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You Asked, They Answered

MEMPHIS, TN - July 26, 2023: Ten of the nineteen candidates currently running for Memphis Mayor attended the Memphis Mayoral Forum hosted by the City of Memphis Office of Youth Services, Memphis Youth City Council, and Memphis Ambassadors Program at Christian Brothers University. (Photo: Brad Vest for MLK50)

As we approach one of the most momentous mayoral elections in Memphis’ history, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism and the Memphis Flyer have partnered on a unique experiment. With public safety on the minds of the voters, we polled our readers to find out what questions they would ask the mayoral candidates, if they had a chance.

We received more than 130 responses, which our editorial teams boiled down into a set of common questions. Then, we chose the four leading candidates, based on a combination of polling and fundraising data.

Below are some highlights from Floyd Bonner, Willie Herenton, Van Turner, and Paul Young’s responses to your questions.

If you would like to see the candidates’ complete answers, the expanded interviews, edited for length and clarity, can be found on both memphisflyer.com and MLK50.com.

The killing of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police officers damaged the community’s trust in police. What steps would you take to rebuild that trust?

BONNER: It’s about being out in the community, talking with the public, getting them to understand what happened, how it happened, and how we can work collectively to keep it from happening again.

Floyd Bonner (Photo: Andrea Morales for MLK50)

HERENTON: I’m going to bring back Blue CRUSH. … You’ve got to have specialized police units, but they’ve got to be well-trained. They’ve got to be appropriately selected. And you gotta have accountability. … What happened in the Tyre Nichols situation? They had a group of officers that didn’t have extensive tenure as police officers, and they lacked supervision. I would have an organizational structure with a chain of command providing appropriate oversight.

Willie Herenton (Photo: Andrea Morales for MLK50)

TURNER: We will have to make sure that the training and the leadership is appropriately in place to ensure this does not occur again. We need to get back to some of the community policing that we used to have when I was growing up in Whitehaven. … We had a relationship where, if we saw something, we said something, and we were not afraid to contact the authorities or law enforcement.

Van Turner (Photo: Brandon Dill for MLK50)

YOUNG: I think that the ordinances that were passed at City Council were a step in the right direction.

Paul Young (Photo: Brandon Dill for MLK50)

How would you describe Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis’ performance as police chief?

YOUNG: I think she’s done a good job. Obviously the incident with Tyre Nichols and the SCORPION unit and what appears to be a lack of oversight is something that she has to own. I think she has owned the mistakes and tried to do the things necessary to right the course, and that’s what leadership is about. … The visceral hate that we’re seeing in our community between residents and officers is something that only goes away when you build relationships, and the chief has to be the tip of the spear when it comes to making that happen.

BONNER: I’ve been asked many times, would I let her go if I was elected? I don’t think that’s fair. All city directors will be evaluated in my administration, and decisions will be made accordingly.

HERENTON: In all probability, she would not have been my choice. … From what I’ve read in the press and from what I’ve heard, there were some troubling issues in her past that I probably would have had to carefully weigh. If I could have identified an individual that had the competency level that I could trust with that leadership role, I would have selected from within.

TURNER: I thought she was good as far as being transparent on the release of the Tyre Nichols tape, and the reprimand and termination of those five officers. I think perhaps there’s some room for growth and accountability as it relates to the use of this tactical squad being used for just a mere traffic stop and not for something that it was organized to do: to take down maybe a drug operation, to go after the heavily armed bad guys that were going to have AR-15 rifles and shoot back. … To deploy a team like the team that was deployed in the death of Tyre Nichols was a failure of leadership. She should be held accountable for this even occurring.

MPD has about 1,900 officers, but says it needs 2,500. Do you agree 2,500 is the right number? If not, why not? If so, how would you look to help?

HERENTON: It’s going to be very difficult reaching that 2,500 goal because I will implement the highest standards. I think they’ve lowered the standards, which is troubling to me.

TURNER: I think 2,500 first responders is the right answer. I don’t know if they necessarily all have to be rank-and-file police officers. … We need a full complement of first responders, but I would suggest that perhaps 200 to 250 of those first responders should be comprised of specialty units and of specialty officers who can emphasize de-escalation, address mental health issues, address nonviolent, nonthreatening traffic stops, and address some of the domestic [violence] issues that we see. We really have to look at a comprehensive strategy to resolve crime more effectively in the community.

YOUNG: I agree. I don’t know that many people would disagree. … Just like we have training programs in high schools for the trades, we could introduce them to public safety careers. I think we obviously should continue to recruit from other cities. I want our officers to be the highest paid officers in the region. I want them to feel like the big dog: When you work in Memphis, you’re on the premier force. You’re going to have the most resources, you’re going to have the best equipment, and you’re going to have all the support that you need.

BONNER: It’s going to take two to three years to get to where the staffing levels need to be right now. We can’t wait that long. … How would I go about doing our desk-to-duty plan? It’s taking some officers out of precincts, out of the public information office, and getting those officers back out on the streets. We have officers doing tasks that civilians could be doing — for instance, fixing the SkyCop cameras.

Currently, nearly 40 percent of the city of Memphis’ budget goes to police. Should residents expect that, under your administration, that share would go up, down, or stay the same?

TURNER: My budget would likely be the same if you look at the whole spectrum of public safety. But I would like to increase the budget as it relates to prevention and investments in disinvested communities, disinvested youth, disinvested community centers. I think that’s where we really have to pour a robust allocation of our investments into because what we’re doing now is not working.

