tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9950726661710838262024-03-14T02:24:39.421-07:00Citizens Media ResourceCitizens Media Resource educates the public on matters of policy and governance; media practices, and social, cultural and economic issues.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger197125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-90533743471397476542020-02-19T09:42:00.004-08:002020-02-19T10:17:09.144-08:00Memphis PD Monitor to Conduct Focus Groups Feb. 25-28<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">The Memphis Police Department Independent Monitor will hear from citizens in small focus groups next week beginning Tuesday, Feb. 25, at four community centers around Memphis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Dr. Sheila Peters, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at Fisk University in Nashville, has been retained by the Monitor to conduct the focus groups.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmS3M7-HkrW-9AaNm1Jxa8hkRyZ0k6YqFiyo18i5fXQEWO7puamyeKxndu9ZmyT5qtpeyhAguOIHPDR1hbzo0HEA63iMvILQnWef-dcVVIgug5LcnlyJmBcnHIEz1QvI_IpLWEqvHyWwU/s1600/FOCUS+GROUP+FLYER+WITH+QR+CODE.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1455" data-original-width="1125" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmS3M7-HkrW-9AaNm1Jxa8hkRyZ0k6YqFiyo18i5fXQEWO7puamyeKxndu9ZmyT5qtpeyhAguOIHPDR1hbzo0HEA63iMvILQnWef-dcVVIgug5LcnlyJmBcnHIEz1QvI_IpLWEqvHyWwU/s320/FOCUS+GROUP+FLYER+WITH+QR+CODE.png" title="" width="247" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">“The purpose of the focus groups is to provide a mechanism for the community to have a voice about the use of police surveillance in Memphis as well as the Kendrick decree,” Peters said. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt;">“The focus groups will give people a greater opportunity to express their personal perceptions and opinions.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">“Participants will complete a short survey, a set of questions, and we will discuss that and other things that may come up,” Peters said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">The sessions, which are for up to 12 persons each, will be conducted Feb. 25 at Douglass Community Center; Feb. 26 at Lester Community Center; Feb. 27 at Orange Mound Community Center, and Feb. 28 at Charles Powell Community Center. Four rounds per day are scheduled, including 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. time slots.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Citizens may sign up for these by contacting Dr. Peters at 615-497-2963, or <a href="mailto:SPeters@Fisk.edu">mailto:SPeters@Fisk.edu</a> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">or by accessing the QR code on the Monitor’s website: </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><a href="https://www.memphispdmonitor.com/community-engagement" style="color: purple;">https://www.memphispdmonitor.com/community-engagement</a></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">The Monitor also will hold its third public community forum at 7 p.m., March 10, at the Ben Hooks Library, 3030 Poplar Avenue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla appointed Edward Stanton III on Dec. 21 to serve as Independent Monitor in the wake of the court’s Oct. 26 ruling that the city of Memphis had violated the 1978 Kendrick Consent Decree which forbade Memphis police from gathering political intelligence on citizens. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Other resources are available on the Monitor’s website, <a href="http://www.memphispdmonitor.com/" style="color: purple;">http://www.MemphisPDMonitor.com</a> Our reports have mainly appeared in Daily Kos. Here is our most recent story, and other stories, videos and resources are linked afterwards:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 20px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/16/1919609/-Cataloging-citizens-photos-at-City-Hall-concerns-Memphis-police-Monitor-federal-judge-in-ACLU-case" style="color: purple;">https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/16/1919609/-Cataloging-citizens-photos-at-City-Hall-concerns-Memphis-police-Monitor-federal-judge-in-ACLU-case</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-77947085266386330432020-02-15T09:41:00.001-08:002020-02-15T09:41:05.047-08:00Court-Appointed Monitor Warns of 'Slippery Slope' in Memphis Police New Social Media Policy<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The federal court-appointed Memphis Police Department Independent Monitor has objected to MPD’s proposed social media policy in a<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/18FdWQ7Tthl_b_0nPLIz7XgBTHd5sF7kc/view?usp=sharing" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> Jan. 8 letter to U.S. Western District Court Judge Jon McCalla</a>.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">MPD’s proposed policy, which was entered into the ACLU v. City of Memphis case record on Dec. 21, 2019, generally follows the FBI model and hierarchy of investigation and oversight. That represents a “slippery slope,” Independent Monitor Edward L. Stanton III told the court. The standards set by the Kendrick Consent Decree supersede the FBI’s model, Stanton wrote. Attorneys for the city of Memphis have the next move to make with the court, assuming they will argue that MPD’s newly crafted policy is adequate and conforms to the 1978 Decree and modern times. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Stanton wrote:</span></div>
<figure class="image-captioned align-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); clear: both; color: #3c3736; display: table; float: right; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin: 7px 0px 26px 20px; max-width: 50%;"><img alt="ACLUmeetingnov.72019stantonatpodiumScreenShot2019-11-08at3.06.33AM.png" src="https://images.dailykos.com/images/759268/large/ACLUmeetingnov.72019stantonatpodiumScreenShot2019-11-08at3.06.33AM.png?1579805530" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 330px;" title="ACLUmeetingnov.72019stantonatpodiumScreenShot2019-11-08at3.06.33AM.png" /><figcaption data-image-attribution="attribution: Moore Media Images" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 117, 39); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; caption-side: bottom; display: table-caption; font-family: "Open Sans Condensed"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 13px; position: relative; word-break: break-word;" title="attribution: Moore Media Images">Independent Monitor Edward L. Stanton III at Nov. 7 community forum</figcaption></figure><div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Using the FBI’s protocols as a base for the City’s social-media policy would crest a slippery slope because the FBI is not bound by the <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Kendrick </em>Consent Decree, and it was not so bound when it formulated its protocols. But the FBI’s demonstrated resistance to oversight and its spotty compliance with the comparatively minimal limits on its powers make the Bureau’s protocols a poor model for adoption by the City for a more fundamental reason. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“As the Court has now stated on several occasions, the <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Kendrick </em>Consent Decree provides protections above the Constitutional floor. (<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">See e.g., </em>Order, ECF No. 250, at PagelD # 8405.) The FBI has proven itself unwilling or unable to comply with obligations <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">below </em>that floor. Its protocols should not now serve as guideposts for the City’s social media policy or other efforts by the City to remedy violations of its own, greater legal commitments.”</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">MODELING THE FBI</strong></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The FBI policy on investigations, including citizens’ social media activity, generally is a three-level process. The first level called “pre-assessment” requires no supervision of agents, no actual evidence or no probable cause. Escalating levels of investigation are termed “assessment” and “predicative investigation.” </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iHGYcBQHjvb_NDMLUBkRFvVcQ_ymIUN9/view?usp=sharing" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">In a Dec. 31, 2019, filing of comments, ACLU attorney Thomas Castelli </a>had called the</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> city’s proposed policy “confusing” and also cited flaws with an FBI “model.” Castelli wrote: </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
“Because the use of the ‘Bob Smith’ account was specifically found by this Court to violate the Consent Decree, ACLU-TN believes it is extremely important that the social media policy include specific discussion of and references to the use of covert or undercover social media accounts.” </div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">McCalla found in October, 2018, that the city of Memphis had violated the 1978 Kendrick Consent Decree which forbade the gathering of political intelligence on citizens who were breaking no laws. At that time McCalla ordered the establishment of an Independent Monitor to review and guide MPD’s compliance with the Kendrick Decree.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">City-retained attorney Mark Glover of the Baker Donelson law firm has petitioned the court to change the consent decree, claiming that it is outdated and will hamper law enforcement’s ability to combat crime. The city has even argued that the Kendrick Decree will cripple its Crimestoppers program. Judge McCalla has set a June 17, 2020, date for an evidentiary hearing on the city’s petition. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">‘BOB SMITH’ AND THE BLACK LIST</strong></div>
<figure class="image-captioned align-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); clear: both; color: #3c3736; display: table; float: right; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin: 7px 0px 26px 20px; max-width: 50%;"><img alt="BobSmithscreenshotfellowprotester.png" src="https://images.dailykos.com/images/759266/large/BobSmithscreenshotfellowprotester.png?1579804514" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 330px;" title="BobSmithscreenshotfellowprotester.png" /><figcaption data-image-attribution="attribution: Facebook post" style="border-bottom-style: none; box-sizing: border-box; caption-side: bottom; display: table-caption; font-family: "Open Sans Condensed"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 13px; position: relative; word-break: break-word;" title="attribution: Facebook post"></figcaption></figure><div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The ACLU’s lawsuit was sparked by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s so-called “black list” of citizens who must be escorted if they entered City Hall and was propelled by revelations that Sgt. Timothy Reynolds of MPD Homeland Security had posed as “Bob Smith” — self-described as a “fellow protester” — and had stalked social media accounts of “activists” and others. Reynolds became enthralled by his assignment and, among other compilations, made a power point report entitled “Blue Suede Shoes.” He made trips to Nashville to watch what he called a “Black Panther demonstration” and other actions and to study Metro Nashville PD responses to them. The city posted daily Joint Intelligence Briefings (JIBs) about citizens’ political activities and even disseminated those to large employers such as AutoZone, FedEx and St. Jude. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">McCalla has relied on Monitor team member and social media Subject Matter Expert Rachel Levinson-Waldman to inform the court on social media investigation policies of other federal agencies, such as the FBI and IRS. Levinson-Waldman has testified and provided charts and documentation to the federal court during the Monitor’s quarterly reports in August and November, 2019.</span></div>
