(C) Tennessee Lookout This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Stockard on the Stump: It’s official, Tennessee AG a partisan office • Tennessee Lookout [1] ['Sam Stockard', 'Ren Brabenec', 'J. Holly Mccall', 'John Cole', 'More From Author', 'June', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline'] Date: 2024-06-28 If there were ever any doubts about the partisanship of Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, they can be dismissed. “The jig is up, the news is out, they finally found me.” The AG’s Office has pretended, at least, to be nonpartisan for decades. But Skrmetti’s office ripped off the Band-Aid last week with a refusal (non-refusal?) to answer an inquiry by Democratic state Rep. Vincent Dixie, who had the temerity to ask whether a convicted felon can be placed on the Tennessee ballot as a presidential candidate. In short, Dixie wanted to know if Donald Trump would be allowed as the Republican nominee after being convicted on 34 counts of breaking New York state laws for covering up hush-money payments to porn star Storm Daniels before the 2016 election. Regardless of where you stand on Trump vs. Biden, it’s an interesting question, because felons aren’t allowed to vote or hold office in Tennessee. And if you’re convicted of a felony here, in order to regain voting rights, you have to restore all of your freedoms, including the ability to carry a weapon. The Secretary of State’s Office decided — without legislative action — to etch that in (sand)stone. Apparently, the state elections division wants to make sure everyone’s packing heat when they go to the ballot box. An effort by Democratic Rep. Antonio Parkinson of Memphis to amend the policy failed in the House this year. Adding insult to injury, Elections Coordinator Mark Goins sent letters to 14,000 people this year warning them that when they received their driver’s license they might not have been U.S. citizens and would not be allowed to vote. The letters note that voting illegally is a felony punishable to two years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000, which also would require them to have their gun rights restored before they could vote again. Goins’ letter comes with a prepaid mailing option to submit proof of citizenship, but some people reportedly remain confused about whether they’ll be able to vote in August and November, even with the right paperwork. Critics say at the very least this is a case of voter “intimidation.” It’s also making folks such as Dixie question whether the election office is “drunk with power.” But getting back to Skrmetti’s office — which must be too busy trying to overturn President Joe Biden’s policies to answer Dixie’s question — Solicitor General Matt Rice told him the AG’s authority is limited to giving legal opinions sought by officials “in the discharge of their official duties.” In this case, state election officials — not lawmakers — enforce the state law involved in Dixie’s question, according to Rice’s letter. What if a lawmaker wanted to sponsor an election-related law? Are they entitled only to the Secretary of State’s bills? Here’s the state law at the center of the question: “A person who has been convicted in this state of an infamous crime … or convicted under the laws of the United States or another state of an offense that would constitute an infamous crime if committed in this state, shall be disqualified from qualifying for, seeking election to or holding a public office in this state, unless and until that person’s citizenship rights have been restored by a court of competent jurisdiction.” Skrmetti and Rice could have said the offense Trump was convicted on in New York wouldn’t have applied in Tennessee. But I would be wrong. Instead, they determined only an election official can ask a question about an election-related law. They also — despite saying they couldn’t give an official opinion — found that Dixie’s letter “rests on an incorrect premise,” that “a public office in this state” includes the U.S. presidency. They further argue that the state can’t add new qualifications to the presidency because that would “raise serious constitutional questions.” In other words, states’ rights count only when playing horseshoes and hand grenades. Granted, Dixie could be accused of trying to put the AG’s Office in a predicament. They’re not going to diss Donald Trump, after all, not in a state where he’s likely to win 65% of the vote. They have heard of the Electoral College, though (we hope), which uses each states’ electoral votes, based on population, to elect the president. We sure wouldn’t want to waste 11 measly votes. Even though elections are run by counties at the state’s direction, with the Legislature setting the rules, except, of course, the policy for restoring voting rights, the feds suddenly hold the ultimate bag? Based on the AG’s non-response, they’re willing to let federal rules take precedent, even as the AG’s Office tried to overturn the 2019 presidential election (under Herb Slatery). Skrmetti would never do that. Rice’s letter also points out “state-imposed” restrictions would conflict with the principle of representative democracy, which allows the people to pick the people who govern, in this case a felon who wouldn’t be allowed to vote or run for office in