of consecutive four-year terms. That provision was called by some wags the "Fate Thomas Amendment", as it seemed to have been passed largely at the behest at the then hugely popular sheriff and political boss of Davidson County, who was otherwise about to be term-limited out of office but achieved re-election under the provisions of the amendment. Eventually Thomas served federal time for corruption-related offenses. Some in the mass media derided the convention as having gone out of control, but the primary public reaction was one of apathy. The primary controversy within the convention once it began its actual work, as opposed to its early difficulties, was over a judicial amendment that would have made the state attorney general an office elected by statewide popular vote rather than retaining selection by the Supreme Court, and it would have also eliminated the requirement for the Supreme Court to meet in Knoxville and Jackson, where a new and elaborate building for it had just been completed. Another important provision of the proposed amendment was to repeal the 1870 Constitution’s requirement that all judges "shall be elected" in favor of a provision stating that "Justices of the Supreme Court and judges of the Court of Appeals shall be appointed by the Governor from three nominees recommended... by the Appellate Court Nominating Commission.... The name of each justice and judge seeking retention shall be submitted to the qualified voters for retention or rejection... at the expiration of each six year term." The voters, in a special election held March 7, 1978, solely to ratify the amendments proposed by the convention, voted to remove the archaic provisions and the usury cap and to accept the changes regarding the governor's terms and metropolitan government, but they narrowly turned down the judicial amendment, marking the first time that an amendment put to the voters by a convention had been defeated. Of the 13 proposed amendments, only that one was rejected by the voters. No further conventions have been held since 1977, but they have been frequently proposed, in part because of the recent spate of state fiscal crises. Some have proposed conventions to determine conclusively whether or not the Tennessee Constitution allows a general, broad-based income tax on wages. It has been suggested by several observers that one reason against the General Assembly requesting future conventions is that they do not desire to create potential new rivals