<figure class="image-captioned align-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); clear: both; color: #3c3736; display: table; float: right; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin: 7px 0px 26px 20px; max-width: 50%;"><img alt="ACLUmeetingrachelonpanelnov72019ScreenShot2019-11-09at1.57.14AM.png" src="https://images.dailykos.com/images/736826/large/ACLUmeetingrachelonpanelnov72019ScreenShot2019-11-09at1.57.14AM.png?1573370750" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 330px;" title="ACLUmeetingrachelonpanelnov72019ScreenShot2019-11-09at1.57.14AM.png" /><figcaption data-image-attribution="attribution: Moore Media Images" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 117, 39); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; caption-side: bottom; display: table-caption; font-family: "Open Sans Condensed"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 13px; position: relative; word-break: break-word;" title="attribution: Moore Media Images">Social Media SME Rachel Levinson-Waldman, Deputy Monitor Jim Letten</figcaption></figure><div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">A ‘CIVIL LIBERTIES LENS’</strong></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">’</strong><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“We are coming at this very much through a civil rights and civil liberties lens,” Levinson-Waldman </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">told citizens at a Nov. 7, 2019, community forum. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“In my humble opinion, the tricky parts of the consent decree are going to be played out in the context of social media and online communications,” Deputy Monitor Jim Letten said at the November forum. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">In McCalla’s Oct. 26, 2018, ruling, he noted that Memphis has the opportunity to be a “pioneer” and is in a unique position among U.S. law enforcement agencies to form policy “for the protection of privacy in the digital age.” McCalla wrote:</span></div>
<blockquote style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; line-height: 24px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 30px 60px; width: 660px; z-index: -1;">
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Memphis is unique in having imposed a higher standard on itself by adopting the 1978 Consent Decree, but it is not alone in confronting the questions presented by modern surveillance. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Every community must decide how to ensure an appropriate balance between public safety and protecting personal rights. That balance is determined not only by the text of the policies, but also by the actions taken to enforce them. <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">By successful implementation of the Consent Decree, MPD has the opportunity to become one of the few, if only, metropolitan police departments in the country with a robust policy for the protection of privacy in the digital age. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>See generally Rachel Levinson-Waldman, Government Access to and Manipulation of Social Media: Legal and Policy Challenges, 61 How. L.J. 523 (2018) (detailing the widespread use of social media monitoring by police on lawful protesters).18 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Court recognizes this may be a heavy burden; being a pioneer usually is.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Stanton’s letter to the court also references a 2014 report by the <a href="https://www.pclob.gov/reports/2016-update-on-215-702/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board </a>which has reported on FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) abuses by the FBI. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Thinking about FISA court — and complaints by the Memphis mayor and MPD that the 1978 Kendrick Decree is “out of date” — brings to mind former President George W. Bush complaining post-9/11 about the FISA law and the requirement of warrants for wiretaps. </span></div>
<blockquote style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; line-height: 24px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 30px 60px; width: 660px; z-index: -1;">
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“It’s an old law,” Bush would argue with that smirk of his. “It’s from 1978!” </span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The age of the law did not make it irrelevant, no more than the 1978 Kendrick Decree became irrelevant. Laws against murder, kidnapping, robbery, etc. are older than that, but we do not say they are outdated just because someone was injured with a weapon that did not exist in the 1700s.</span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Resources:</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Judge McCalla’s citation “Rachel Levinson-Waldman, Government Access to and Manipulation of Social Media: Legal and Policy Challenges:”</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/publications/images/RLW_HowardLJ_Article.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.brennancenter.org/…</a></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Independent Monitor Stanton’s Jan. 8 letter to the court:</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/18FdWQ7Tthl_b_0nPLIz7XgBTHd5sF7kc/view?usp=sharing" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">https://drive.google.com/file/d/18FdWQ7Tthl_b_0nPLIz7XgBTHd5sF7kc/view?usp=sharing</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">ACLU filing Dec. 31, 2019:</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iHGYcBQHjvb_NDMLUBkRFvVcQ_ymIUN9/view" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">drive.google.com/…</a></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">MPD social media policy filed Dec. 21, 2019:</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="http://fnolan.com/C7/MPD_social_media_policy_draft.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1Abp1S_5qC7dXSUKYK6Zxdt-gGmt8Z2gT1WN4V14ZXzR99XbFeYGGkk_w" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">http://fnolan.com/C7/MPD_social_media_policy_draft.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1Abp1S_5qC7dXSUKYK6Zxdt-gGmt8Z2gT1WN4V14ZXzR99XbFeYGGkk_w</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Civil Rights Concerns about Social Media Monitoring by Law Enforcement:<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><a href="https://www.ifs.org/expert-analysis/coalition-letter-on-civil-rights-concerns-about-social-media-monitoring-by-law-enforcement/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.ifs.org/...</a></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
From Memphis with Love: A Model to Protect Protesters in the Age of Surveillance: <a href="https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3992&context=dlj" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">scholarship.law.duke.edu/…</a></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
In Tennessee, from New Market to Memphis, law enforcement turns on the victims:</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/01/20/political-surveillance-police-activists-tennessee/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">theintercept.com/...</a></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Our Videos regarding MPD Independent Monitor Team:</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Monitoring the Police in Memphis, Tennessee”</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://youtu.be/mlpd_R2qFng" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">https://youtu.be/mlpd_R2qFng</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Through a Civil Liberties Lens: Monitor Eyes Police Watching Citizens’ Social Media”</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://youtu.be/Qmjv2V3wleY" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">https://youtu.be/Qmjv2V3wleY</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Memphis PD Monitor Forum: Highlights Reel”</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://youtu.be/0PUyhrzZen4" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">https://youtu.be/0PUyhrzZen4</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Our previous related stories in Daily Kos:</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/8/27/1881821/-Judge-opens-MPD-Monitoring-Team-to-Receive-Additional-Information-from-the-Public" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/8/27/1881821/-Judge-opens-MPD-Monitoring-Team-to-Receive-Additional-Information-from-the-Public</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/26/1791161/-Did-Memphis-cops-libel-citizens-by-sending-intelligence-bulletins-to-large-employers" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/26/1791161/-Did-Memphis-cops-libel-citizens-by-sending-intelligence-bulletins-to-large-employers</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/21/1790008/-Who-is-John-Doe-Trial-continues-in-ACLU-vs-City-of-Memphis-for-spying-on-citizen-Doe" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/21/1790008/-Who-is-John-Doe-Trial-continues-in-ACLU-vs-City-of-Memphis-for-spying-on-citizen-Doe</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/8/1786804/-The-mayor-laughed-and-said-You-re-too-late-we-burned-the-files" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/8/1786804/-The-mayor-laughed-and-said-You-re-too-late-we-burned-the-files</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/31/1768517/-Social-media-watching-led-to-arrests-of-MLK50-actors-Homeland-Security-docs-show" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/31/1768517/-Social-media-watching-led-to-arrests-of-MLK50-actors-Homeland-Security-docs-show</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/24/1637374/-Who-Will-Watch-the-Watchers-Every-One-of-Us-as-A-Listers-Challenge-Police-Spying-in-Memphis" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/24/1637374/-Who-Will-Watch-the-Watchers-Every-One-of-Us-as-A-Listers-Challenge-Police-Spying-in-Memphis</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/22/1636740/--It-s-the-Paranoia-that-Worries-Me-the-Most-says-grandmother-minister-on-Memphis-police-black-list" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/22/1636740/--It-s-the-Paranoia-that-Worries-Me-the-Most-says-grandmother-minister-on-Memphis-police-black-list</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/20/1635807/-Memphis-City-Hall-Through-a-Looking-Glass-Did-Mayor-Lie-to-Police-about-Keeping-off-his-Grass" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/20/1635807/-Memphis-City-Hall-Through-a-Looking-Glass-Did-Mayor-Lie-to-Police-about-Keeping-off-his-Grass</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/17/1635130/-Memphis-Mayor-Police-Publish-Political-Black-List-Even-Mother-of-a-Child-Killed-by-Police" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/17/1635130/-Memphis-Mayor-Police-Publish-Political-Black-List-Even-Mother-of-a-Child-Killed-by-Police</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Document dump released by the City of Memphis in June 2018:</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.memphistn.gov/UserFiles/Servers/Server_11150732/File/City%20of%20Memphis's%20Motionfor%20Summary%20Judgment%20Filings%20on%20Civil%20Contempt%204828-8321-9822%20v.1.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;">https://www.memphistn.gov/UserFiles/Servers/Server_11150732/File/City%20of%20Memphis's%20Motionfor%20Summary%20Judgment%20Filings%20on%20Civil%20Contempt%204828-8321-9822%20v.1.pdf</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Gary Moore operates Moore Media Strategies, founded nonprofit Citizens Media Resource, makes documentary and narrative films about social justice issues, and writes about First and Fourth Amendment issues as FreeSpeechZone in Daily Kos. </em></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-35867439517134214972019-08-12T22:18:00.000-07:002019-11-26T19:24:36.193-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdBovYT36OVHubYKsIq_xIP78ivs-Zp1Q3rpCzAj_oP_uCAFXRf6IiU1RwVaYYkk-zHpowevden7BrIbVgQzIcdjpZarFJ5huvig2rn32uLK4ahy094OK95WdBsFDfjDIimwjKvEVx8Qdf/s1600/Heather+Heyer+flowers.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1600" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdBovYT36OVHubYKsIq_xIP78ivs-Zp1Q3rpCzAj_oP_uCAFXRf6IiU1RwVaYYkk-zHpowevden7BrIbVgQzIcdjpZarFJ5huvig2rn32uLK4ahy094OK95WdBsFDfjDIimwjKvEVx8Qdf/s640/Heather+Heyer+flowers.png" width="640" /></a></div>
