That’s the buzz growing around the MEMernet and the Mid-South-er-net this morning. The news of the gas station/restaurant/store/jerky bar/clean-bathroom haven/not a truck stop/roadside phenomenon busted out Wednesday morning from the Facebook page of state Sen. Page Walley (R-Savannah).
“BUC-EE’S-WELCOME TO FAYETTE COUNTY!!!” Walley exclaimed in his post that had been shared 50 times in its first three hours of existence. “Another great economic and commercial achievement for our District! *beaver emoji* *handclap emoji*”
That post carried an image of a flyer detailing the Bucc-ee’s planned location at I-40 exit 28 in Galloway, Tennessee. It also had some interesting stats about the company and the typical Bucc-ee’s store.
Credit: Sen. Page Walley via Facebook
• first opened in 1982
• 46 stores
• 28 travel centers
• starting wage of around $17-$19 per hour
• 120 gas pumps
• 71 clean bathrooms
• typical number of full-time employees (175-200)
• typical annual payroll $9 million
• $60 million expenditure per location
• $50 million typical gross sales per location (not counting fuel)
GOP lawmakers still want to kill child rapists in Tennessee and while laws to do it have passed both chambers, death penalty opponents question motives behind the legislation.
If the governor signs the bill, adults over the age of 18 could face the death penalty if they rape a child under the age of 12. However, judges could also levy lesser punishments to those convicted.
The legislation was sponsored by two powerful lawmakers: House Majority Leader Rep. William Lamberth (R-Cottontown) and Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jack Johnson (R-Franklin).
The House version of the bill passed Tuesday. The Senate version passed earlier this month.
In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court said a similar idea from Louisiana was “not proportional punishment for the crime of child rape.” In a Tennesseean op-ed published Monday, Johnson said he sponsored the legislation “in an effort to challenge the 2008 Supreme Court ruling.” That part rang a sour note for Tennesseeans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (TADP) which said the statement shows “what this bill is really about.”
“Bottom line: This bill is about overturning Supreme Court precedent and not about protecting our children,” reads an email newsletter sent from the group Tuesday. “If protecting kids was the priority, then lawmakers would listen to the child service providers who continue to publicly share their concerns that this legislation will only chill the reporting of this crime since 90 percent of offenders are family or friends of the child. It will also trap children in decades of capital litigation that will only serve to re-traumatize them, particularly if they have to testify over and over again.”
Such legislation is on brand for the GOP’s tough-on-crime platform. Conservative lawmakers believe the threat of death is equal to the some crimes and their laws may make some re-consider their actions. But the bill could also open a big door for lawmakers down the road.
Current law says a “defendant guilty of first degree murder” must get a sentencing hearing in which they’ll get the death penalty, a life sentence, or a life sentence without the possibility of parole. This GOP bill removes “first degree murder” wherever it appears in current law and replaces it with “an offense punishable by death.” This would add child rape this year. But it seems to crack the door open for lawmakers to add other offenses in the future.
For now, though, Johnson and Lamberth are focused on child rapists, who Johnson called “monsters” in his op-ed.
“Child rape is the most disgraceful, indefensible act one can commit, leaving lasting emotional and psychological wounds on its victims,” he wrote. “As a legislator, and more importantly, as a human being, our responsibility to protect the most vulnerable comes first.”
However, the notion of upending the Supreme Court ruling was on Lamberth’s mind even as he presented the House version of the bill earlier this year. He vowed then to fight for its implementation in court. He noted that in 2008, the court’s ruling came because “not enough states had this type of penalty on the books.”
“We’re seen other decisions by the Supreme Court overturned,” Lamberth said. “I believe this particular makeup of the court, it leans more towards state’s rights.”
Death penalty executions remain on hold in Tennessee after a scathing report in December 2022 found numerous problems with the state’s execution protocols.
Two death penalty bills failed in the legislature last year. One would have added firing squads to the state’s options for executions. Another would have brought more transparency to the execution process.
One death penalty bill passed last year. It gave the Attorney General control over post-conviction proceedings in capital cases, rather than the local District Attorneys. That bill was ruled unconstitutional in July by Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan.
Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), left, and state Rep. John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge), right, sponsor the legislation Photo: State of Tennessee)
State lawmakers don’t want Shelby County leaders — or any local government in Tennessee — to study giving reparations “to individuals who are the descendants of persons who were enslaved.”
Shelby County Commissioners approved a $5 million study of reparations in February 2023. A new committee was established to study the impact of giving local money to local African Americans. The committee would focus on the potential impact on access to housing and homeownership, healthcare, the criminal justice system, career opportunities, financial literacy, and generational wealth.
Bills to stop this were filed by Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) and state Rep. John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge). Ragan told House members Tuesday that “unfortunately” Shelby County was already at work on this. He said the county does not have legal authority to do it, nor is the move on solid constitutional footing.
