New Democratic policing reform bill echoes earlier bill by Cohen
The “Justice in Policing Act” was introduced in the House Monday. Hearings before the House Judiciary Committee, including U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, begin Wednesday.
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Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for more than 40 years.
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The “Justice in Policing Act” was introduced in the House Monday. Hearings before the House Judiciary Committee, including U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, begin Wednesday.
Council members expressed alarm at the rise in the daily COVID-19 case count locally and are prepared to call a special meeting Friday to enact a mask requirement in public places within Memphis.
The first reception to the council resolutions presented Tuesday comes with a record of past resistance that indicates it probably won't be as easy as a council vote. The resolutions are advisory.
We start an ongoing scorecard of Shelby County Commission votes with a pair of budget season amendments and the latest incursion into a seven-year controversy about who gets the health insurance contract for 5,000 county employees.
Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter said most of the 133 deaths in Shelby County are from nursing home clusters and outbreaks.
The Memphis City Council is considering four proposals in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody and calls for law enforcement reform nationally since Floyd’s death.
Memphis-Shelby Crime Commission president also talked about calls to defund police departments, the difficulty in prosecuting police officers and the new requirement for police to intervene when another officer is abusing his or her power.
Shelby County Health Dept. director Alisa Haushalter opened Thursday’s briefing with some thoughts on Phase 3.
Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter says despite the recent spike in daily confirmed cases, she sees little reason to put off a move to Phase 3 on Monday.
Faith Morris of the National Civil Rights Museum and Archie Willis of ComCap Partners talk on "Behind The Headlines" about two and a half weeks of protest in Memphis and the difference it represents in the city's history of protest.
The ministers who signed the letter include two who have been meeting with Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland in a review of police procedures. They specifically questioned the law enforcement response to the first local protest over the death of George Floyd that ended with five arrests.
The latest edition of our City Council Scorecard, going back to the start of May, gets the council votes on the record for the end of the budget season and other issues that will endure beyond the first budget season for six of the 13 council members.
The sheriff's appearance comes a week after a clash on the commission over two attempts to cut funding in his budget and reallocate it. The commission appears to be about $5 million away from balancing the budget. But there are lots of questions about whether the movement of line items can be applied to the red ink.
The call to "defund" police during three weeks of daily protests in Memphis has grown as action moves from marches to specific issues. The terms doesn't always mean the same thing to everyone, however.
One of the organizers of the 2019 People’s Convention says while a lot has happened since the gathering ahead of the 2019 city elections, not a lot has changed including calls in June of 2019 for a change in police policies.
A critic of the Strickland administration, the Rev. Earle Fisher, says on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast that he hopes Mayor Jim Strickland's talks with religious leaders produce solutions. But he also expressed skepticism, as some of those in the group have accused police of using excessive force in the city's first George Floyd protest.
The open letter issued Monday calls for police reforms and anti-poverty initiatives. It also accuses Memphis Police of an "egregious" response to peaceful protest in the city. The black-led coalition includes a diverse group of many of the city's nonprofits, from community development corporations to arts groups to housing initiative leaders as well as social justice groups.
Shelby County will not move to the third phase of reopening in the COVID-19 pandemic right now.
The six-hour special meeting Monday sets the stage for a final budget vote in a week. But there are questions about the dollar figures approved by the Commission and how much red ink there is to be dealt with after the moves. Two social media posts during the meeting by County Mayor Lee Harris also complained that there would be layoffs and cutbacks in critical county programs.
The Memphis City Council has three resolutions on its Tuesday, June 16, agenda dealing with law enforcement.
Memphians joining the past 21 days of protests are becoming more vocal about changing the city's traditional method for dealing with racial issues.
The action came with word that owners of the restaurant were buying out their partner in the business venture. The council also passed three resolutions on law enforcement that are the first acts by the group in the discussion about the role of police and use of force policies.
The Memphis City Council approved the requirement Tuesday by a 9-4 vote on its third and final reading. But questions remain about enforceability as county health officials still only recommend wearing masks.
Supply chain problems are affecting the move to get Shelby County funding approved for a specific vendor.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said the sheriff’s office SWAT team used C.S. gas, or “tear gas,” in a May 31 protest Downtown after bricks and bottles were thrown at them as they blocked some protesters from trying to get on the Hernando DeSoto Bridge.