Two years ago today...Charlottesville...Trump-stoked white nationalists came out. Heather Heyer lost her life opposing hate and bigotry when one of them drove his car into her and others. One week later, police arrested Memphis citizens who objected to the Nathan Bedford Forrest monument in a central city park.<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-25164372727223258342019-05-24T08:05:00.002-07:002019-05-24T08:41:49.091-07:00Slicing and Dicing Citizen Oversight of Police in Tennessee and the USA<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJh6K2I167lzEMVnSNvL2t_0SDvSVhmSLSD9YbrdbUsQ9NRdXc802FZOFoNJ0oeqvOWBBbUecDp-477iOayhqeHJY99dKOjWvqqCmPyjP1vzRbk6uEZNveGE-jv2JDQAjSytcEkmO5aaUl/s1600/Wendy+Best+Hair+Wide+Shot+Meaghan+to+Side.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="1600" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJh6K2I167lzEMVnSNvL2t_0SDvSVhmSLSD9YbrdbUsQ9NRdXc802FZOFoNJ0oeqvOWBBbUecDp-477iOayhqeHJY99dKOjWvqqCmPyjP1vzRbk6uEZNveGE-jv2JDQAjSytcEkmO5aaUl/s640/Wendy+Best+Hair+Wide+Shot+Meaghan+to+Side.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wendy Zuniga (with bullhorn) and Memphis citizens urge City Council to reinstate oversight (July 2015)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Toward the end of the day, standing at the back of the room, Community Oversight Board First Vice-Chair <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Jamel Campbell-Gooch </strong>expressed the takeaway from NACOLE’s regional meeting in Nashville May 17:</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Listening to everyone, we see there are so many different ways to go about this,” said Campbell-Gooch. In Tennessee vernacular, we might say, “More than one way to skin a cat.” By whatever description, this was not only a “takeaway” – it was an understatement. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Leading officials of community police oversight boards from across the country gathered at Nashville’s main library for a regional meeting of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. They came from Denver, Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta, Washington DC, Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville and elsewhere for the one-day event. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Nashville’s COB, voted into power by a public referendum in November, was the shiny, new player at the event. Many COB members and its newly appointed executive director, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">William Weeden</strong>, showed up to soak in whatever they could as COB establishes how they will operate. </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard; letter-spacing: normal;">So did several community members whose activism through Community Oversight Now had launched the referendum.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">OVERSIGHT SMORGASBORD</strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">What Campbell-Gooch meant was this: There are many different “models” for a community to operate a citizen board. Taking in the smorgasbord of how citizen boards operate, in all their nuances, was the day’s food for thought. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">A citizen board, for example, may take on the role of directly investigating every single citizen complaint about police abuses and mistreatment. An example would be the Chicago Office of Police Accountability, which has a staff of 150, including 90 investigators, and an $18-million budget, according to its chief administrator, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Sydney Roberts</strong>. Citizen complaints first come directly through COPA. They fielded 4,200 complaints in 2018, she said, and 70 per cent of those they forwarded along to Chicago Police Department internal affairs.</span></div>
<br />
<figure class="image-captioned align-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); clear: both; color: #3c3736; display: table; float: right; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin: 7px 0px 26px 20px; max-width: 50%;"><img alt="ScreenShot2019-05-23at1.29.39AM.png" src="https://images.dailykos.com/images/678491/large/ScreenShot2019-05-23at1.29.39AM.png?1558629021" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 330px;" title="ScreenShot2019-05-23at1.29.39AM.png" /><figcaption data-image-attribution="attribution: Moore Media Images" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 117, 39); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; caption-side: bottom; display: table-caption; font-family: "Open Sans Condensed"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 13px; position: relative; word-break: break-word;" title="attribution: Moore Media Images">Nicholas Mitchell of Denver, Sydney Roberts of Chicago and Nicolle Barton of St. Louis share their experiences with citizen oversight</figcaption></figure><br />
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">COPA investigates such things as shootings by police, showing up alongside Chicago Police Department officers and command staff to interview witnesses, go to the hospital, etc. Although Chicago had other oversight mechanisms prior to COPA, Robert’s office was established by ordinance in 2017 and after the 2014 police shooting of <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Laquan McDonald</strong>. That led to an investigation by the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division of CPD’s “patterns and practices” and a consent decree which became effective March 1.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">At the other end of the spectrum in its authority and size was Memphis’ Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB), which has a staff of two and is allowed to hear citizen complaints only after police internal affairs has completed its investigation and notified the complaining citizens of its decision. CLERB Administrator <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Virginia Wilson </strong>represented the Memphis board and served on a panel at the NACOLE meeting.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">RIGHT SIDE OF THE LAW</strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">While police unions, associations and Fraternal Order of Police fight citizen oversight tooth and nail, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Knoxville Chief of Police Eve Thomas </strong>showed up at the Tennessee General Assembly in March to object to a GOP bill which limited oversight. The bill bans citizen oversight boards from having direct subpoena authority such as Nashville’s COB and Knoxville’s Police Advisory and Review Committee (PARC) have by local ordinance.</span></div>
<br />
<figure class="image-captioned align-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); clear: both; color: #3c3736; display: table; float: right; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin: 7px 0px 26px 20px; max-width: 50%;"><img alt="ScreenShot2019-05-23at11.34.21AM.png" src="https://images.dailykos.com/images/678499/large/ScreenShot2019-05-23at11.34.21AM.png?1558629295" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 330px;" title="ScreenShot2019-05-23at11.34.21AM.png" /><figcaption data-image-attribution="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 117, 39); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; caption-side: bottom; display: table-caption; font-family: "Open Sans Condensed"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; word-break: break-word;" title="">Knoxville Chief of Police Eve Thomas</figcaption></figure><br />
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Thomas also was the only active member of law enforcement to show up at the NACOLE event. She had some memorable insights.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“I had an ‘aha’ moment. My ‘aha’ moment was in 1994,” Thomas told the gathering. “I made a stop. It was a gentleman of color. I was very professional.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“At the end, he said, ‘You were respectful. You did everything right. But you were rude.’”</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Thomas was puzzled.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“You didn’t ask me how my day was going,” the man told her. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">I touched base with Chief Thomas again yesterday to make sure I understood her meaning.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“It was more of a realization of the need to be courteous and more thoughtful in my interactions,” she said, “rather than ‘business-like.’ I learned from this gentleman to put more emphasis on treating everyone the way I want to be treated rather than being sure I say the right things -- in a robotic manner.”</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Thomas said she was hopeful that today’s young officers will be less prejudiced than previous generations.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“They are great on the technology,” Thomas said. “The thing is, we have to train them how to communicate with people.”</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">However, it’s the young officers, such as in their mid-twenties, who seem to most often shoot young, black men who are trying to get away. Talking would have been a great option over shooting. <a href="https://www.lindenwood.edu/academics/online-programs/blog/2014/six-important-qualities-every-police-officer-should-have/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">In fact, a key characteristic of a successful officer is an outgoing personality. </a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">CONSENSUS</strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">If the takeaway of the day was variety, there was consensus on many subjects, such as community outreach, opposition from the FOP and the race-based source of most complaints. </span></div>
<br />