“Despite any good … intentions of such actions, [reparations] have not fostered and can never enhance community healing and unity,” Ragan said. “Rather the real impact divides us and generates more bitterness. Ill-founded accusations of collective guilt and group punishment for wrongs no one in the group could have ever committed creates resentment, always.”
Ragan explained slavery is among the most unconscionable human evils. “This is true where the enslavers were an African monarchy or a Mexican cartel,” he added.
His speech was cut short here as Black House members called out from their desks, seeking to correct Ragan. State Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis) called Ragan’s assertion that Africans were partially responsible for American slavery “mean-spirited” and “insulting.”
“There was no shipping across the Atlantic of slaves until the Europeans went to Africa — at the behest, sometimes, of their government entities and privateers — to exploit Africans on the continent of Africa, and cruelly — for 400 years — bring them back to America, only to be mistreated,” Parkinson said.
Kings in what is now the African country of Benin sold slaves to European merchants for more than 200 years, according to a 2018 story in The Washington Post. Those sold were usually members of rival tribes, the story says.
“The overwhelming majority of slaves sold to Europeans had not been slaves in Africa,” reads a blog post from Digital History on the University of Houston website. “They were free people who were captured in war or were victims of banditry or were enslaved as punishment for certain crimes.”
“While there had been a slave trade within Africa prior to the arrival of Europeans, the massive European demand for slaves and the introduction of firearms radically transformed West and Central African society.”
Debate on the reparations bill did not make it back to the House floor Tuesday as lawmakers moved on to other business to untangle rules on who could speak on the bill and when.
Before the bill stalled, though, Rep. Larry Miller (D-Memphis) offered a series of amendments to the bill to slow its momentum this year. Those were tabled or voted down.
However, introducing them allowed Miller to speak his mind about the legislation. He argued for the right of a local government to make its own decision in the matter of spending its own, local tax dollars. He, then, took aim at Ragan’s motives.
“What’s inside of you to make you want to further say, ‘Look, you can’t study our history. You can’t even talk about our history. You can’t even spend your local tax dollars to talk about it, to study it’?” Miller asked. “That is so antiquated.
“It’s a cruel intent, in my opinion, to say to people in this state, especially African-American people in this state, ‘We don’t want to talk about it anymore.’”
The Senate was set to take up its version of the bill Wednesday afternoon.
Memphis residents are invited Thursday to hear about the $787.5 million bridge proposed to replace the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge, also called the I-55 Bridge or “old bridge.”
The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) will host the session scheduled for Thursday from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. at the Central Station Hotel’s Amtrak Station. Another public meeting will come next week in West Memphis at the Eugene Woods Civic Center Center on April 25th, from 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
Tennessee Department of TransportationTennessee Department of Transportation
As those talks begin, work continues on the current I-55 Bridge and its interchange. For more than a year, crews have replaced the old cloverleaf interchange and replaced much of the bridge’s worn-out decking.
That work began back in 2009 with public hearings at Central Station, before its conversion into a hotel and when it was still owned and operated by the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA). Hearings and approvals continued until the project was sent of for bids in 2022. That project is slated for completion early next year.
The new bridge, which TDOT is calling, “America’s River Crossing,” would completely replace the old bridge, which would be demolished. Construction on the new 1.5 mile span over the Mississippi River could begin as soon as 2026 and be complete as early as 2030, according to state documents.
“America’s River Crossing” was the name given to the idea of a new, third bridge over the river pushed by the Greater Memphis Chamber in 2021. At the time, the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge was the only bridge across the river in Memphis. The newer Hernando DeSoto Bridge was closed at the time after officials discovered a crack in the structure.
Even though the new bridge project would still leave Memphis with only two bridges (St. Louis has 10), the Chamber appears to be on board the new project, retweeting information to Thursday’s public meeting.
🌉🚗 Public Meeting Alert! 🚧📢
Exciting news! 🎉 TDOT & ARDOT are teaming up to host TWO open house public meetings! 🤝 Join us to dive deep into the America’s River Crossing project on I-55 Over the Mississippi River Bridge Replacement. pic.twitter.com/UEWzveSCUL
— Greater Memphis Chamber (@MemphisChamber) April 11, 2024
The old bridge needs replacing, officials say, because its condition and recent appraisals have “raised concerns.” The bridge is 75 years old. It does not meet current seismic standards, which could put drivers in dangers should an earthquake occur. Retrofitting the bridge could cost between $250 million to $500 million, according to a state report.
Also, the old bridge is small. It has two, 10-foot travel lanes in each direction separated by a concrete divider, with two-foot shoulders on each side of the roadway.
”The existing I-55 bridge was not designed to handle the current or future volume of daily traffic, or truck volume, resulting in significant mobility and safety concerns,” reads the report, noting traffic counts there could be as high as 58,000 daily in 2030. “With traffic forecasts indicating substantial growth, the need for a new bridge becomes apparent, demanding increased capacity and improved traffic operations.”