BONNER: Right now, even with the budget the way it is, our police need more cars. … So there’s some things in the police department that we need to fix. … I can’t say that the budget would increase, but it’s certainly nice to stay where it’s at.

YOUNG: You would see incremental increases as a result of increasing the number of staff, but I don’t see it going up significantly or going down significantly. In order to truly make our community safe, we have to find ways to make additional investments in public safety that’s not necessarily MPD.

MPD is currently under a civil rights investigation by the Department of Justice. How do you plan to ensure that the Memphis Police Department treats all citizens fairly?

HERENTON: It is clear to me that we need to fix the culture of MPD. I’m committed to doing that. I know exactly how to get the culture straightened out and to make sure that we have transparency. We’ll have accountability, and we’ll have constitutional policing.

TURNER: We go to each community — and I mean each and every community — and we listen. … We focus on training and we make sure that our most senior officers are being utilized more than what they’re being utilized now. There were no senior officers [there] the night of the murder of Tyre Nichols, that was a misstep and a problem. … Third, we have to focus on recruiting the right individuals with the correct temperament, the right mind to serve and protect.

What public safety solutions have you seen work in other cities that you would seek to implement here?

YOUNG: Pittsburgh re-trained their officers on how to engage on police stops. They talk about the weather and make small talk to disarm. They do that to reduce the likelihood of a negative encounter. In Omaha, they put together a coalition of people from different agencies focused on holistic public safety. They’re using data to identify the young people that need other interventions, and they have a host of programs that are able to engage those young people when they’ve been identified.

Some cities have tried to respond to mental health crises with first responders who aren’t police officers. Is that a solution you’re interested in exploring for Memphis?

HERENTON: A lot of individuals out here have all kinds of mental disabilities that the policemen, if they’re not well trained, don’t know how to recognize. You have to broaden the training because they are running into some mental health issues that need to be addressed.

TURNER: I think that there’s a role for individuals who have that type of expertise to be used by law enforcement and by fire. Oftentimes, EMTs are first on the scene and there are issues that they have to address which concern mental illness. And they’re not equipped to do so. … We need a unit that will do it, that will travel with fire and police and make sure that mental health issues don’t result in death.

YOUNG: I’ve talked to people that have done it. The challenge you find is that when you have individuals responding to an intense scene or somebody’s having a mental health episode, with the proliferation of guns in our community, you still need a trained officer. Can we send mental health workers out with officers? Yes. Sending them out alone? No, I don’t think that’s wise.

How do you plan to engage with young people, to help them avoid gangs and criminal activity?

BONNER: It’s all about intervention and prevention. At the sheriff’s office, we have a Crime Prevention Unit that offers over 40 different programs for our youth. … We can’t sit in the office and let parents or kids come to us. We’ve got to get out in the neighborhoods to find out what we can do to help these kids be successful.

TURNER: A kid that joins a gang is looking for love, looking for acceptance, looking for protection, looking for a community. They find that in the gang because it’s not at home, it’s not at church, it’s not on the football team. You really have to disrupt that pattern of the gangs preying on these vulnerable youth because once they get ahold of them, it’s hard for them to let go, and it’s hard for that young person to get out of it. So we have to step in before the gangs get to them and provide that positive community for them. That’s why [I like] the Boys & Girls Club; it’s a positive community.

Memphis always ranks poorly in the number of roadway deaths. How would you help make our streets safer without relying solely on increased MPD enforcement?

YOUNG: We need drivers to be informed that the public right of way isn’t just for cars. It’s for people. People walk, they bike, and they drive cars. We need public service announcements that remind people that they have to share the roads. We also should be exploring design solutions.

BONNER: You increase traffic enforcement, attention to red lights, and things like that. We’re gonna have to take a long hard look at traffic patterns.

HERENTON: I’ve never seen the level of reckless driving, inappropriate driving behavior, as I’m seeing on the expressway and streets. I’m so happy to see the increased level of Highway Patrol in our city. I will support that 100 percent — to increase the presence of highway patrolmen. They do it right.

As mayor, what is a measure you would take to reduce car break-ins and theft?

TURNER: Part of addressing the issues is to not only require a permit to have a gun on your person, but require permits to have guns in your cars. Many times, they’re looking for guns and other valuables. … The uptick occurred when we allowed guns in cars without a permit, and every law enforcement person in the state was against what the assembly was doing. … You disrupt how they make money off of what they’re doing. You use good detective work, good policing to break up the chop shops.

BONNER: My wife and I’ve raised two sons in this community. We were responsible for their actions and where they were, but these young people that are out there that are breaking in cars, we’ve got to get down to the root problem of that. That could be a food issue; it could be a homeless issue. We’ve got to find out what those issues are, and then change the trajectory of those kids.

YOUNG: I had an opportunity to sit on a town hall panel with NLE Choppa a few months ago, and there was a young person who said he liked stealing cars. I asked why. He said, “I’m bored and I need some money.” Those are things we should be solving for! We have to find ways to engage youth, have them earn money, and have fun.

HERENTON: There’s some brands of cars that are [more] susceptible to car thieves than others. In fact, I think I read that our current mayor was joining with some other mayors who’re talking about suing automakers who make cars so easy to be stolen.

As mayor, what is a measure you would take to help get guns off the street?

BONNER: Aggressive policing, first of all. We’ve got to hold people accountable. But also, we’ve got to change the mindset whereby we don’t have conflict resolution anymore in the schools or anywhere. I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen with the churches and pastors, community organizations that are willing to step up now and really get the message out as to how serious this is in our city. Because a lot of time our youth don’t understand the consequences of pulling the trigger on a weapon. So when you talk about trying to get those guns out of their hands, we’ve got to find a way to talk to them and get them to understand that violence is never the answer to anything, but also holding them, again, responsible and accountable for their actions.