<figure class="image-captioned align-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); clear: both; color: #3c3736; display: table; float: right; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin: 7px 0px 26px 20px; max-width: 50%;"><img alt="ScreenShot2019-05-23at1.30.34AM.png" src="https://images.dailykos.com/images/678490/large/ScreenShot2019-05-23at1.30.34AM.png?1558629011" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 330px;" title="ScreenShot2019-05-23at1.30.34AM.png" /><figcaption data-image-attribution="attribution: Moore Media Images" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 117, 39); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; caption-side: bottom; display: table-caption; font-family: "Open Sans Condensed"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 13px; position: relative; word-break: break-word;" title="attribution: Moore Media Images">NACOLE Regional Training and Networking in Nashville May 17, 2019</figcaption></figure><br />
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Nicolle Barton</span></strong><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">, executive director, City of St. Louis Civilian Oversight Board, was formerly a sworn officer, and she worked in the criminal justice system in the probation department in Ferguson, MO, when officer <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Darren Wilson </strong>murdered <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Mike Brown Jr. </strong>Aug. 9, 2014. As a former officer, Barton gives lie to FOP’s cliché complaint that only police can police the police.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“The FOP fought against us from the beginning. Our FOP rep had a physical altercation with an activist at a Town Hall meeting,” Barton said.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“They think, ‘Why would a body of citizens who don’t know anything about what we do tell us what to do?’”</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Even worse: “During peaceful protests after (St. Louis) officer <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Jason Stockley </strong>was acquitted of murdering <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Anthony Lamar Smith</strong>, police had undercover officers in the crowd to watch citizen protesters. </span></div>
<blockquote style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; line-height: 24px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 30px 60px; width: 660px; z-index: -1;">
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Police maced and beat protesters – and even one of our own undercover officers!” Barton said.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Continued community outreach is important,” Barton noted. “I attend public safety meetings, Town Hall meetings, neighborhood meetings. I am a member of the Association of Latin Professionals.”</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Susan Hutson </span></strong><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">is the Independent Police Monitor in New Orleans, serving since 2010 to oversee the city’s consent decree with the DOJ. She spoke about their mediation program between officers and citizens.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<blockquote style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; line-height: 24px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 30px 60px; width: 660px; z-index: -1;">
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“At the heart of every single one of these conversations is race,” Hutson said. “The officer thinks, Well, you were walking around with your pants hanging down.”</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Panelists also agreed that members of the community should be at the forefront of policy making.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“People should have a seat at the table on policy, not just a bunch of experts,” said Denver Independent Monitor <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Nicholas Mitchell</strong>.</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“We need to meet the community where they are, where things are happening,” said COPA’s Roberts. “We need to establish those relationships ahead of time.”</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Memphis’ CLERB and Nashville’s COB, among other oversight boards, have called on the Atlanta Citizen Review Board as a resource. CLERB investigator <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Arthur Robinson </strong>spent a few days in Atlanta in 2017 studying their process. We talked with <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Samuel Lee Reid II</strong>, ACRB’s executive director, during a break in the meeting. We will give him the last word, along with a <a href="https://youtu.be/FYT8jms_fD0" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">link to our video interview.</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<figure class="image-captioned align-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); clear: both; color: #3c3736; display: table; float: right; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin: 7px 0px 26px 20px; max-width: 50%;"><img alt="NACOLEMay17201900392.00_00_35_17.Still001.jpg" src="https://images.dailykos.com/images/678502/large/NACOLEMay17201900392.00_00_35_17.Still001.jpg?1558629773" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 330px;" title="NACOLEMay17201900392.00_00_35_17.Still001.jpg" /><figcaption data-image-attribution="attribution: Moore Media Images" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 117, 39); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; caption-side: bottom; display: table-caption; font-family: "Open Sans Condensed"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 13px; position: relative; word-break: break-word;" title="attribution: Moore Media Images">ACRB Executive Director Samuel Lee Reid II</figcaption></figure><br />
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“These oversight boards grow out of something that happened,” Reid said. “And then the community demands it.” </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">But later, apathy can set in, Reid said, “and the community moves onto something else… We have to keep the community engaged and our work fresh.” </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">One example of outreach was a short video that ACRB produced, “Don’t Run,” urging citizens not to run from police. “Running away” has triggered an emotionally wrong and unconstitutional impulse in officers who have shot and killed non-violent citizens who were trying to get away. The list is long, but it includes <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Daniel Hambrick </strong>in Nashville, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Darrius Stewart </strong>in Memphis and <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Justus Howell </strong>in Zion, IL.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<figure class="image-captioned align-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); clear: both; color: #3c3736; display: table; float: right; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin: 7px 0px 26px 20px; max-width: 50%;"><img alt="DontRunAtlantacopy.png" src="https://images.dailykos.com/images/678681/large/DontRunAtlantacopy.png?1558664088" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 330px;" title="DontRunAtlantacopy.png" /><figcaption data-image-attribution="attribution: Atlanta Citizen Review Board" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 117, 39); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; caption-side: bottom; display: table-caption; font-family: "Open Sans Condensed"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 13px; position: relative; word-break: break-word;" title="attribution: Atlanta Citizen Review Board">Atlanta oversight board developed ‘Don’t Run’ video</figcaption></figure><br />
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">ACRB also puts on know-your-rights workshops, which not only explain the rights citizens have, but the responsibilities citizens have.</span></div>
<blockquote style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; line-height: 24px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 30px 60px; width: 660px; z-index: -1;">
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“We do the know-your-rights workshops at libraries, churches. We will come to your family barbecue,” Reid said. “We will go anywhere, any time. That’s how important it is.” </span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Our feature documentary, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Who Will Watch the Watchers?</em> examines citizen oversight of police, drilling down on the Memphis movement to bring back its CLERB, which had been secretly disbanded by Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton in 2011. The film also takes on profiling, filming police, the First Amendment in the Trump era and other contemporary issues. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Yx0Ahil1Fcc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yx0Ahil1Fcc?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-12669812558471299372019-03-03T15:33:00.001-08:002019-03-03T15:33:15.920-08:00On Your Uber Ride to Downtown Nashville, Watch Out for Those Political PotholesWhile taking an Uber ride to the second Community Oversight Board meeting, I realized I had underestimated the rancor and divide in Nashville.<br />
<br />
Here is our story in Daily Kos: <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/3/3/1839032/-On-Your-Uber-Drive-in-Nashville-Watch-Those-Political-Potholes" target="_blank">"On Your Uber Drive in Nashville, Watch Those Political Potholes" </a><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRhLaTmDBTs9GxYyCedb66e6SOWfvQ9p6f9HB0eqwAzi_Gf4Urc9YrXSU4TnLJwSECWW4TADheuahjuulDUGCIQuELftIbEeSIOKfrGtJQDB2ai271Pt6Q7r6JuNSDc80cIgcR9aj51da_/s1600/Phyllis+Hildreth+.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="1450" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRhLaTmDBTs9GxYyCedb66e6SOWfvQ9p6f9HB0eqwAzi_Gf4Urc9YrXSU4TnLJwSECWW4TADheuahjuulDUGCIQuELftIbEeSIOKfrGtJQDB2ai271Pt6Q7r6JuNSDc80cIgcR9aj51da_/s640/Phyllis+Hildreth+.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">COB member Phyllis Hildreth (right) laments distrust in the community </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-53953675140889908332019-01-26T22:42:00.002-08:002019-01-26T22:58:17.597-08:00Community Oversight: 7 Ways New Nashville Board Can Connect<div class="col-sm-12 story-section" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; float: left; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; min-height: 1px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; position: relative; width: 850px;">
<div class="story-full-content" id="story-full-content" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<div class="row" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: -15px; margin-right: -15px;">
<div class="story-intro-wrapper width-xl" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;">
<div class="col-sm-12" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; position: relative; width: 850px;">
<div class="story-column" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: right; width: 660px;">
