Appeal story, Bailey was recalled from the Berkeley, Calif., City Council in 1973 for various alleged behavior. The vice-mayor at the time, who was also black, said Bailey attempted to “destroy” local black leadership and had “wild, obscene outbursts in City Council meetings,” according to the article.

Bailey said in the story that he was there to “make a change” for black people and would not have done anything differently.

When asked Wednesday if he was disappointed in being given only one minority candidate to choose from, Bredesen hesitated, and then would not answer the question.

He then added that Bailey was the only member of the slate of nominees that he does not have a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation background check on. Gordon and Koch have already had background checks because they’ve been previously nominated and passed over.

Bredesen also said Wednesday he was disappointed in the commission’s “game playing” regarding Gordon, even though he thinks the Covington trial lawyer and former Democratic Party chairman is a “good man” and would make a “fine Supreme Court justice.”

“I don’t like the games being played to try to force people down your throat,” Bredesen said of the commission’s nomination of Gordon.

Gordon has now been nominated three times in the last few months for the Supreme Court seat vacated by Adolpho A. Birch Jr. of Nashville. He was also nominated for a previous opening earlier this year, but he was not chosen.

Bredesen did not rule out a legal challenge against the commission for the nomination, adding he didn’t think the commission resubmitting Gordon was lawful.