HERENTON: I think that the legislative body in Tennessee is going to have to exercise more accountability and responsibility as we look at gun violence and gun control. So I’m for a lot of the reform measures, but within the powers of the executive branch, which the mayor is in. We just have to operate within the confines of the Constitution and state legislature.

TURNER: Obviously, talking to the Tennessee General Assembly won’t work. When the states have failed us in the past, we’ve turned to the federal government. As a civil rights attorney, that’s what I’ll do. I will support litigation to make sure that we at least put all the issues on the table. … I will seek an injunction in federal court, and I know what would likely happen. But the important thing is that we will create a record. We will have experts who will have testimony. We’ll get all those folks on the stand who’ve been ill-affected by gun violence. And then we’ll take that record to the U.S. Congress and we’ll ask for the United States Congress and for the president to give us relief. We’ve had a ban on assault weapons before. It can happen again. We should not give up on this issue.

YOUNG: Gun buyback programs — making sure people are turning those things in. And making sure we address illegal guns. When people commit crimes with those types of weapons, we should make sure there’s a higher penalty.

Expanded interviews with each candidate can be found here:
Floyd Bonner
Willie Herenton
Van Turner
Paul Young

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Questions for the Candidates: The MLK50 / Memphis Flyer Public Safety Survey

We Need Your Help! The issue of public safety is at the forefront of the 2023 Memphis mayoral election. The Memphis Flyer and MLK50: Justice Through Journalism are partnering on a series of stories examining the state of public safety in our city, and we want to know what’s important to you. Follow this link to MLK50 to fill out a short survey letting us know what questions you have for the candidates. We’ll get the answers you need to make an informed decision in this election which will determine the future of Memphis.

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‘Right-To-Work’?

Workers and union supporters march in a July 2020 protest at a McDonald’s on Union Avenue in Midtown. Opponents of Tennessee Constitutional Amendment 1, an item on the November election ballot, say it will undermine workers’ access to collective bargaining and weaken unions. (Photo: Andrea Morales for MLK50)

As the November general election nears, Shelby County residents will soon vote for several key leaders in local, state, and federal positions, along with four proposed amendments to the Tennessee Constitution.

Tennessee Constitutional Amendment 1, or the so-called “right-to-work” amendment, is the central focus of labor organizers this election season. On the November 8th ballot, voters will be instructed to select “yes” or “no” as to whether they want to enshrine “right-to-work” in the state constitution, although the law has been on the books in Tennessee for 75 years, since 1947.

Supporters of the amendment say it will protect workers’ freedom of choice to join unions and strengthen the state economy. Former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and current Gov. Bill Lee both support the “right-to-work” amendment, urging residents to vote ‘yes’ in a video statement.

“Right-to-work is common sense, and with federal efforts to repeal it nationwide, it’s time for Tennesseeans to speak up,” Lee said in the video statement. “This amendment will protect the rights of Tennessee workers and help keep our economy growing.”

But those who oppose the amendment, like Memphis labor organizer Jeffrey Lichtenstein, say that “it undermines the financial and political strength of unions,” ultimately limiting protections and collective bargaining efforts for people in the workplace.

Among the sponsors of the “right-to-work” amendment is Brian Kelsey, a Republican state senator; co-sponsors include Republican state Rep. Kevin Vaughan. Of state legislators who represent Shelby County voters in the Tennessee General Assembly, those in support and those against amending “right-to-work” in the state constitution are split at party lines, with Republicans for and Democrats against.

Under the “right-to-work” law, unions are required to represent all employees in a workplace, but unions are not allowed to require that workers pay membership dues in return. On paper, the law reads as if it prevents workers from being forced to join a union, but federal law already guarantees this protection. Essentially, it forces unions to provide workers with the benefits of union membership without paying any of the cost.

(Left) A Black tobacco worker on strike holds a sign reading, “Our Boss Owns 77 Houses. We Can’t Pay Rent” in this photograph from the 1930s. 
(Right) A 1937 packing plant strike in Maryland had both Black and white workers on the line together. (Photos: via Library of Congress)

THE ROOTS OF RIGHT-TO-WORK

The “right-to-work” movement began in the 1930s and took off in the 1940s, led by Southern segregationists and white supremacist businessmen who feared unions promoted worker unity and solidarity across racial lines. In fact, the phrase was popularized by Vance Muse, a Texas oil industry lobbyist and known associate of the racial terror group the Ku Klux Klan.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. actively campaigned against “right-to-work” legislation during his lifetime, drawing the connection between racial and economic equity. In 1961, he told the AFL-CIO that “the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth.”

Twelve states, including Tennessee, enacted the law in the 1940s. Over the next several decades, other states adopted “right-to-work” laws, but Tennessee is the first state in the 2020s to attempt to change its constitution with a “right-to-work” amendment. Alabama was the last state to successfully do so in 2016, and Oklahoma did the same in 2001.

Today, 27 states are “right-to-work” states, including Tennessee and the rest of the South. Just nine of those states currently have “right-to-work” enshrined in state constitutions, while 18 have laws on the books. If Tennessee becomes the 10th state to amend its constitution with “right-to-work,” it could “open the floodgate to it happening in other Republican-controlled states around the country,” Lichtenstein said.