<div class="story-intro story-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">As Metro Nashville Council fills appointments to the new Community Oversight Board, what will soon matter most to the board and administrative staff is this: Make Connections. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjZCP-YgwyhLdxJI5GII5Z7JXhMg1nxuUHNj9CfflzLycGmQbBd8_0irGD6ng2ee7uqkM3HxjzYwaGEbpYYFdrDEDuCKFU0WuBxK4dST_Uu2oxmVvM7iWoPD9lThlRnxue9n3XOJOpJV0y/s1600/CLERB+symbol.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="624" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjZCP-YgwyhLdxJI5GII5Z7JXhMg1nxuUHNj9CfflzLycGmQbBd8_0irGD6ng2ee7uqkM3HxjzYwaGEbpYYFdrDEDuCKFU0WuBxK4dST_Uu2oxmVvM7iWoPD9lThlRnxue9n3XOJOpJV0y/s320/CLERB+symbol.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Not the good ol’ boy, Nashville-standard-operating-procedure connections – but connections to the community, and especially those that are left out of the usual Nashville network. </span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Here are seven things on our Connections Laundry List:</span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">1—The first message out of the box has to be: <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">We’re open for business,</strong> and this is how we work. While COB was adorned with broad powers by the historical referendum citizens approved in November -- and it has a lot of levers to pull -- the centerpiece is to give platform to citizens who believe they have been wronged by law enforcement. </span><br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">2—Keep mass media in the loop, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">even after the new wears off</strong>. In a local and national atmosphere where media and the community are mindful of excessive force by police, media are in a high state of on–the-story. But as time wears on, it will be important for COB and staff to guide the narrative and tell its own story. Be pro-active at providing news and feature stories for media to consume. Be as transparent as citizens want police and government to be. “Media relations” includes keeping the press interested in covering every meeting. </span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">3—On social media, COB should be <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">as visible and engaging as any department</strong> of Metro government or any business. </span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">4—<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Show, don’t just tell.</strong> Posts that include video get more views. COB can produce its own video packages – for example, a walk-through of how to make a complaint, or what to do if police pull you over. Short films can be created to use for group presentations. Atlanta Citizen Review Board, for instance, made a super-short sequence entitled, “Don’t Run from Police.”</span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">5—<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Be approachable out there.</strong> Be visible in the schools, churches, community centers and wherever they will have you (such as businesses and law offices). Know Your Rights role-playing workshops are one type of presentation. Duplicate yourself by getting students at Metro schools involved in conducting their own Know Your Rights Theater</span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">6—<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Video every meeting</strong>. Live-stream, but also produce high-quality video files of the total meeting, and re-mix into a meeting “highlights” not to exceed 15 minutes. Archive your videos because citizens, media, filmmakers, historians and courts will have occasion to use them in the future. Metro </span>Nashville already does this with certain events and meetings, such as police officers being promoted, but watch for push-back from some quarters to the perception of “dirty laundry” being aired over city channels.</div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">7—Have a <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">user-friendly website</strong> where citizens can make complaints online. Your own story-telling video packages, how-to’s and all sorts of stuff can be resources for the public. Website should include meeting agendas, minutes and news. Cases that have been adjudicated should have a synopsis, because it is instructive to know what kind of complaints the board receives and how they are making decisions. </span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">NOT CONNECTING LEADS TO THIS</strong></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">An example of what not to do -- how to fail to communicate with the community despite good intentions -- can be found in the Memphis Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board. CLERB recently decided to drop monthly meetings and meet every other month due to a dwindling case load. CLERB heard only 10 to 12 cases in 2018, according to CLERB Chairperson Casey Bryant.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<figure class="image-captioned align-right" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: table; float: right; margin: 7px 0px 26px 20px; max-width: 50%;"><img alt="casey%20bryant%20gesturing%20arms%20out%20Screen%20Shot%202019-01-22%20at%201.24.53%20AM.png" src="https://images.dailykos.com/images/635466/large/casey%20bryant%20gesturing%20arms%20out%20Screen%20Shot%202019-01-22%20at%201.24.53%20AM.png?1548215214" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 330px;" title="casey%20bryant%20gesturing%20arms%20out%20Screen%20Shot%202019-01-22%20at%201.24.53%20AM.png" /><figcaption data-image-attribution="attribution: Moore Media Images" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 117, 39); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; caption-side: bottom; display: table-caption; font-family: "Open Sans Condensed"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 13px; position: relative; word-break: break-word;" title="attribution: Moore Media Images">CLERB Chair Casey Bryant: “People don’t know they can complain.”</figcaption></figure><br />
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“People don’t know they can make a complaint,” Bryant said. “The letters that the police internal </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">affairs sends out after making a decision are not understandable to most people…It’s not clear what a citizen’s recourse is.”</span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">In Nashville, citizens may make complaints directly to COB, but a Memphis citizen must first complain through police internal affairs before appealing to CLERB.</span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“So that’s why I want to do some more outreach and get people in the public to understand our role and the possibilities. The first thing to do would be to have an accurate website that is up to date and user-friendly. </span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“To make sure we get all this out is tough,” said Bryant, who is a lawyer. “We could have a Facebook page. We talked a couple of months ago about putting on panels, with academics or members of law enforcement. And going around town and educating people on issues. </span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“We were trying to have meetings in different parts of town, hoping people would come, but we just weren’t able to publicize it.</span></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“I did an interview last night with Fox 13 news,” Bryant said after a Jan. 10 CLERB meeting. “Scores of people said they saw it. The TV story was playing off people’s unease about police brutality and wanting to see something change about it. I think CLERB is positioned to bring some light to those issues. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://images.dailykos.com/images/631483/large/CLERB_Casey_Bryant_swears_in_trent_collier_jan._10_2019.png?1547279505" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="CLERB_Casey_Bryant_swears_in_trent_collier_jan._10_2019.png" border="0" src="https://images.dailykos.com/images/631483/large/CLERB_Casey_Bryant_swears_in_trent_collier_jan._10_2019.png?1547279505" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 270px;" title="CLERB_Casey_Bryant_swears_in_trent_collier_jan._10_2019.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Casey Bryant swears in complainant Trent Collier</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 30px 60px; width: 660px; z-index: -1;">
<div style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“But we need to be out in public. We have to demystify whatever people think this is.” </span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="is-empty-p" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 22px;">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="col-sm-12" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(60, 55, 54); color: #3c3736; float: left; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; min-height: 1px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; position: relative; width: 850px;">
<div class="story-community-disclaimer" style="background-color: #e1f0f9; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-top: 20px; text-align: center;">
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-87767188244569602952018-07-27T22:52:00.005-07:002018-07-28T08:06:12.495-07:00Using a FOIA to get information out of the government<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "verdana";">Besides our right and ability to vote, which remains under
attack, and First Amendment, which has been under attack forever but with
greater intensity in the Trump era, the Freedom of Information Act may be
democracy’s last stand.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu10-wo8w_QefhFXZ-ATH18V6OCdL5b4JL3Z7lX4Lc1N1QVfCMiYq9E011gsrrc-oS33o_NjvE1BYZs-LIA0dsPq9l6QiLAkHvoQ4GILz6OKZr9R8gFxS1SeQrt1zQ3_T5E8xJOyTJ6P2r/s1600/1+201+MPD+cop+pointing+to+Manuel+best+one+Screen+Shot+2018-04-11+at+10.08.32+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1051" data-original-width="1600" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu10-wo8w_QefhFXZ-ATH18V6OCdL5b4JL3Z7lX4Lc1N1QVfCMiYq9E011gsrrc-oS33o_NjvE1BYZs-LIA0dsPq9l6QiLAkHvoQ4GILz6OKZr9R8gFxS1SeQrt1zQ3_T5E8xJOyTJ6P2r/s400/1+201+MPD+cop+pointing+to+Manuel+best+one+Screen+Shot+2018-04-11+at+10.08.32+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why was this officer pointing at Manuel Duran?<br />
We filed an FOIA with Homeland Security to find out<br />
--Moore Media Images</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is chiefly where major stories have been coming from in
this century as governmental sources seem to be inclining toward increasing
paranoia mixed with arrogance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To submit a FOIA – if you hear someone say what sounds like
“Foy- ya,” this is what they are talking about – involves several steps but is
not terribly hard. It is not so hard as actually getting the government to
respond fully, promptly and accurately. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here is my quickly composed how-to:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>CITY OF MEMPHIS</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To submit a FOIA, or Freedom of Information Act request, AKA
Open Records Request, from the city of Memphis, first go here and set up an
account.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://www.memphistn.gov/government/communications"><span style="color: #365899; text-decoration: none;">https://www.memphistn.gov/government/communications</span></a><span style="color: #1d2129;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After establishing an account with your email and password,
submit your request. Just type what you want, what you are looking for. Be
specific as to time frame, names of anyone you are looking for, etc. You will
be asked to attach a document showing who you are and where you live, such as a
shot of your drivers license or voter registration card, proving you are a
local resident.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here are two examples, one I am thinking about requesting and
one I previously requested:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">From City of Memphis, MPD. “Please provide copies of all traffic