The new bridge would add a new lane in each direction, for a total of six lanes, and have 12-foot shoulders on both sides of the roadway.
The new version would increase capacity, making for smoother, safer flow of traffic and freight. For these and other reasons, the financial benefit of a new bridge could be as high as $529 million, the state said.
The old bridge has higher-than-normal rates of crashes and bottlenecks, too. The state report found the bridge crash rate was 86 percent higher than the statewide average. The bridge also ranks in the top 10 percent of bottleneck headed south and 12 percent of bottlenecks northbound. Both are attributed to congestion.
Tennessee Department of Transportation
A new bridge could cost up to $787.5 million. To pay for it, TDOT has request $393.7 million from the Federal Highway Adminstration. The other half would be split between TDOT and the Arkansas Department of Transportation. Tennessee’s portion would flow from dedicated funds in the Transportation Modernization Act, which included $3.3 billion for public projects.
Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy said his office ”strongly argued against lowering the bond” on Jaylen Lobley, a suspect who died in a police shoot-out Friday morning that also claimed the life of a police officer, ”citing the defendant’s danger to the community.”
The statement from Mulroy runs counter to growing anger online that lays the blame for Lobley’s release from a March crime at the feet of the DA’s office.
“This bond was granted by a Shelby County Judicial Commissioner following a hearing where our office strongly argued against lowering the bond, citing the defendant’s danger to the community. Despite our arguments, the commissioner approved the (release on recognizance) bond,” Mulroy said in a statement Friday afternoon. ”My office was actively prioritizing the Lobley case, identifying him as a high-risk offender and reviewing his file as part of our Project Safe Neighborhoods state-federal partnership.
“Even though Lobley was a first-time offender, his case had been accepted for federal prosecution. This is consistent with my firm belief, made a part of our “V11” violent crime initiative, that individuals found with stolen cars and guns, or found with Glock switches, can pose a danger and must be dealt with accordingly.”
Mulroy said once he heard of the shooting, he promptly called the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to handle the case.
“I’m outraged and deeply saddened by Officer Joseph McKinney’s passing and extend my heartfelt condolences to his family, loved ones, and colleagues at MPD,” Mulroy said.
On Friday afternoon, Memphis Mayor Paul Young called for “tough love” in criminal sentencing.
“Together, let’s petition our judges and the DA for stronger, swifter sentencing for violent offenses,” he said in his weekly email address to citizens. “If you are part of the judicial system, hear my voice first. We need to work together to do better for our community.
“Enough is enough. We simply must do more to hold violent offenders accountable, even when they are teenagers. We must do more to protect our community — our entire community.
“We must demand tougher gun laws. We must demand sentencing that mirrors our love for our community. Sometimes, that love needs to be tough love.”
“Officer Joseph McKinney chose to wear the Memphis Police Department uniform. He chose to serve his city. On his behalf, and in honor of the choices made by every man and woman who wears the uniform, I ask you to join me in action. Let’s make certain that Officer Joseph McKinney’s brave choices stand for something greater.”
Reactions of grief, sympathy, and anger mounted Friday morning as new details emerged about a shootout early Friday morning that left one officer and one suspect dead, and three others injured.
Memphis Police Department (MPD) officer Joseph McKinney was killed in the event in Whitehaven. He died at Regional One Health Friday morning. He had been assigned to the Raines Road station.
Three officers investigated a suspicious vehicle around 2 a.m. near Horn Lake and Charter Roads. Two suspects opened fire as police approached the vehicle.
McKinney was shot and killed. Another officer was shot and taken to Regional One and is now in non-ciritcal condition. The third officer was grazed by a bullet, treated on the scene, and is in stable condition.
Both suspects, 18 and 17, sustained gunfire and both were taken to Regional One. The 18-year-old suspect died at the hospital. The other was in critical condition as of Friday morning. MPD did not release the names of the suspects.
The 18-year old-suspect was arrested by MPD in March 2024, according to police chief Cerelyn Davis. He was in a stolen vehicle and carried an illegal modified semi-automatic weapon with a Glock switch attached. The switch converted the weapon to a fully automatic machine gun. He was also charged at that time for two stolen vehicles and having a programming device commonly used to steal cars, Davis said. The suspect was released at that time without bond.
Reactions from leaders have poured out online:
Maria & I are deeply saddened by the death of Memphis Police Officer Joseph McKinney while serving in the line of duty.
Our prayers are with Officer McKinney’s family, the recovering officers & the Memphis law enforcement community.
Please join me in praying for the family of Officer Joseph McKinney, who was murdered in the line of duty last night in Memphis. Please also join me in prayer for the other officers and their families who were wounded.