Opponents of Tennessee Constitutional Amendment 1 said embedding “right-to-work” in the state’s constitution aims to limit the bargaining power of unions since it requires them to represent all employees in a workplace, whether or not they are dues-paying union members.

“If there are a bunch of people in unions who are benefiting from them and are not paying any dues to cover the cost of those services, the unions in the state are sort of being sucked dry,” said Lichtenstein. “[Unions are] unable to fight for better working conditions, to expand union membership, to fight for better workplace protections across the state.”

If “right-to-work” is amended in the state’s constitution, it will become markedly more difficult for future voters and state leaders to pass legislation in favor of organized labor, workers, and unions, “right-to-work” opponents say.

Under current federal law, employers are prohibited from discriminating against workers who refuse to join a union as a condition of employment. So the long-term goal of “right-to-work” is to steadily and slowly erode the collective bargaining power of labor unions — effectively erasing the collective power and voice of workers, according to Lichtenstein.

“[A union] is funded by its membership, and it has, more than anything else in this country’s history, the strongest record of anti-poverty and fighting for economic equity,” Lichtenstein said.

WORKING IN A “RIGHT-TO-WORK” STATE

Sweetrica Baker, operations and digital organizing coordinator with the Memphis and West Tennessee AFL-CIO Labor Council, said “right-to-work” states tend to have lower wages, and the data backs up her claim.

A 2015 study by the Economic Policy Institute shows people in “right-to-work” states, like Tennessee, earn an average of 3 percent less in wages than those in non-“right-to-work” states.

In “right-to-work” states, union density — the percentage of workers who are union members — is low, at 6.5 percent, while membership in states that do not have the law on the books is more than double, at almost 14 percent, according to a 2019 analysis by Bloomberg Law. Union organizing activity and work stoppages are also lower in “right-to-work” states, the analysis shows, with non-union workers earning less than union workers, and workers overall earning less in “right-to-work” states.

Altogether, people in “right-to-work” states earn $11,058 less per year, the poverty rate is higher at 11 percent, workers are 12 percent more likely to be uninsured, and workers have a 57 percent higher risk of dying on the job than people in non-“right-to-work” states, according to AFL-CIO’s Common Sense Economics training program.

“Right-to-work” supporters, like former Gov. Bill Haslam, say the law supports economic growth, citing “a lot of success recruiting jobs to Tennessee.” Haslam said “right-to-work” is a fundamental reason the state is a good place to live and work.

Opponents of “right-to-work” say the law is why employers are attracted to states like Tennessee: “Businesses come here for that specific reason. They’re concerned about growing their money,” Baker said.

Today, Memphis is one of the poorest large metro areas in the nation. Of the 25 largest employers in the area — including FedEx, which employs 30,000 workers alone — only two employers, Shelby County Schools and University of Tennessee Health Science Center, supported increasing hourly wages during the 2018 “Fight for $15” campaign.

Baker said the effects of what she sees as anti-union and anti-worker “right-to-work” legislation trickles down into communities. People who earn low wages have difficulty accessing affordable food and affordable housing, ultimately leading to less money circulating in the local economy. She said the law negatively impacts funding for public schools, infrastructure, and other public goods and services supported by taxpayers, who tend to spend less when wages are lower.

In Memphis, the economy is based heavily on low-wage jobs. Lichtenstein said those who support amending “right-to-work” in the Tennessee Constitution envision a state that’s built on low wages and economic inequality.

“Most people that I talk to think that labor has an inherent dignity, and folks should be able to live a good life working a regular job,” Lichtenstein said. “That’s also good economics. When you raise wages, you actually help the economy.”

Brittany Brown is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Email her at brittany.brown@mlk50.com.

This story is brought to you by MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, a nonprofit newsroom focused on poverty, power, and policy in Memphis.

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Court Conduct

Judge Betty Thomas Moore speaks in her courtroom in 2018. (Photos by Andrea Morales for MLK50)

* This story was originally published by MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Subscribe to their newsletter here.

When tenants on the verge of eviction show up at Shelby County General Sessions Court, most don’t know what their hearing will be like or what they’re supposed to say. And many haven’t heard that millions of federal dollars have been set aside to help people in their situation.

All six General Sessions Civil Court judges — who were all up for re-election this year — know about the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funds, but only three brought it up during court, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism journalists found.

To report this story, MLK50 journalists sat through hearings in front of all six judges over the course of three weeks, observing at least 10 eviction cases in which the tenant came to court in each courtroom.

Judges Lynn Cobb, Lonnie Thompson, and Phyllis Gardner didn’t refer any tenants to the local ERA program. Cobb said these referrals aren’t necessary, Thompson questioned whether doing so would unfairly favor tenants, and Gardner said she frequently tells people about the funds, but it depends on the tenant.

Experts acknowledged the value of objectivity but said the scales are currently tipped toward landlords.

“[Some judges] think impartiality means getting through the process as dictated by statute,” said Jesse McCoy, a Duke University School of Law professor who spends much of his time on evictions. “The problem is the statutes themselves are designed by people who are mostly landlords. … The system is not really designed for neutrality.”

When tenants arrive at court, they go to whichever of the six courtrooms they’ve been randomly assigned. Their judge might explain all the proceedings and connect them with the federal funding. Or, their judge may tell them little about anything.

Based on the luck of the draw, tenants may leave just as confused as they came, with 10 days to vacate their home.

Foot traffic past the office for help with Emergency Rental Assistance funds is seen from a stairwell at the Shelby County Courthouse.

What do these judges do?

The General Sessions judges handle tens of thousands of eviction filings every year.