citations issued on July 6, 2018, between the hours of 4 p.m. and 10 p.m.,
written by law enforcement officers within the following physical perimeters:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“North of I-240; South of Park Avenue; East of E. Prescott; West
of Getwell.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here is one I submitted to MPD on May 22 after I had received
documents from TN Department of Homeland Security, which I regarded as incomplete,
upon this same subject. My objective here was to uncover preemptive targeting
of activists by law enforcement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Intra-agency and inter-agency communications
related to suspected or actual rallies, demonstrations and public political
displays the week of MLK50, April 2-April 7, 2018. Agencies and
information-gathering and sharing entities shall include all federal, state,
city and county, including but not limited to RTCC, FBI, TBI, ATF, JTTF, Fusion
Centers, Secret Service, ICE, Dept. of Homeland Security; as well as all video
and photographic images, and audio recordings, that may have been recorded by
LE between 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on April 3 at or near 201 Poplar Ave.
Fulfillment of this request is to be provided digitally and electronically at
no cost to the requester.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">MPD’s reply was as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The
City has reviewed your request and has determined that the records requested
are exempt from disclosure for the following reasons: <span style="background: yellow;">Per the custodian, this matter is an open and ongoing law enforcement
investigation and pursuant to TN Crim Pro Rule 16, the records are not
available at this time. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“This
completes your public records request with the City of Memphis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Sincerely, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Public
Records Office<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“City
of Memphis”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>TN DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To request information from the TN
Department of Safety and Homeland Security, including the state Fusion Center
(aggregator of law enforcement communications), send an email to <a href="mailto:Kyle.Turner@tn.gov">Kyle.Turner@tn.gov</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He is a staff attorney in the office of
Department of Safety commissioner David Purkey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He is the screener and intake man for FOIA requests. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here is how I posed my request on April
17:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">“All
documents of every sort, including but not limited to emails, faxes and
reports, pertaining to protests and public demonstrations in Memphis, TN, on
April 2 and April 3, 2018; from, to and among all agencies, state, federal and
local; and especially pertaining to a “Rolling Block Party” posted on Facebook
and including but not limited to these individuals: Keedran Franklin, Hunter
Demster, Spencer Kaaz, Yuleiny Escobar and Manuel Duran.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They are required to respond within 2 weeks
– even if their response is, We don’t have it yet. We will have it in 2 weeks.
Then, 2 weeks later, you may get another, We don’t have it yet, but we will
have it in 2 weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to FOIA rules,
the government entities receiving the requests are obliged to send updates
periodically, even if they are merely stalling and hoping you will give up; or trying to figure out how NOT to get you the documents, or how much to redact. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></span>
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here is <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/31/1768517/-Social-media-watching-led-to-arrests-of-MLK50-actors-Homeland-Security-docs-show" target="_blank">the story we wrote in DailyKos</a> after getting some heavily redacted emails from OHS</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To request documents from a different
state agency, go to that agency’s web page. Here is a link to a generic state
of Tennessee open records request form.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.comptroller.tn.gov/repository/OpenRecords/FormsSchedulePoliciesGuidelines/20170307RecordsRequestForm.pdf">http://www.comptroller.tn.gov/repository/OpenRecords/FormsSchedulePoliciesGuidelines/20170307RecordsRequestForm.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here is an “Open Government Guide” for
Tennessee. It is prepared by attorneys, reads something like a legal brief
(dense and dull), but it is probably a good chapter-and-verse breakdown.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://www.rcfp.org/rcfp/orders/docs/ogg/TN.pdf">https://www.rcfp.org/rcfp/orders/docs/ogg/TN.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>FBI and ADVICE FROM A PRO</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Aaron Sankin, staff reporter at Center
for Investigative Reporting, writes “The Hate Report” for Reveal News – and a
bunch of other stuff, and he is experienced (more than me) at clawing info out
of government scoundrels. I reached out to Aaron recently for advice. He said
FBI is the worst to try to get info from and that they have several pending
lawsuits against FBI to release info. He said suing them is usually what it
takes to pry info from FBI.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="dxebasemoderno"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here is what he wrote to me, in the
format of a model request with citations:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
To Whom It May Concern: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is a request under the
Freedom of Information Act. I am a reporter seeking all documents and records
regarding XXXXXXXX.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">More specifically, I hereby request XXXXXXXXX.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Please limit the date range of this search to between XXXXXXXXX
and the date when the search for responsive records is carried out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In addition to the records requested above, I request records
describing the processing of this request, including records sufficient to
identify search terms, locations and custodians searched, as well as any
tracking sheets used to track the processing of this request. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If XXXXXXXXX uses FOIA questionnaires or certifications completed
by individual custodians or components to determine whether they possess
responsive materials or to describe how they conducted searches, I also request
any such records prepared in connection with the processing of this request.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I seek all responsive records regardless of format, medium, or
physical characteristics. In conducting your search, please understand the term
“communications” in its broadest sense, to include any written, typed,
recorded, graphic, printed, or audio material. I seek records of any kind,
including electronic records, audiotapes, videotapes, and photographs, as well
as letters, emails, facsimiles, telephone messages, voice mail messages and
transcripts, notes, or minutes of any meetings, telephone conversations or
discussions. Our request includes any attachments to these records. No category
of material should be omitted from search, collection, and production.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "verdana";">Please search all investigative and
non-investigative files. Also, please exclude all news articles and duplicate
emails from the search results. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<br />
IF YOU'RE FILING A FOIA WITH THE FBI ADD THIS:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">***In addition, please ensure the FBI searches its case management
system (the Automated Case Management System), its administrative records
(which hold information from contractors or others—who perform work for the
FBI), its Operational Technology Division (which develops and deploys
technology-based solutions for the FBI’s intelligence), Records Management
Division, email management system, Electronic Surveillance (ELSUR) Data
Management System, or any “compliance audits” (also known as “Quality Assurance
Reviews”).*** <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You may not exclude searches of files or emails in the personal
custody of your officials, such as personal email accounts. Records of official
business conducted using unofficial systems or stored outside of official files
is subject to the Federal Records Act and FOIA. It is not adequate to rely on
policies and procedures that require officials to move such information to
official systems within a certain period of time; I have a right to records
contained in those files even if material has not yet been moved to official
systems or if officials have, through negligence or willfulness, failed to meet
their obligations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If any potentially responsive records have been destroyed and/or
transferred to other agencies or offices, such as the National Archives and
Records Agency (NARA), then I request copies of the destruction or transfer
slips as well as any other documentation relating to, mentioning or describing
said transfer or destruction, to include but not be limited to confirmation
that XXXXXXXX has no other copies of said records. In addition, please note
that in conducting a “reasonable search” as required by law, you must employ the
most up-to-date technologies and tools available, in addition to searches by
individual custodians likely to have responsive information. Recent technology
may have rendered XXXXXXXX’s prior FOIA practices unreasonable. In light of the
government-wide requirements to manage information electronically by the end of
2016, it is no longer reasonable to rely exclusively on custodian-driven
searches. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Furthermore, agencies that have adopted the NARA Capstone program,
or similar policies, now maintain emails in a form that is reasonably likely to
be more complete than individual custodians’ files. For example, a custodian
may have deleted a responsive email from his or her email program, but
XXXXXXX’s archiving tools would capture that email under Capstone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Accordingly, I insist that XXXXXXXX use the most up-to-date
technologies to search for responsive information and take steps to ensure that
the most complete repositories of information are searched. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Under the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, agencies must adopt a
presumption of disclosure, withholding information “only if . . . disclosure
would harm an interest protected by an exemption” or “disclosure is prohibited
by law.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If it is your position that any portion of the requested records
is exempt from disclosure, I request that you provide an index of those
documents as required under Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820 (D.C. Cir. 1973),
cert. denied, 415 U.S. 977 (1974). As you are aware, a Vaughn index must
describe each document claimed as exempt with sufficient specificity “to permit
a reasoned judgment as to whether the material is actually exempt under FOIA.”