— Representative John Gillespie (@repgillespie) April 12, 2024
“I was deeply grieved upon hearing the news that Memphis police officer Joseph McKinney lost his life during a shooting incident this morning in south Memphis. On behalf of all the men and women of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, I offer our prayers and deepest condolences to… pic.twitter.com/uXWYR8A6Mc
Our prayers are with the family, friends, and colleagues of fallen Memphis Police Officer Joseph McKinney as well as the officers injured in the line of fire last night.
Our office stands with our law enforcement community and the City of Memphis, and we pray for a swift… pic.twitter.com/XzuAu2fIwj
I am heartbroken to hear the news of the death of Memphis Police Officer Joseph McKinney. Chrissy and I are praying for his family and loved ones during this difficult time. https://t.co/TS2O9aPy9b
Roberta and I are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of MPD Officer Joseph McKinney. Please join us in praying for the swift recovery of the two additional officers who were shot in the line of duty this morning.
During this time, Officer McKinney’s family and the entire…
“This morning MPD Officer Joseph McKinney was killed by gunfire that also injured two of his colleagues,” Akbari said. “Additionally, an 18-year-old is dead and a 17-year-old is in the hospital. Our community is hurting again after another act of senseless gun violence. In this moment, we need to lift up the MPD and the families who are grieving and then come together in finding ways to stop the next tragedy.”
Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) issued the following statement:
“I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of Officer McKinney, shot in the line of duty this morning,” he said. “Police officers protect society and put their lives in jeopardy every day. Police officers have difficult, often dangerous jobs. We need to keep working to provide them with the resources they need to work as safely as possible.
“I want to express my condolences to Officer McKinney’s family and friends, and my sorrow to the families of the officers injured in this terrible incident.”
Credit: Robata Ramen and Yakitori Bar via Facebook
Robata Ramen and Yakitori Bar will close Sunday.
The restaurant opened in 2014 on Overton Square in the former Paulette’s location. Robata was opened as a new concept by Memphis restaurateur Jimmy Ishii.
The closing was announced on Facebook Monday.
“We regret to inform you that our last day of business in Overton Square is Sunday, April 14th,” the post reads. “We would like to thank all of our customers that we have served over the years! Please come see us this week before our final day!”
Earthlings will cast their eyes towards the heavens Monday to witness the solar eclipse, and when they do, their eyeballs — about 150 million of them — will be protected with glasses made in Bartlett.
American Paper Optics (APO) has been working for this moment for years. In the company’s 26-year history, it has produced around 3 billion pairs of 3D glasses. With those and other products (like the eclipse glasses), APO is the largest producer of 3D products in the world. Along the way, it has worked with some of the biggest brands in the country, including Disney, Marvel, Nintendo, Target, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
APO has produced around 75 million pairs of eclipse glasses for Monday’s event. Jason Lewin, the company’s Chief Marketing Officer, said the company learned a lot from the 2017 eclipse, for which it made about 45 million pairs of glasses. That event was a “trial by fire,” he said and the company used that event as a blueprint to prepare for Monday’s eclipse.
Credit: American Paper OpticsCredit: American Paper OpticsCredit: American Paper OpticsCredit: American Paper Optics
“I saw that Indianapolis was in this path of totality,” Lewin said. “So, I reached out to them. I said, ‘You have this amazing racetrack there. What about having a watch party?’ They kind of laughed at me.”
That watch party is now expected to draw about 130,000 people to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event will feature race cars decked out in eclipse wraps and officials (and astronauts) from the the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Tickets are $20 for adults.
Eclipse fever was rising. So, back in Bartlett, the company needed to build capacity. It powered its sales platform with Shopify to handle volume. It’s also leveraged its proximity to the FedEx hub for faster shipping, helping to fuel sales closer to the event.
The ramp-up also meant hiring more people. Lewin said the company had around 35 full time employees in 2017. That figure is now closer to 85, in order to crank out nearly 500,000 pairs of glasses each day.
Eclipse-related gains abound for companies in and around the path of totality. The event will spur about $1.6 billion in direct consumer spending, according to The Perryman Group, a Texas-based economic analysis firm.
If this eclipse feels like a bigger deal than the last one, it is. The Perryman Group said more than 30 million reside in the path of totality, from Eagle Pass, Texas, to Houlton, Maine. And that’s the secret sauce.
”From small towns to large population centers, the numbers of visitors are projected to be unusually large,” reads a brief from the company. “These travelers will spend money locally for accommodations, meals, gasoline, and retail items. The result will be a substantial economic stimulus.”
For AOP, the eclipse has meant a higher profile. Company officials have been seen on major television networks on shows like Made In America with David Muir, CBS Saturday Morning, and more. AOP will also be featured in a 2025 documentary called “Totality.”
The company made friends along the way, too, like NASA and Bill Nye. Lewin said his favorite partnership has been with St. Jude. The company donated half the sales of certain products to the hospital and had a patient design a special set of glasses for them.