Each one carries the potential to drive someone further into poverty by pushing them toward worse housing, ruining their credit, and cutting them off from the community they depend upon.

“[People experiencing poverty] rely on neighbors for childcare and rely on neighbors for transportation,” McCoy said. “They were very selective in where they signed a lease.”

Need rental assistance?

Shelby County accepts new applications for Emergency Rental Assistance during the first two weeks of the month, except from people who are imminently facing eviction. Check the MLK50 website to find more information about applying, or call 211. And, because evictions are frequently caused by job loss, McCoy said evictions often force people to search for housing and jobs simultaneously.

Despite this large responsibility falling on General Sessions judges, their elections received little public scrutiny, whether measured in media attention or the size of yard signs. More than 150 races were on Shelby County’s August 4th ballot, and some judges admitted that most voters will choose whether or not to reelect them based on little information.

“Maybe one in 5,000 [Shelby County residents] knows what we do,” Judge Danielle Mitchell Sims said.

In broad terms, the judges — who each receive a salary of more than $183,000 — handle non-criminal cases that involve less than $25,000. Evictions and bill collection make up a large portion of their caseload, but they have a few other responsibilities, including emergency mental health commitments.

With eviction specifically, most of the judges spoke about being constrained by state law, which is widely considered landlord-friendly in comparison to other states.

Judge Deborah Henderson agreed with this characterization.

“Apparently, the landlords have a very strong lobbyist group,” she said. “They have done well for the landlords in getting laws passed that are beneficial to landlords. It doesn’t give us a lot of wiggle room.”

Judge Betty Thomas Moore said the state needs new legislation, especially given the rise of out-of-town investors who show no care for their tenants and don’t maintain their properties. In the meantime, though, she says she will continue to apply the law as written but also show kindness to tenants whenever possible — including encouraging landlords to give tenants extra days to move, as MLK50 observed.

A view of the Shelby County Courthouse in Downtown Memphis.

Which judges help tenants get help?

Emergency Rental Assistance can provide a whole lot of cash.

For tenants who qualify, the program will cover up to 12 months of past-due rent and two months of future rent. If landlords are willing to accept the funds, the program sends them a check and the tenant remains in their home. If not, the program gives the money directly to tenants, to help them find their next rental. In Shelby County, the program has covered rent more than 20,000 times, to the tune of more than $56 million since launching in March 2021.

Many of these tenants ended up in the program after judges advised they stop by an office at the courthouse where its representatives sit.

Thomas Moore and Mitchell Sims referred every tenant MLK50 journalists observed them interact with, and Henderson referred some as well. Judges Thompson, Gardner, and Cobb did not. Those who introduced tenants to the program all told MLK50 they didn’t see any reason not to provide such a helpful resource.

“Because I know what [the program] can do for our community, I make sure to refer to it all the time, every time,” Thomas Moore said. “[The other judges] have been getting information about the program. They know about the program. … Why they aren’t [all referring], I really can’t answer.”

Henderson said she tries to consistently refer to the program unless it’s a tenant’s second time at court, in which case she assumes they were advised about the program on their first trip.

Gardner said she only refers tenants who she thinks would be a good fit for the assistance. Though she didn’t bring up the program while MLK50 observed, she spoke highly of the program and its lawyers. And she was quick to let a tenant reverse her consent to an eviction when informed her application to the program was pending. Gardner, who was the only of the six judges running unopposed, says she tries to avoid being too much of a “proponent” for the program, given the need for impartiality.

Thompson worries about the ethics of a judge “aggressively pushing” for the rental assistance. He said he has brought it up to tenants in the past but wants to make sure he doesn’t “legislate from the bench.”

“That’s not to say we’re not going to be helpful,” Thompson said. “[But] the judge is not a social worker.”

Cobb said he simply doesn’t see the need for judges to inform tenants of the program.

“[Tenants] know the [ERA] program is available,” Cobb said. “[Also,] there’s a whole office over [around the corner].”

Cobb didn’t say how he knows tenants are aware of the program, and he declined to answer more than a few questions.

Flyers for the program are posted outside all of the courtrooms except Henderson’s. But, the chair of the Memphis Bar Association’s Access to Justice Committee, Danielle Woods, said most tenants don’t know about rental assistance, which isn’t surprising since it’s less than two years old. Many tenants also don’t know they can seek help from Memphis Area Legal Services despite it being around for decades, she said.

When asked if there are any judges that handle eviction cases especially well, Woods praised Henderson and Thomas Moore.

“Henderson usually does a fantastic job of making sure people understand what’s going on and then asking about the ERA program. It may not be every single time, but it is an overwhelming amount of the time,” Woods said. “Same with Betty Thomas Moore — she’s very good about trying to explain as much as she can from the bench. … She is probably going above and beyond.”

A view of the Shelby County Courthouse in Downtown Memphis.

How do they make court less scary?

In a recent case before Thomas Moore, a Bartlett apartment complex was evicting a 20-year resident who was hard of hearing. Instead of asking the elderly man to come closer, Thomas Moore stood up and climbed over the low wall separating her perch from the empty witness stand. She then walked over to the man and smiled. The last time he was here she had suggested he apply for Emergency Rental Assistance and had delayed his case so he could do so. Now, he told her he didn’t know the status of his application.

So, Thomas Moore summoned a program representative from the office down the hall. His application had been approved, the representative said, but the landlord rejected the payment, which the landlord’s lawyer in the courtroom confirmed.

