Image Credit: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout
***Note from The Tennessee Conservative – this article posted here for informational purposes only. Per The Tennessee Lookout’s republishing guidelines, this article has been edited for style and length.
By Sam Stockard [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –
Staring at the prospects of funding a new prison, Senate Judiciary Chairman Todd Gardenhire lobbed a bombshell last week at House Speaker Cameron Sexton over a “three-strikes” sentencing bill expected to increase Tennessee’s inmate population.
Gardenhire, a Chattanooga Republican, led an effort to defeat Senate Bill 2137, but before it failed to advance, he said Sexton should have “attached the money.”
“He sent it over to us to take the bullet. He should have had the guts to do it, but he didn’t,” Gardenhire said.
The fiscal analysis says the legislation wouldn’t impact the inmate population in the first three years but at some point would lead to the need for a new prison at a cost of $400 million plus $60 million in annual operating costs.
Sponsored by Sexton and Republican Sen. Dawn White of Murfreesboro, the bill would set up a “three-strikes” system in which people convicted of three crimes, most of them violent offenses, within a certain time frame would be sentenced to life in prison. White described the 54 offenses listed in the bill as “just horrific.”
Yet criminal defense attorney Jeff Cherry of Lebanon told the committee that in some instances, a person who never served one day in prison could find themselves sentenced to life for committing a third crime.
“That’s fundamentally unfair,” Cherry said.
Republican Sen. Paul Rose of Covington said he was taken aback by Cherry’s testimony and voted against the bill.
Gardenhire, Rose, Republican Sen. Kerry Roberts of Springfield and Democratic Sens. London Lamar and Sara Kyle of Memphis voted against it. Voting in favor were Republican Sens. White, Bobby Harshbarger of Kingsport, John Stevens of Huntingdon and Brent Taylor of Shelby County.
Sexton has taken a hard line on crime in recent years, sponsoring a “truth-in-sentencing” measure in 2022 that requires perpetrators of most violent crimes to serve 100% of their sentences. Gov. Bill Lee allowed the bill to become law without his signature, leading Sexton to criticize him as well.
The speaker has also led Republicans’ “Immigration 2026” package to crack down on people without permanent legal documentation.
The bill that died this week doesn’t mention construction of a prison that would be operated by the state’s private-prison contractor, Brentwood-based CoreCivic. But it would probably be in the running for the job, since it gives heavily to lawmakers.
Asked about Gardenhire’s assertions Thursday, Sexton said, “I’m praying for him in this moment of crisis that he seems to be having.”
Sexton said it’s “common knowledge” Gardenhire is the “softest” member of the General Assembly on crime, so he’s not shocked that Gardenhire would side again with murderers, rapists, gang members and violent criminals.
“He only wants to talk about the criminal and how much it may cost to put someone in jail who is a threat to society and a threat to our communities,” Sexton said.
(Incidentally, Gardenhire passed a bill Thursday requiring a 30-day sentence for DUI in a school zone when the flashers are going.)
Defending the “three-strikes” bill, Sexton called it a “novel approach” that allows defendants to reduce their strikes or points if they aren’t convicted of a crime for three years. Sexton added that he would rather build a prison to protect communities “than allow violent criminals to run the streets.”
Similarly, Gardenhire caught the ire of the Tennessee Firearms Association two weeks ago when he killed a spate of gun-related bills, including one that would have eliminated the state’s “intent to go armed” law, which prohibits carrying a weapon for no designated purpose.
The gun group fired off a letter criticizing the Judiciary chairman, and he responded in kind, basically saying he isn’t going anywhere for six years.
But even if Sexton’s bill had escaped the Judiciary Committee, it likely would have hit hard times in finance where senators are taking a jaded look at bills coming before them with undetermined costs.
2 Responses
Gardenhire is WAAY worse’n useless. TNGOP allowing him to pose as Republican is disgusting.
Agreed Dwayne, but Sexton is “WAAY” worse. He has set the vindictive bar very high since unseating Casada, and is a power hungry politician. He is running for anything OTHER than public servant, probably thinking governor, but hopefully, the voters will see through his nasty politics.