For Lewin, being a part of this event has a deeper meaning beyond any sales figures. “We’re kind of living in a time where things are a bit separated,” he said. “So, this is kind of one of those bipartisan moments where it’s like, all right, we get to do this thing all together, work for the same thing. It’s not two groups against each other. Everybody is kind of like kumbaya for the moment, where we get to see this one thing all together.”
A House Republican wants to ban lab-grown meat in Tennessee because its effects on humans, she said, were unknown and state citizens shouldn’t be used as “guinea pigs,” and, heck, Florida did it.
Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) explained her bill to the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee on Tuesday. It would have outlawed cultivated meat for human consumption at the business level, meaning no manufacturing, selling, and more.
Cultivated meat — sometimes called cultured meat or lab-grown meat — is real animal meat but is produced by cultivating animal cells directly, cutting out the need to raise animals, according to the Good Food Institute. The meat is in different products by Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, which are made with plant ingredients. The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved cultivated meat for sale in the U.S. in June.
The news was welcome for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The group said it funded some of the first research for cultivated meat and, beginning in 2008, offered a $1 million prize for the first lab to use produce commercially viable cultivated meat.
The news was also welcome to Berkeley-California-based Upside Foods, the world’s first cultivated meat company. When it was founded in 2015, the company was called Memphis Meats, a tip of the hat to the city’s barbecue culture. When the feds green-lit its meat products, the company was ready to go and already valued at over $1 billion.
“This approval will fundamentally change how meat makes it to our table,” said Dr. Uma Valeti, CEO and founder of Upside Foods. “It’s a giant step forward towards a more sustainable future — one that preserves choice and life.“
“It’s a giant step forward towards a more sustainable future — one that preserves choice and life.“
Dr. Uma Valeti, CEO and founder of Upside Foods
However, two Tennessee state lawmakers urged caution on the products, suggesting an outright ban on making and selling it in the state. They said they didn’t know how the products would affect bodies and did not want Tennesseans to be “used as Guinea pigs.”
“It’s simply just too soon and too dangerous to allow this process to move forward before we know what sort of effects cultivated meat may have on people,” Lynn said. “The first question is one of ethics. Is this semi-cloning? We have no idea really where this is going. What happens when you create lab grown meat?”
If that wasn’t enough to entice fellow Republicans, Lynn said the Florida legislature had already passed such a measure. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has not yet signed the bill but showed his support for the ban last month.
BREAKING: Gov. Ron DeSantis supports cracking down on lab-grown meat as lawmakers consider bill to ban it
"You need meat. OK? We're gonna have meat in Florida […] We're gonna have fake meat? That doesn't work. We're gonna make sure to do it right." pic.twitter.com/8KkG4b0mMD
”You need meat, OK?” DeSantis said, saying some blame agriculture for global warming. “We’re going to have meat in Florida. We’re not going to do that fake meat. That doesn’t work.”
”You need meat, OK?
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
Lynn said the federal government has a track record of approving “medications and treatments” but retracts them later, “due to horrible adverse circumstances.” She pointed to drugs like Prevacid, Nexium, and Prilosec, which all once faced recalls but are back on store shelves. She also said the government once said cigarettes were safe.
Rep. Bud Hulsey (R-Kingsport) agreed, pointing vaguely to the Nuremberg Code, which outlawed experimenting on humans without their consent, and to the “experimental shock” of Covid. But his approval of the bill seemed more plain.
“Some folks probably like to eat bugs with Bill Gates, but not me,” Hulsey said.
Lynn said she was not aware of any cultivated meat being sold anywhere in the state. Also, she had not discussed her bill with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
“Some folks probably like to eat bugs with Bill Gates, but not me.”
Tennessee state Rep. Bud Hulsey
Another bill up this year would have clarified that cultivated meat could not be labeled as meat, poultry, or such food products. It was heard by House members already, who decided to send the issue to “summer study.” That is, ultimately, where the bill to ban such products ended up. Lawmakers said they hoped to get expert opinion on the safety of cultivated meat.
Summer study is usually a kinder, softer death knell for legislation in the Capitol. But the House agriclture committee promised to give the issue of cultivated meat a serious review before the legislature meets again next year.
Tennessee Republicans cannot stand the federal government telling them what to do — especially when a Democrat’s in the White House — but they do love telling Tennessee’s biggest cities what to do.
Republicans cry “overreach,” in general, when the feds “impose” rules that “overrule the will of the people of Tennessee.” (All of those quoted words came from just one statement on abortion from Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, who yells “overreach!” the loudest.) But they call it “preemption” when they do it to Memphis and Nashville — their favorite targets — leaving big-city locals to bemoan that same overreach.
When punching up at the federal government, Tennessee conservatives send angry letters to the president lamenting rules they have to follow to get big “seductive” tax dollars. But they don’t often win much in this process.
When they punch down at cities, the power struggle really comes down to rural conservatives exerting whatever influence they have to temper (squash) the sometimes “woke” ideas of urban progressives. They have a lot of power to do this, as state law does, usually, preempt local law.
