Ian Round is The Daily Memphian’s state government reporter based in Nashville. He came to Tennessee from Maryland, where he reported on local politics for Baltimore Brew. He earned a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland in December 2019.
There are 432 articles by Ian Round :
Protesters filled the Tennessee State Capitol on Thursday, March 30, to demand tougher gun safety laws in the wake of the shooting deaths of three children and three adults at The Covenant School in Nashville.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has proposed $140 million to establish a school resource officer (SRO) grant fund that would place a trained, armed security guard at every public school in the state, among other measures.
The Democrats — Reps. Gloria Johnson and Justin Jones — could face expulsion, along with Rep. Justin Pearson, who also participated in the protest. Pearson had no legislative committee assignments to be stripped from.
Tennessee Republicans on Monday, April 3, introduced resolutions to expel state Reps. Justin Pearson, Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson after their protest in favor of gun-safety legislation last week. They could be voted on as soon as Thursday. House Speaker accuses Memphis Democrat, two others of ‘insurrection’Related story:
Supporters, critics differ on merits of proposed legislation.
A federal judge’s ruling ends the age-discrimination lawsuit against Tennessee’s 2021 permitless carry law, allowing individuals aged 18 to 20 to carry handguns without a permit.
Tennessee Republicans voted to expel two Black Democrats, Justin Pearson of Memphis and Justin Jones of Nashville, on Thursday, April 6, for speaking out of turn during a gun-safety protest a week earlier. What happens now that Justin Pearson has been expelled from his House seatRelated story:
Some memorable moments from the Thursday, April 6 expulsion hearings against Justin Pearson, Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson, plus a bonus quote from country singer Margo Price.
Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, whom Republicans expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives last week, have lawyered up.
It’s the first gun-safety proposal Tennessee Republicans have made in the weeks following the Covenant School shooting, and follows a school-safety plan Lee offered last week.Related story:
Pearson was sworn in at the legislative plaza next to the State Capitol by Nashville General Sessions Judge Rachel Bell in front of a small group of gun safety advocates.
Two days after Gov. Bill Lee asked lawmakers to pass an “extreme risk protection order” bill, one such bill sponsored by Democrats died without receiving a committee hearing.
A General Assembly bill allowing 18-year-olds to carry guns without permits was pushed to next year, but the state is already treating it as the law under a settlement that ended an age-discrimination lawsuit.
“There is no indication that the defendant did not understand his plea,” prosecutors wrote in documents filed Friday, April 14. “The defendant identifies no case in which a court has permitted a defendant so sophisticated to withdraw a valid plea so late with so little justification.”
Lee said his proposal, which expands a law that applies to cases of domestic violence, balances the need to restrict gun access for people deemed to be dangerous to themselves or others with the need to protect the rights of gun owners.
Gov. Lee proposed $100 million for the centers, which provide limited medical care and urge people not to terminate pregnancies. A Daily Memphian analysis found those centers’ revenue was about $20 million in 2020.
Lawmakers put on ice a bill requiring the TBI to test rape kits in 30 days after bureau officials said it would be “exorbitantly expensive” to meet that goal.
The budget includes Lee’s Transportation Modernization Act, a $3.3 billion infusion to the Tennessee Department of Transportation and local governments to build roads and expand highways with voluntary toll lanes.
The General Assembly chose to end this year’s legislative session before Gov. Bill Lee could find someone to sponsor — or even file — his “temporary mental health order of protection” bill.Related story:
“It’s just tragic to see what’s happening — in your state in particular,” Biden told state Reps. Justin J. Pearson, Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson. “There’s nothing guaranteed about democracy. Every generation has to fight for it, and you all are doing just that.”
Following his attempt to back out of a plea deal, former state Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) will appear in federal court in Nashville May 16 for an evidentiary hearing in his campaign fraud case.
The DOJ Civil Rights Division argues SB1 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment in part because it “denies necessary medical care to youth based solely on who they are.”
Among those were two bills introducing blended sentencing for juveniles, two bills creating harsher sentences for adults and one making it easier to transfer kids to adult court.
State Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) said the state’s lack of a cap on jet fuel taxes is part of the reason the Memphis International Airport doesn’t have more daily flights.