Thomas Moore explained to the man that he would still have to move from the property and that his landlord was still going to seek back payment but that he would soon be receiving an Emergency Rental Assistance check. He didn’t seem to fully grasp what she had said, so she explained it again in a slightly different way. And then a third time, asking each time if he had any questions. At the end of the hearing, an eviction judgment was granted against him, but he and his son-in-law expressed gratitude for her help and patience.

The whole interaction occurred in stark contrast to proceedings MLK50 watched in the courtroom next door, run by Thompson. Thompson worked through his cases quickly and didn’t take much time for explanations or tenants’ questions. Once, when a tenant asked what his ruling meant, he simply repeated that she could talk to her landlord’s representatives if she had any questions. When another tenant tried to talk after he had granted an eviction judgment, he cut her off with a simple “That’s all.”

He told MLK50 that he usually does answer tenants’ questions, but he also tries to be efficient with everyone’s time. Despite large caseloads, he said he makes sure not to run his courtroom “like a factory.”

Cobb moves just as quickly as Thompson, which he said is intentional; he wants to get tenants and lawyers back to their workplaces quickly. But compared to Thompson, Cobb’s cadence and demeanor were much more relaxed — using folksy mannerisms and telling jokes in his deep Southern drawl — other than when he yelled at a woman who didn’t remove her mask when addressing him after he had instructed all tenants to do so.

“I hope I’m making a difference helping people realize the law is not intimidating,” he said.

Gardner — who spends more time on each case, though not as much as Thomas Moore — agrees that calming tenants is an important part of the job. She uses small talk, compliments, and jokes to accomplish this.

“Everybody is scared when they come to court. They think they’re going to jail,” Gardner said. “The worst thing a judge can do is use her authority to browbeat people who are already terrified.”

Henderson and Thompson didn’t necessarily “browbeat” tenants but kept small talk to a minimum and chastised tenants for things such as wearing ripped jeans or not standing up when their name was called.

Thomas Moore cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from other judges’ curt responses, saying they need to keep control of their courtrooms and are entitled to bad days. She, though, was slower to rebuke tenants, even when they spoke out of turn, MLK50 observed.

She said this extra compassion toward struggling tenants is likely because she used to be closer to their situation than to her current one — back when she was raising four kids on her own.

“But for the grace of God … I could still be in that position [the tenants are in],” she said. “God has blessed me to be in a better position. And so my job is to do the best that I can for the people that come through.”

A bench outside of a General Sessions Civil Division courtroom shows wear from visitors waiting.

Which judges explain what’s happening?

Eviction cases often hinge around a single moment, when judges ask the tenants whether they agree or disagree they owe their landlord money.

If tenants answer “agree,” the judge grants the eviction, since Tennessee law allows for evictions whenever a tenant owes money, except in some rare circumstances. If they disagree, their case will be set for trial — with the tenants likely representing themselves — either later that day or within a couple of weeks.

However, most of the judges fail to explain the question and its implications to tenants. And after court, many tenants told MLK50 they didn’t understand what had happened.

After a case is called and the landlord’s lawyer has read the amount owed, Thompson, Henderson, Gardner, and Mitchell Sims simply ask the tenant, “Do you agree or disagree?” Cobb’s wording makes it clearer that the tenant is confirming they owe the landlord money but not that their landlord will be given the right to evict if they agree.

Mitchell Sims, who was appointed by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners in 2021, said she adopted the “agree or disagree” question from other judges but would like to eventually come up with a better one because tenants get confused.

Thompson said that while the question’s implications may not be apparent, the question itself isn’t difficult to comprehend. And if tenants confirm that they owe money, it’s up to the landlord — not him — whether or not tenants should be given extra time to work something out.

After they agree they owe money or lose their trial, tenants have 10 days to vacate their homes unless they cut a deal with their landlord. This, though, was only consistently explained to tenants by half of the judges: Thomas Moore, Henderson, and Gardner. And tenants coming out of the other courtrooms told MLK50 they didn’t understand they only had a week and a half to find their next home.

After he hears “agree,” Cobb would say, “You can talk to the resident manager about working out payments.” Then he would move on to the next case.

Thompson and Mitchell Sims usually didn’t tell tenants how long they had to leave their homes. After MLK50 brought this to Mitchell Sims’ attention, she said she’ll work harder to be consistently clear with tenants.

Being clear with tenants is the best way to be helpful while remaining impartial, said Vanessa Bullock, housing managing attorney for West Tennessee Legal Services.

“[Judges] don’t realize that some of the speeches they’re making don’t make sense to the lay people they’re talking to,” Bullock said.

Jargon is one of multiple ways judges can unintentionally favor landlords — who are almost always represented by attorneys — over tenants. She said these disparities may not be apparent to the judges themselves but certainly are to most casual observers.

“If you think things are fair and just in this world, go sit in the General Sessions courtroom and watch what happens to the really poor people,” Bullock said. “Everybody deserves to at least know what’s going on and not be sitting in a room going, ‘I don’t know what’s happening.’”

Every Shelby County General Sessions Court judge retained their seat in the August 4th election.

MLK50 journalists Andrea Morales, Wendi C. Thomas, and Brittany Brown contributed to this article.

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News The Fly-By

Week That Was: Lawsuit, COVID-19 Numbers, and MATA

CREDIT: Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

This map shows new coronavirus cases by ZIP code reported over the last 10 days.

Vanderbilt Downgrades Numbers

Vanderbilt University researchers have downgraded COVID-19 numbers across the state in a new report that shows an improving situation here but does not account for the reopening of the state’s economy.