So, Republicans do what they want in the Tennessee General Assembly and say, “See you in court,” because cities don’t typically give up their authority without a legal fist fight. (This happens so much state Democrats say Republicans pass lawsuits, not laws.)
But cities lose these fights often. Some of that is thanks to the powerful state AG’s office, who gets in the ring for state conservatives. That office has even more punching power with a brand-new $2.25 million, 10-member unit. It force-feeds conservative priorities in Tennessee cities and blocks D.C.’s liberal agenda.
Here’s an example of this double-edged subversion: Skrmetti, the Republican AG, cried “overreach” when a 2022 USDA rule said LGTBQ kids had to have access to lunch at school. But when Memphis and Nashville tried to decriminalize cannabis in 2016, a state Republican said, “You just can’t have cities creating their own criminal code, willy-nilly.”
Same coin. Two sides. Yes, state law rules most times, but the premise of the argument is the same. State citizens and city locals know what’s best for them and pick their leaders accordingly. Then, an outsider who, maybe, doesn’t share their values, swoops in to make locals comply with theirs. It’s like, “Hi, you don’t know me but you’re doing it wrong and are going to do it my way.”
In this game, Memphis has been on the ropes at the legislature this year. State Republicans want to take away some of the power from the Shelby County district attorney. They want to remove a Memphis City Council decision on when Memphis Police Department (MPD) officers make traffic stops. They also wanted to dilute local control of the Memphis-Shelby County School (MSCS) board with members appointed by the governor. But they decided against it. Details on many of these and some from the past are below.
Meanwhile, some Republican lawmakers have looked up, wondering if they could really cut ties with the federal government. They took a serious, hard look at giving up $1 billion in federal education funding for state schools. They wanted to do it “the Tennessee way.” Left to guess what that meant, many concluded they hoped to eschew national discrimination protections for LGBTQ students.
This year, a state Republican hopes to establish state sovereignty. He wants to draw a clear line between state and fed powers and to install a committee to watch that line. It’s not a new idea, but it’s always had “don’t tread on me” vibes.
The road from Memphis City Hall, to the State Capitol, to Congress and the White House is littered with complaints (usually court papers) about political subversion. All the hollering and legal fights along the way have to leave voters wondering, who’s got the power?
Steve Mulroy (Photo: Steve Mulroy | Facebook)
District Attorney Power Battle
A legal battle over who has the power to decide on some death penalty cases has been waged since Republicans passed a bill here last year.
That bill stripped local control of post-conviction proceedings from local district attorneys and gave it to Skrmetti, the state AG. In Memphis, the bill seemed largely aimed at Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, with some concerned he may be lenient for those facing the death penalty.
“This sudden move appears to be a response to the choices of voters in both Davidson County and Shelby County, who elected prosecutors to support more restorative and less punitive policies,” Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said at the time.
Larry McKay, who received two death sentences for the murders of two store clerks in Shelby County in 1981, requested a court review of previously unexamined evidence in his case. Despite the new law, McKay’s attorney sought to disqualify Skremtti’s office from reviewing the case because he was not elected.
His attorney argued the new law infringes on the responsibilities of local district attorneys. The big changes made in the legislation also violated the state constitution, the attorney said.
Mulroy agreed.
“The newly enacted statute is an unconstitutional effort to divest and diminish the authority granted to Tennessee’s district attorneys general by the Tennessee Constitution,” Mulroy said at the time. “The new statute violates the voting rights of such voters because it strips material discretion from district attorneys, who are elected by the qualified voters of the judicial district.”
But state attorneys did not agree.
“The General Assembly was entitled to take that statuary power away from the district attorneys and give it to the Attorney General in capital cases,” reads the court document. “They have done just that and their mandate must be followed.”
But in July Shelby County Judge Paula Skahan ruled the Republican legislation did violate the state constitution. New arguments on the case were heard by the Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals earlier this month. No ruling was issued as of press time. However, an appeal of that ruling seems inevitable, likely pushing the case to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Pretextual Stops
State Republicans are actively trying to undermine a unanimous decision of the Memphis City Council to stop police from pulling over motorists for minor things like a broken taillight, a loose bumper, and more.
This council move came three months after MPD officers beat and killed Tyre Nichols, who was stopped for a minor traffic infraction. The local law is called the Driving Equality Act in Honor of Tyre Nichols.
Council members said police time could be better spent, that the stops expose more people to the criminal justice system, and, as in the Nichols’ case, could be dangerous. The stops also disproportionately affect Black people, who make up about 64 percent of Memphis’ population but receive 74 percent of its traffic tickets, according to Decarcerate Memphis.
The council’s decision made national headlines. But it found no favor with Republican lawmakers.
Rep. John Gillespie (R-Bartlett) introduced a controversial bill this year that would end that practice and reestablish state control over local decisions on criminal justice.