Tennessee. Or carry a gun. Do you reckon Skrmetti and Rice would have given the same response to the Republican House or Senate speakers? Likely not, but then they wouldn’t be asking. Digging up support Fresh off amending his federal campaign finance reports to show he didn’t have as much money as he claimed in 2022, U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles is shoring up backers for another two great years in D.C. Ogles held a fundraiser in Franklin this week with “special guests,” (and they are special) Sen. Joey Hensley of Hohenwald and Reps. Kip Capley of Summertown, Scott Cepicky of Culleoka, Jake McCalmon of Franklin and Gino Bulso of Brentwood. If you’re worried about PRIDE flags in classrooms — which we were assured turned up at a Williamson County school and, thus, a state law was needed to ban them — it’s a great group. In addition to several creative legislative attempts, Ogles’ latest effort is to force President Joe Biden to take a drug test to make sure he isn’t taking anything to pep him up before public appearances. The question is whether this will prohibit folks from tapping a cup of Joe every morning to clear out the cobwebs. Will it eliminate a Monster break too? Top competition for the gerrymandered 5th Congressional District seat is Republican Metro Councilmember Courtney Johnston, who claims as a conservative, she had to fight the “radical left” and its Nashville tax increases. Among other things, Johnston calls Ogles “weak” and says he’s “accomplished nothing.” Well, he did help cause upheaval in House leadership in an effort to win a better committee appointment. But Ogles skirts the truth on just about everything he’s ever done. He didn’t earn a degree from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management, and he’s not an economist, as he claims. In short, his resume has more holes than the Albert Hall. It’s not surprising, then, to see some Tennessee lawmakers support his re-election. Looking for replacements CoreCivic, the publicly-traded company that runs four Tennessee prisons, recently announced it received word from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that it was terminating its contract with the company to hold as many as 2,400 undocumented immigrants at the South Texas Family Residential Center, according to a Gimme Credit report. CoreCivic, which has come under fire in Tennessee for failing to have enough staff to monitor prisoners, suspended its 2024 stock report as a result, according to the report. If anyone is concerned about CoreCivic’s bottom line, the Texas facility alone generated $157 million in revenue last year, 8.3% of the company’s total revenue. Because of the closing, CoreCivic earnings per share will be reduced to 38 to 41 cents from 66 to 76 cents, according to the report. It’s enough to make a grown man cry, because they’ll to fill the void. And Tennessee’s General Assembly is more than willing to oblige with harsher sentencing laws for adults and minors. Despite a bad audit that showed persistent personnel shortages at CoreCivic-run prisons, the Tennessee Department of Correction increased payments to the vendor by $7 million for fiscal 2024-25, pushing its total state contracts to $233 million. CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger is considering a run for governor in Tennessee. Correction Commissioner Frank Strada told lawmakers this year the increases are tied to “inflators,” comparable to a cost-of-living increase. He told the Lookout he’s “very comfortable with CoreCivic … and the strides they’re making to try to improve their operations.” Maybe they can send some of the personnel from the Texas facility to Tennessee. Or not. Those personnel expenses can be bad for shareholders. Oh, good grief Former state Rep. Chris Crider of Milan stepped down from the Tennessee Human Rights Commission in early June after an investigation found he made several unseemly remarks about the LGBTQ community and minority groups, according to a Nashville Banner report. Lawmakers tried to get rid of the Human Rights Commission this year, and this could be a good reason to do it. After all, when the vice chairman is saying stuff such as people “need to speak English” if they’re driving on “my” roads, and telling co-workers to ask an LGBTQ group if it knows where babies come from, the group could be called the Anti-Human Rights Commission. Based on those comments, Crider isn’t really connected to reality, either. First, dangerous driving is more likely tied to drinking alcohol and even more prevalently, to texting and cell-phone use. See someone driving erratically in the middle of the day? Odds are they’re looking at their phone, not the road, which is a good reason to have a rocket-launcher attached to your hood (not that I recommend violence). Second, everyone knows “how babies are made.” The question is whether they can get someone to help make one and then take care of it. “My hair’s still curly and my eyes are still blue / Why don’t you love me like you used to do.” * ( * “Why Don’t You Love Me,” Hank Williams) [END] --- [1] Url: https://tennesseelookout.com/2024/06/28/stockard-on-the-stump-its-official-tennessee-ag-a-partisan-office/ Published and (C) by Tennessee Lookout Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/tennesseelookout/