Three weeks ago, researchers with the school said the state’s virus situation remained “fragile and uncertain.” That report looked ahead at when (or if) the state would need to, once again, close its economy if spikes in the virus returned and hospitals got swamped.

The new report does not contain the words fragile or uncertain. Instead, it shows just how much the data and its model have changed since the first report in early April.

For one, the April report predicted the transmission rate (the number of people infected by one person) would reduce to 1.0 by mid-May. That number was reached — statewide, anyway — by mid-April. Current transmission rates in Memphis and Nashville hover around 1.0, according to the paper. All of this changed their predictions altogether.

MLK50 Sues the City

Wendi Thomas

The editor of local news organization MLK50: Justice Through Journalism is suing the city of Memphis for refusing to include her on its media advisory lists.

The complaint was filed in federal court Wednesday by attorneys for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the press on behalf of Wendi Thomas, editor, publisher, and founder of MLK50.

The lawsuit alleges that the city, along with Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and chief communications officer Ursula Madden, violated the U.S. and Tennessee constitutions by repeatedly denying Thomas’ requests to add her email address to the media advisory list.


MATA CEO Talks Money

The city’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal 

year allocates $10 million less to the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) than this year’s.

In Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s proposed budget, which he presented to the Memphis City Council earlier this month, MATA would get a little under $19.2 million in fiscal year 2021, down from this year’s amount of $29.2 million.

Justin Fox Burks

However, Gary Rosenfeld, CEO of MATA, said he does not anticipate this affecting the agency’s ability to provide services over the next year, largely due to a substantial stimulus package from the federal government.

Under the federal CARES Act, MATA is slated to receive approximately $35.7 million in aid. Rosenfeld said the guidelines for spending CARES Act funds for transit is fairly liberal.

“This money is available and we will charge whatever we can legitimately charge to these accounts,” he said. “We should not see any type of degradation of service because of the city’s financial situation. We should be okay as long as we move cautiously and make sure every expenditure we want to use the stimulus package for is legitimate based on the rules and regulations.”

Graceland to Reopen

Graceland is reopening on Thursday, May 21st, and you won’t have to fight the crowds.

Like other attractions that are easing back into operation, there are changes that focus on social distancing, capacity, and health and safety guidelines. Mansion tours are being reduced to 25 percent capacity and restaurants will be at 50 percent capacity with outdoor patio seating available. The Elvis Presley’s Memphis exhibition complex will also limit the number of visitors.

Other changes include having Graceland employees wearing masks and guests being encouraged to wear masks. There will be temperature checks for guests and employees, enhanced cleaning and sanitization procedures, social distancing markers, hand sanitization stations, and touchless payment options.

The Horseshoe Casino, Tunica

Horseshoe Tunica to Resume Gaming

Horseshoe Tunica will resume gaming operations at 8 a.m. Thursday, May 21st. The casino will operate at 50 percent capacity in accordance with the Phase One Casino Reopening Guidelines issued by the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

Slot machine banks will be arranged to allow for social distancing, and table games will be offered with limited seating. Poker, the Sportsbook, Village Square Buffet, the Laurel Lounge, and the WSOP bar will remain closed until further notice. They are expected to reopen in phases according to public health authorities and consumer demand. A full list of the amenities that will be available is at Horseshoe Tunica’s website here.

Clock Tower Comes Down

The massive clock tower that straddled the trolley tracks on Civic Center Plaza is gone. It was demolished this week by crews making way for new developments Downtown.

This is the briefest of descriptions for the demolition given by officials in the city of Memphis website:

“Beginning Friday, May 8th, at 7 a.m., and lasting until Thursday, May 21st, Main Street between Poplar Avenue and Adams Avenue will be closed to traffic. The section of Main Street around the area of the [Memphis Area Transit Authority — MATA] clock tower will be fenced off to allow public works in association with MATA to demolish the structure.”

The tower had to go, specifically, to make way for the development of the Loews Hotel (below), which is to be built on Civic Center Plaza.

Vehicle traffic will run on Main Street right where the clock tower stood earlier this week, according to Robert Knecht, director of the city’s public works department, which is overseeing the Main Street project. You can sort of get the gist of the thing in this image:

Pepper Rodgers Passes Away
Pepper Rodgers, who was head coach of the Memphis Showboats of the USFL in the mid-1980s, has died at age 88. A former football player, Rodgers also was head coach of the Canadian Football League’s expansion Memphis Mad Dogs in the mid-1990s.

He and his wife, Livingston, lived in Reston, Virginia.

Born in Atlanta, Rodgers was a quarterback and kicker for Georgia Tech. He was later the head coach at Kansas, UCLA, and Georgia Tech.

He’s the author of the 1985 novel, Fourth and Long Gone, and his autobiography, Pepper, which he wrote with Al Thorny.

Longtime friend Steve Ehrhart, AutoZone Liberty Bowl executive director, says, “He was one of the most creative and clever and ingenious people — not just a football coach. He was a very bright and intelligent guy. He always shook up the coaching world wherever he was.”

People Are Walking, Biking More

The number of people biking and walking here is higher than usual, according to new data from the city.

The city’s Bikeway and Pedestrian Program looked at data from nine automatic bicycle and pedestrian counters installed at different spots around the city that revealed a surge in activity, largely corresponding to the city’s Safer-At-Home order issued in late March.

The counters located in parks, along trails, and on city streets detect passing bikes and pedestrians to provide a total count of both modes or a combined count.

Survey Reveals Business Needs, Concerns

Businesses here are concerned about revenue, cash flow, and employee well-being, according to an ongoing survey conducted by the Greater Memphis Chamber.