“We’re simply saying a state law that’s been on the books for decades is what we’re going by here,” Gillespie told Tennessee Lookout earlier this month. “And if there are people that have problems with what state law is, then maybe they should change state law instead of enacting local ordinances that are in conflict with state law.”
He initially cooled on the matter, promising to pause his bill for further review after Nichols’ parents spoke at a press conference.
“I am just appalled by what Republicans are trying to do in this state,” Nichols’ father, Rodney Wells, said at the event.
Gillespie promised Nichols’ family he’d hold the bill but surprised many earlier this month when he brought it to the House floor for a vote, which it won. Some said Gillespie acted in bad faith. State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) said he straight-up lied to Nichols’ family and subverted local power to boot.
“You, as a person who lives in Shelby County, seek to undo the will of the people of Memphis and Shelby County,” Pearson said on the House floor. “The Wells family spoke with him briefly; he told them this bill wouldn’t come up until probably next Thursday.”
The Senate approved the bill last Thursday. It now heads to Gov. Lee for signature.
Six school board members for Memphis-Shelby County Schools met with three state lawmakers representing Memphis on Feb. 14, 2024, at the state Capitol. Their agenda included pending legislation from Rep. Mark White and Sen. Brent Taylor, both Republicans, to authorize Gov. Bill Lee to appoint additional members to the board. (Photo: Courtesy Memphis-Shelby County Schools | Chalkbeat)
MSCS School Board
State Republicans want to control schools here, too.
Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis), chair of the House Education Committee, filed a bill earlier this year that would add six governor-appointed members (read: more Republican influence) to the MSCS board. When he filed the legislation, he said he was unimpressed with the slate of those vying for the district’s superintendent job and concerned about students falling behind state standards on reading and math.
“I’m very concerned about the district’s direction, and I just can’t sit back any longer,” White told Chalkbeat Tennessee. “I think we’re at a critical juncture.”
However, MSCS board chair Althea Greene said at the time that White’s proposal was unnecessary.
“We may have had some challenges, but more interference from the General Assembly is not warranted at this time,” she said. “We have to stop experimenting with our children.”
Since then, the MSCS board chose Marie Feagins as the district’s superintendent and she got to work early, before her contract was supposed to start. Also, White paused his bill earlier this month to give board members a chance to submit an improvement plan. White said the plan should show how they’ll improve on literacy, truancy, graduation rates, teacher recruitment, underutilized school buildings, and a backlog of building maintenance needs, among other things, according to Chalkbeat.
While it’s the newest move in state “overreach” into schools here, it’s hardly the first. State Republicans once seized dozens of schools in Memphis and Nashville as laboratories for what they called “Achievement School Districts.” After more than a decade, these schools only angered locals, showed abysmal student performance, and now seem to be on their way out.
Cannabis
For six weeks back in 2016, Memphis City Council members debated a move that would have decriminalized possession of small amounts of cannabis in the city.
Hundreds were (and are) arrested each year on simple possession charges, and most of those arrested were (and are) Black. Council members didn’t want cannabis legalization; they wanted to steer folks away from the criminal justice system. They hoped to keep them out of jail and avoid a criminal record, which could hurt their chances at housing, employment, and more.
The city council — even though some had reservations about it — said yes to this. So did the Nashville Metropolitan Council. State Republicans said no.
Upon their return to the Capitol in 2017, they got to work ensuring their control over local decisions on the matter. A bill to strip this control easily won support in the legislature and was signed by then-Gov. Bill Haslam, who said he acted on the will of state lawmakers.
“You just can’t have cities creating their own criminal code, willy-nilly,” Rep. William Lamberth (R-Cottontown), the bill’s House sponsor, told The Tennessean at the time.
Then-Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery issued an opinion that said, basically, cities can’t make laws that preempt state law. With that, Memphis resumed regular enforcement of cannabis laws.
Ranked Choice Voting
In two elections — 2008 and 2018 — Memphians chose how they wanted to pick their politicians, but they never got a chance to use it. State Republicans said no.
Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) would have allowed voters here to rank candidates on a ballot, doing away with the need for run-off elections that always see lower voter turnout. It was new and different but voters here “decided, over and over again, to give it a try,” reads a Commercial Appeal op-ed from 2022 by Mark Luttrell, former Shelby County mayor, and Erika Sugarmon, now a Shelby County commissioner.
However, state Republicans then-Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) and Rep. Nathan Vaughan (R-Collierville) filed a bill to upend the voters’ decision for good with a bill to end RCV in Tennessee. Kelsey said it was about voter clarity. Opponents said it was about more.
“If the bill passes, it will disrespect Memphis voters, make a mockery of local control,” Luttrell and Sugarmon said in the op-ed.
In the end, the state won. The bill passed and RCV was banned, with added support and sponsorship of Memphis Democrats Rep. Joe Towns Jr. and the late Rep. Barbara Cooper.