Moreover, the Vaughn index “must describe each document or portion thereof
withheld, and for each withholding it must discuss the consequences of disclosing
the sought-after information.” Further, “the withholding agency must supply ‘a
relatively detailed justification, specifically identifying the reasons why a
particular exemption is relevant and correlating those claims with the
particular part of a withheld document to which they apply.’”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the event some portions of the requested records are properly
exempt from disclosure, please disclose any reasonably segregable nonexempt
portions of the requested records. If it is your position that a document contains
non-exempt segments, but that those non-exempt segments are so dispersed
throughout the document as to make segregation impossible, please state what
portion of the document is non-exempt, and how the material is dispersed
throughout the document. Claims of non-segregability must be made with the same
degree of detail as required for claims of exemptions in a Vaughn index. If a
request is denied in whole, please state specifically that it is not reasonable
to segregate portions of the record for release.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Please institute a preservation hold on information responsive to
this request. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As a member of the news media, I am seeking this information for
dissemination to the general public as part of an effort to examine XXXXXXXXXX.
This request is made in the public interest and not for commercial use. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As such, I am requesting a fee waiver of search and review fees as
a member of the news media. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4) (A)(iii). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If this fee waiver is not granted, please notify me if document
retrieval and reproduction costs exceed $XXX.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Please furnish all responsive records in electronic, searchable
format delivered to my email address XXXXX@XXXXXX.XXX. If that’s not possible,
please send records paper printouts sent to the following address: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">XXXXXXXX<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">XXXXXXXXXXXXX<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">XXXXXXX<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All correspondence regarding this request can be directed to me at
XXXXXX or (XXX) XXX-XXXX.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Please be aware that under 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(A), a FOIA request
is considered constructively denied after twenty business days and is subject
to litigation on that basis. If my request is denied in whole or part, I ask
that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act.
As the law requires, I will also expect you to release all segregable portions
of otherwise exempt exempt material. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any
information or to deny a waiver of fees. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me at (XXX)
XXX-XXXX. Thank you for your prompt attention to this request. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-22767050553627710032018-04-23T13:16:00.000-07:002018-04-24T07:13:16.670-07:00Charges dropped against 'street theater' actor who cited ICE prison abuses<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14pt;">Charges were dismissed today against a
second defendant who was arrested April 3 while participating in a “street
theater” performance dramatizing ICE prison abuses.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHb0Bkn0m9-Y-rNvpgKOvq0FeJC41JyZueeZex-pOBs9DNQEtWOH7IikZM3VRZuLjojBoFlDh8fHkbeCAbe7LOoG83oermVNPMcc_tJZkkzf-F59CLaeM4JCI0vFnNTEpaDeMNQWVJ_5VE/s1600/Zyanya+april+23+Screen+Shot+2018-04-23+at+3.34.11+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1356" data-original-width="1182" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHb0Bkn0m9-Y-rNvpgKOvq0FeJC41JyZueeZex-pOBs9DNQEtWOH7IikZM3VRZuLjojBoFlDh8fHkbeCAbe7LOoG83oermVNPMcc_tJZkkzf-F59CLaeM4JCI0vFnNTEpaDeMNQWVJ_5VE/s400/Zyanya+april+23+Screen+Shot+2018-04-23+at+3.34.11+PM.png" width="347" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zyanya Cruz: Charges Dismissed Moore Media Images</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Charges of disorderly conduct and
obstructing a highway or passageway against Zyanya Cruz were dismissed in
Shelby County General Sessions criminal court after attorney Jason Ballenger
successfully argued the warrant charging her was defective.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">On April 5, charges were dismissed against
journalist Manuel Duran, leaving seven of nine defendants remaining from the
MLK50 week action. Duran was detained in Shelby County jail even after family
members posted bond, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents
picked him up for deportation upon his release.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNWXsl-oHOGtuQUg1BWB671KqpyT5QSozqV5l33-1yeeNWZuBupqV1SJgOyhyphenhyphenzcYKf1Yv318bD76q9DrTjTXeGtuSUR7OcxJ6Rk1NG8AYR4l4BJq3fU948Gi2mh0UH0x2pTOhfCpZLxItx/s1600/1+Zanya+arm+stretch.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="943" data-original-width="1600" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNWXsl-oHOGtuQUg1BWB671KqpyT5QSozqV5l33-1yeeNWZuBupqV1SJgOyhyphenhyphenzcYKf1Yv318bD76q9DrTjTXeGtuSUR7OcxJ6Rk1NG8AYR4l4BJq3fU948Gi2mh0UH0x2pTOhfCpZLxItx/s640/1+Zanya+arm+stretch.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Police arrest Zyanya Cruz April 3 Moore Media Images</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The affidavit citing Cruz stated she was
in a group taking part in an "unauthorized event," but it was vague and did not
specify what Cruz did exactly to give officers probable cause to arrest
her, explained Ballenger, who is working pro bono on behalf of several
defendants from the MLK50 week action. The next court appearances for the other defendants are scheduled for various dates in May and June. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>DID LOCALS ASSIST ICE?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Southern Poverty Law Center attorney Michelle
Lapointe, in a press conference last week in Memphis, accused Memphis police
and the Shelby County sheriff of cooperating with ICE to arrest and hold Duran.