The Chamber surveyed 600 businesses across the city to assess the impact that the COVID-19 outbreak is having on business and their arising needs.

The results include responses from surveys given between March 19th and 23rd, and then again between April 22nd and 27th.

There are 20 industries represented in the surveys, including manufacturing, real estate, restaurants, and entertainment. Of the 600 respondents, 55 percent indicated they were women-or-minority-owned businesses. Nearly three quarters of respondents estimated that their business is down year over year for February through April compared to the same time period last year, while 25 percent indicated business was about the same during those months. For the majority of affected businesses, or 20 percent, business is down between 11 and 20 percent.

Categories
News News Blog

After Being Excluded From Media List, Local Journalist Sues City, Mayor

Wendi Thomas

The editor of local news organization MLK50: Justice Through Journalism is suing the city of Memphis for refusing to include her on its media advisory lists.

The complaint was filed in federal court Wednesday by attorneys for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the press on behalf of Wendi Thomas, editor, publisher, and founder of MLK50.

The lawsuit alleges that the city, along with Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, and chief communications officer Ursula Madden, violated the U.S. and Tennessee constitutions by repeatedly denying Thomas’s requests to add her email address to the media advisory list.

Paul McAdoo, Tennessee’s staff attorney for the Reporter’s Committee Local Legal Initiative, said “it is flat unconstitutional for the city to disrupt and interfere with Ms. Thomas’ ability to gather and report news because it doesn’t like the content of her reporting.”

After multiple attempts to get the city and its officials to stop its retaliatory exclusion of Ms. Thomas from the media list, she has been left with no choice but to ask a federal district court to enforce her rights under the First Amendment and Tennessee Constitution. The administration has said it strives to be the most transparent and communicative in the city’s history, yet retaliation against Ms. Thomas and MLK50 for past coverage of the city is unlawful and ultimately shuts out the Memphis community relying on them for information.”

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According to the complaint, Thomas sent seven emails between May 2019 and January 2020 to the city asking to be included on the list, but was not added.

The lawsuit is asking the court to require the city to add Thomas to its media list immediately, publish explicit standards for including reporters and news organizations on its media list, and to provide notice to any reporter prior to removing them from the list, giving them an opportunity to contest it.

[pdf-1]


“No politician likes being the subject of critical coverage, but that comes with elected office, and I would be abdicating my role as a journalist if I failed to hold local government, including the city of Memphis accountable,” said Thomas. “I am disappointed that it’s come to this since the fix is so simple: Just treat me and MLK50 like you treat other journalists and news outlets.The time and energy I’ve spent trying to get the city to respect my First Amendment right, I could have spent reporting on and for residents struggling to make ends meet and other marginalized groups.”

This comes after McAdoo sent a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Jon McCalla last week, alleging that by refusing to add MLK50 to its media contact list, the city is violating the 1978 Kendrick Consent Decree. The letter argued that the city’s treatment of MLK50 is “inconsistent with the city’s obligations under the Kendrick Consent Decree.”

The consent decree instructs the city not to “disrupt, discredit, interfere with, or otherwise harass any person exercising First Amendment rights.”

Categories
News News Blog

Lawyer Tells Judge City is Violating Local News Organization’s First Amendment Rights

Memphis City Hall

A national media rights organization told a federal judge this week that the city may be violating a federal consent decree in its treatment of local news organization MLK50: Justice Through Journalism.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press sent a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Jon McCalla Monday, alleging that by refusing to add MLK50 to its media contact list, the city is violating the 1978 Kendrick Consent Decree, MLK50 reported Tuesday.

McCalla was the judge in the 2018 police surveillance case, in which he ruled that the city had violated the consent decree by using social media and other tactics to surveil activists. Now, McCalla, and a monitoring team he appointed, is overseeing the city and police department’s adherence to the decree, which prevents the police department from gathering intelligence in ways that violate people’s First Amendment rights.

According to the letter sent by Paul McAdoo, Tennessee’s staff attorney for the Reporter’s Committee Local Legal Initiative, the city “has refused MLK50’s repeated requests to add Ms. [Wendi] Thomas, and MLK50’s managing editor, Deborah Douglas, to the city’s media advisory lists, which is inconsistent with the city’s obligations under the Kendrick Consent Decree.”

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The letter then highlights a section of the decree that instructs the city not to “disrupt, discredit, interfere with, or otherwise harass any person exercising First Amendment rights.”

The next section of the decree instructs the city not to “engage in any action for the purpose of, or reasonably having the effect of deterring any person from exercising First Amendment rights.”

McAdoo writes that the city has interfered with MLK50’s First Amendment rights and attempted to deter journalists from exercising those rights “by refusing to add them to the city’s media advisory lists.”

Lawyer Tells Judge City is Violating Local News Organization’s First Amendment Rights

According to the letter, Thomas, the founder, editor, and publisher of MLK50, was on the city’s media list until January 2019, but learned she had been removed in fall 2019. Since then, Thomas, along with managing editor Douglass has asked the city to re-add MLK50 to the list, but the “city refused to do so.”

“The city’s refusal is motivated by its perception that MLK50’s coverage of it is somehow unfair or not objective,” McAdoo writes. “Such content- and viewpoint-discrimination, however, runs afoul of the First Amendment … Not having the same access to information available to other members of the media whom the city has included on its media advisory list interferes with MLK50 and its journalists’ First Amendment rights and is done to deter their coverage of the city, both of which are violations of the Kendrick consent decree.”

The city did not immediately respond to the Flyer‘s request for comment.