State Sovereignty
“So, you hoe in your little garden and stay out of our garden,” said Rep. Bud Hulsey (R-Kingsport).
He was explaining to the House Public Service Committee last year how the country’s founders designed the separation of powers between the state and the federal governments, how it was supposed to work, anyway.
But federal government agencies — not elected officials — issue rules pushed on to “we, the people,” he said. They tear families apart. They split marriages. They end lifelong friendships, he said. They bring bankruptcy and suicide. He gave no more details than that. But he was sick of it and said the bill he brought would fix it.
When some Republicans here aren’t busy in committee or court, rending control from local governments, they like to think about state sovereignty. They want to defend Tennessee from the feds, especially when a Democrat is in the White House. They want to know what the exact rules are and to tell D.C. “don’t tread on me.”
Since at least 1995, bills like these have been filed here and there in the state legislature. There’s a new one pending now. In them, “sovereignty” sometimes sounds like a preamble to “secession.”
Hulsey’s bill didn’t go that far. He really wanted to set out a way to nullify D.C. rules he didn’t like. Lee’s office was against it, though. Senate Republicans were, too. The idea failed to even get a review in the Republican-packed Senate State and Local Government Committee. Conservatives worried “nullification” could also nullify big federal tax dollars.
That 1995 bill demanded, “The federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of its constitutionally delegated powers.” Another Republican sovereignty bill later would have voided the powers of any representative of the United Nations once they entered the state.
One in 2014 (that was signed by the governor) simply expressed the state’s sovereignty to set educational standards. A 2016 bill said the feds “seduce” states to go along with their new rules with federal funds they treat as grants, not as tax funds for the state. Another in 2013 would have formed a committee to see what financial and legal troubles could be in store for Tennessee if it scaled back or quit the “state’s participation in the various federal programs.”
Ten years later, this idea is back. The “Tennessee State Sovereignty Act of 2024” would form a 10-person committee to watch and see if any federal rule violates the Tennessee State Constitution. If it does, “it is the duty of both the residents of this state and the General Assembly to resist.”
Now, if that don’t say “don’t tread on me” …
In the Senate, the bill was deferred until near the end of session (usually meaning they’ll get to it if they can). A House review of the idea was slated for this week, after press time.
Education Funding
Sovereignty bills rarely go anywhere but in talking points for reelection campaigns.
However, last year high-ranking Republicans took state sovereignty a step beyond rattling a saber. They announced a bold plan to have a serious look at if and how Tennessee could cut ties with the feds and their $1 billion in education funding. If it did, Tennessee would have been the first state in history to decline such funds.
“We as a state can lead the nation once again in telling the federal government that they can keep their money and we’ll just do things the Tennessee way,” House Speaker Rep. Cameron Sexton said at an event in February last year.
He didn’t outline what the “Tennessee way” entailed, though he complained about testing mandates and strings attached to funding. Many said the big federal string Republicans wanted to cut was the one attached to Title IX mandates. Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that get federal money. The Biden administration has promised an update to these that could strengthen protections for LGTBQ students.
Tennessee has passed more anti-LGBTQ laws than any other state, according to the Human Rights Campaign. The week of March 4th alone, 18 such bills were before state lawmakers and targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; made it easier to ban books; and attempted to legalize discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
State Republicans have passed bills to mandate transgender students only play on sports teams that match their gender at birth. They have mandated which bathrooms trans people have to use (a decision struck down by a federal judge). They’ve allowed teachers to go unpunished if they refuse to use pronouns that students identify with. They’ve wanted certain books with LGBTQ themes banned at school. They’ve wanted LGBTQ, especially gender identity, issues banned from discussion in sex-ed classes. This list goes on and on.
However, the precise motive for looking into cutting those federal education dollars was never stated. Some said it was always good to review the relationship between nation and state. In the end, Republicans spent a lot of time and money to research the idea but set it aside. They took the federal money and the strings attached anyway. But taking it so seriously was maybe that “don’t tread on me snake” just shaking its rattle.
“Deep in my Soul”
Separation of powers is a doubled-edge sword. It’s that cartoon drawing of a big fish eating a small fish that is getting eaten by the even bigger fish. It’s a “layer cake” form of federalism.
Call it what you will, but it’s clear locals want to make their own decisions. For Hulsey, the Republican talking about who tends whose garden, the idea runs deep.
“I stood up on that House floor over there a few weeks ago and we raised our hand, and we swore to 7 million people in this state, we swore not that we would rake in all the federal money we could get,” Hulsey told committee members. “We swore that we would always defend the inalienable rights of Tennessee people by defending and upholding the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of Tennessee.
“We should not be for sale. I want to tell you that deep in my soul, I have a conviction that is deep-seated. I believe that if state legislatures in this country do not stand up and hold the federal government to obey the Constitution of the United States, we could very easily lose this republic.”
