Recent editorials from Tennessee newspapers:
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March 29
The Johnson City Press on maintaining safety barriers along Tennessee roads:
Tennessee Department of Transportation officials have apologized to the father of a 17-year-old victim of a fatal crash for sending his daughter a $2,970 bill to replace a guardrail involved in her death. The (Nashville) Tennessean reported last week that Hanna Elmers of Loudon County was killed in an accident in November that resulted in a guardrail’s impaling her car and striking her in the head and the chest.
TDOT called the bill for the guardrail a “mistake in processing.” State officials said last week the family will not have to pay the bill.
Even so, Steven Elmers told The Tennessean that the apology does not change his belief the guardrail involved in his daughter’s death was “horribly designed” and that “the culture at TDOT is more concerned with making up catchy slogans than actual safety.”
The guardrail end that struck Hannah Elmers was a type that TDOT officials had removed from its approved list just one week before her death because of safety concerns.
There might be other safety barriers that TDOT should take a closer look at. In 2009, TDOT began installing longitudinal cable barriers along both sides of the median of Interstate Highway 26 through Washington County. These flexible cable barriers help prevent cars from crossing over and colliding with oncoming traffic.
Cable barriers are less costly than the concrete walls and guardrails that Johnson City officials had asked TDOT to install along sections of I-26. Appropriate safety barriers are needed to prevent head-on crashes along narrow sections of the interstate that wind through the city.
While the cable barriers are welcomed, and do provide some help, they must be properly maintained. Too often, it is months before damaged sections of the cable barrier are repaired. And there seem to be many damaged sections between Johnson City and Kingsport.
Instead of billing grieving families for damaged guardrails, perhaps TDOT should concentrate on repairing existing safety barriers that might help prevent future tragedies.
Online:
https://www.johnsoncitypress.com
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March 26
The Commercial Appeal on the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole:
Intervention wouldn’t be needed if the state Board of Probation and Parole always operated in an efficient and humane manner, but the Tennessee General Assembly should fix the problems that kept Robert E. Polk in prison for a year after his case was dismissed.
There should be no hesitation in the House to pass a Senate-approved bill that sets a deadline for the board to reconsider cases when a person has returned to prison because of criminal charges that have been dropped.
The board seems to move in some cases at a pace that breeds contempt for the criminal justice system.
Sponsored in the Senate by Memphis Democrat Lee Harris, the legislation allows the board up to 45 days - generous for any bureaucracy - to reconsider cases like Polk’s.
The 34-year-old parolee, who had been convicted in a drug-dealing case, went back to prison when his parole was revoked over a November 2014 domestic violence charge that was dropped a year later as Polk’s wife was being prosecuted for perjury.
Despite a letter to the board from the local prosecutor suggesting a review of Polk’s case, it wasn’t until news reports exposed the injustice that the board granted his appeal. He was released last November, a year after his charges were dropped.
This wasn’t the first time an inmate in the Tennessee prison system has suffered from official indifference, prompting efforts to enact a legislative solution.
Also pending is a bill that would enable anyone who has spent at least 25 years in prison and is cleared through DNA evidence to be exonerated and go directly to the Tennessee Board of Claims to seek compensation.
The legislation, which would to eliminate the need for governor to approve certain exoneration requests, was prompted by the case of Lawrence McKinney, a former Memphian who spent 31 years in prison on a 1978 rape and burglary conviction but was cleared through DNA evidence and released in 2009.
McKinney has been unable to gain executive exoneration, which would allow him to apply to the Tennessee Board of Claims for compensation up to $1 million, following a dubious recommendation by the parole board to deny his application.
His application, which should not be subject to political considerations, is now in the hands of Gov. Bill Haslam.
Polk’s appeal likewise should be considered based on factual circumstances rather than prejudice, politics or bureaucratic inefficiency.
Current law does not require reconsideration in such cases or set limits on the length of time an inmate must await a decision.
The bill, approved by the Senate on a 27-0 vote, establishes that a prosecutor, judge or the Department of Correction shall notify the board when circumstances demand that the inmate deserves a hearing.
It serves the public interest, as state Rep. Antonio Parkinson has pointed out, by saving the estimated $27,000-per-year cost of housing an inmate in the state prison system.
More important, it would help preserve the belief that the criminal justice system - the protector of the public’s welfare - also has a duty to respect the rights of the accused.
It is detrimental to all Tennesseans when indifference, politics or bureaucratic red tape denies citizens their freedom a minute longer than necessary.
Online:
https://www.commercialappeal.com
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March 28
Knoxville News Sentinel on Mayor Madeline Rogero’s stance on immigration:
Last week Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero stood with mayors from Birmingham to Buffalo, from Los Angeles to Little Rock, from Chicago to Chapel Hill and from dozens of other American cities in solidarity with immigrants and immigration reform.
The chorus of voices should not be confused with opposition to enforcing the laws of the land, that’s not what the U.S. Conference of Mayors Day of Immigration Action on March 21 was about.
The mayors simply said: We will not round up immigrants and turn them over to federal authorities.
The mayors emphasized that neither they nor their police forces are required by law to be Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and they would not voluntarily accept that role.
Rogero issued her proclamation with Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch standing by her side, nodding in agreement.
She and other members of the Conference of Mayors said they want to make immigrants feel welcome despite federal executive orders that may limit the acceptance of refugees or immigrants.
Understand that Rogero was not declaring Knoxville a sanctuary city, a municipality loosely defined as one that limits how law enforcement cooperates with ICE agents.
As recently as Monday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions called for dissolution of sanctuary cities, asking state and local governments to comply with immigration laws. If not, they could face the loss of federal Department of Justice grants.
Knoxville police do not routinely check the immigration status of residents when responding to calls for help. That does not make Knoxville a sanctuary city and that is good for public safety, Rogero said.
The mayor said people should feel comfortable calling police for help when they need it.
“Because our job is to keep the community safe,” Rogero said, “and we cannot do that if people are afraid of calling us when something happens.”
Rausch said there are other issues - such as the prescription drug abuse crisis - that are more pressing in the community than asking someone who has called for help about their immigration status.
The police chief also joins other local law enforcers who believe that immigrants will report crimes in their communities if they do not believe they themselves will be arrested and deported for doing so.
Rogero said some Knoxville residents who are immigrants fear they could be taken away from their children - many of whom are natural-born U.S. citizens.
Many immigrants are in the process of becoming citizens, which takes years, and they should not be kicked out of the country to start anew.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors agrees that our immigration system is broken but asking local law enforcement to run dragnets for immigrants will not fix it.
Let our values of welcoming immigrants continue and work for a comprehensive solution to immigration problems.
That’s what Rogero and the dozens of other mayors were saying. We agree with them.
Online:
https://www.knoxnews.com
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