MPD and the sheriff contend they do not cooperate with ICE and do not hold
prisoners for deportation.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinFjL4k9f5VxdIGzS2Wz5D3pgUAXb4pC7i4n_tem2vHqmliL-l99FFeHtIBTReFIDZUgMWqg_JIxkyBacSq6c2QrP1ZNalCILXZRmvnopJ1wXePUVyrbBYljaJAQ-jK0nvnqwGtpmPoDTn/s1600/201+manuel+duran+photo+for+internet+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="793" data-original-width="1296" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinFjL4k9f5VxdIGzS2Wz5D3pgUAXb4pC7i4n_tem2vHqmliL-l99FFeHtIBTReFIDZUgMWqg_JIxkyBacSq6c2QrP1ZNalCILXZRmvnopJ1wXePUVyrbBYljaJAQ-jK0nvnqwGtpmPoDTn/s320/201+manuel+duran+photo+for+internet+.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Journalist Manuel Duran live-streams April 3<br />
Moore Media Images</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Duran continues to be held in LaSalle
Detention Center, a facility owned by private prison multinational GEO Group
Inc., in Jena, Louisiana. Attorneys from Latino Memphis and Southern Poverty
Law Center are working on his behalf, with petitions in Louisiana Western
District federal court for his immediate release, and in Atlanta immigration
court to hear his case. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Duran was the only journalist arrested, among local media and international outlets such as the New
York Times, the Guardian and the BBC, which were present at the “Rolling Block
Party 2:01 at 201" action to highlight abuses within ICE detention centers. Among other things,
the for-profit prisons have been accused in lawsuits of forcing prisoners to
labor for pennies a day, then charging them for food, water and toiletries. (<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 18.66666603088379px;">The address of the Shelby County Justice Center is 201 Poplar.) </span><span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 18.66666603088379px;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Activists further were highlighting
systemic problems which remain, even 50 years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
was murdered in Memphis April 4, 1968, such as a cheap labor economy and the
racial wealth gap.</span><span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 18.66666603088379px;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 18.66666603088379px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>WHAT WOULD MLK DO?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Answering the hypothetical question, “What
would Dr. King do?” to commemorate MLK50, an ICE agent actor was leading 10 female “chained prisoners” across the street. Within 60 seconds after they entered the crosswalk at 201
Poplar, members of MPD’s Multi-Agent Gang Unit (MGU) and Organized Crime Unit
(OCU) began making arrests.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The duration of the stop light at the
next block east of 201 Poplar, at Poplar and Danny Thomas Boulevard, lasts 51
seconds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>AND WHAT IF?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">After succeeding at getting Duran's criminal case dismissed, criminal defense attorney Ann Schilling posed this question:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "thonburi"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“This was a peaceful demonstration. What would have happened if the police had let them finish walking down the sidewalk?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-37099479024654004142018-04-20T17:00:00.001-07:002018-04-22T21:35:26.812-07:00Knoxville Police Chief Slams Anti-Immigrant Bills amid Spotlight on Tennessee<h2>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";">Knoxville Police Chief David
Rausch says proposed legislation in the General Assembly that would require
police to cooperate with federal immigration officials poses numerous problems
for law </span><span style="font-family: "times";">enforcement.</span></span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfqdR9RLu-GowwOAFNXg3mnEmSxoh-EuVXqQD3T9L_5VDkmFoU10u9pheO-hwt7e92xE0ZVjQX_qBFeYixEQm5dTJoMyoousP4SqD8SMwukNykh_9DCFaIBUca-yv1JuY2O4vLexEWBxDt/s1600/David+Rausch+knoxville+police+chief.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="534" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfqdR9RLu-GowwOAFNXg3mnEmSxoh-EuVXqQD3T9L_5VDkmFoU10u9pheO-hwt7e92xE0ZVjQX_qBFeYixEQm5dTJoMyoousP4SqD8SMwukNykh_9DCFaIBUca-yv1JuY2O4vLexEWBxDt/s320/David+Rausch+knoxville+police+chief.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch<br />
Photo by Calvin Mattheis Knoxville News-Sentinel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Rausch is the first police chief
in Tennessee to respond to a survey request from Citizens Media Resource about
HB2315 in the House and its companion bill SB2332 in the Senate. The educational non-profit is
polling chiefs of police in Memphis, Nashville and Chattanooga. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Tennessee made national news this month for a raid on a meat packing plant about 60 miles from Knoxville in East Tennessee which resulted in 97 workers being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and for the seizure in Memphis of journalist Manuel Duran after he was arrested by police while covering a "street theater" action to point out abuses in ICE detention centers. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"I have made legislators from my area aware of my concerns," Rausch said.</span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Rausch cited potential "racial profiling complaints" and said the legislation would create "unreasonable and improper requirements" on local law enforcement. </span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Here is the Knoxville chief's response to our survey: </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcMiAlJqGJ8VxOCJMR1pizDBUCFLY1ab6xelS-O2i7_0Mmxs8jzefM5Q6nscZ9z8jCsR-IhxI2PSlSKukSnGCzOBiTeX6Q8rd4vW6f5V0lmGAYXh2sebVJ_7hoyTKctmkX4M5EndlvfsSa/s1600/201+manuel+duran+photo+for+internet+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="793" data-original-width="1296" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcMiAlJqGJ8VxOCJMR1pizDBUCFLY1ab6xelS-O2i7_0Mmxs8jzefM5Q6nscZ9z8jCsR-IhxI2PSlSKukSnGCzOBiTeX6Q8rd4vW6f5V0lmGAYXh2sebVJ_7hoyTKctmkX4M5EndlvfsSa/s320/201+manuel+duran+photo+for+internet+.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manuel Duran reports minutes before his arrest April 3</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>RACIAL PROFILING</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"One challenge with the bills as written is
that they could potentially create racial profiling complaints by forcing local
officers to ask about status. Local officers have no reason or need to
inquire about status unless it is during arrest. Then, it really is not a
necessary question as it will be determined in the jail. </span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"Currently, the
only authority to enforce status is with the Federal Government. When a
person commits a criminal offense they are generally arrested, depending on the
level of the offense. The jail then has to determine who they are and
that is where their status will be discovered. The notification to
Federal Authorities is then made. </span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>'UNREASONABLE AND IMPROPER'</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"The bills would set unreasonable and
improper requirements on local law enforcement. Another challenge is the
bills create a complaint system that is unreasonable and unnecessary. For
example, if a resident calls in that a house next door is harboring undocumented
persons and they demand a police response. We will advise them that unless
a crime is or has been committed then we will not respond as we have no
authority to do anything about status of an individual. </span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"They then can
call their legislator and have an investigation opened on the agency, since we
did not respond and they could claim we are a 'sanctuary city,' which we are
not. We cooperate with Federal Authorities by apprehending anyone that
has an outstanding Immigration warrant on file and make notifications to
them. An investigation into not responding to the scenario given is a
waste of resources. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3to3iHh1JS1ZEBJHt9bC94xKk98EfY-axviA_zdwu_La3Te0pZkR55_yfcvRUQTjS1ez4J2JBemzWjgda_IDVjZL83AEdeUOKB5hiCHh9yZZx_w0bXO7WRAhZMApW_RDLSLi8uAv0cnW-/s1600/14+Yuli+Screen+Shot+2018-04-04+at+12.50.47+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3to3iHh1JS1ZEBJHt9bC94xKk98EfY-axviA_zdwu_La3Te0pZkR55_yfcvRUQTjS1ez4J2JBemzWjgda_IDVjZL83AEdeUOKB5hiCHh9yZZx_w0bXO7WRAhZMApW_RDLSLi8uAv0cnW-/s320/14+Yuli+Screen+Shot+2018-04-04+at+12.50.47+AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Memphis Organized Crime Unit officer waves off our camera<br />
as police roughly arrest citizens dramatizing ICE abuses<br />
--Photo by Moore Media Images</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"There is nothing a local law enforcement agency can
do in this case of a neighbor making that call. </span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"Lastly, Tennessee passed
a law in 2009 that made it illegal to be a 'Sanctuary City,' so there is no
need for this legislation. It creates unnecessary confusion and extra
work that is not necessary."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Knoxville is one of two Tennessee cities -- Memphis being the other -- that has a citizen police oversight board. Unlike Memphis' Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board, Knoxville's Police Advisory and Review Committee (PARC) has autonomous authority to issue subpoena's. PARC and police administration have reported citizen complaints have declined during the board's existence. Rausch said he had reached out to legislators in Knox County to express his opposition. </span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>ON MONDAY CALENDAR</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The House Finance, Ways and Means committee has the bill on its calendar for Monday, April 23. The bill was on their agenda Wednesday, but the committee did not get around to it.</span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"The schedule is kind of crazy right now. So, the clerk's office is doing the best they can," said an aide to Rep. Charles Sargent (Brentwood), committee chairman and one of the bill's sponsors. </span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">HB2315 has 68 sponsors in the House and nine sponsors for its counterpart, SB2332, in the Senate. Of the 22 members of the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee, 14 have signed on as sponsors. </span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928msonormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">The caption for HB2315: </span><span style="background-color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.498039); color: white;">I</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.498039); color: white;">mmigration - As introduced, prohibits state and local governmental entities and officials from adopting sanctuary policies; authorizes Tennessee residents and members of the general assembly to submit complaints to the attorney general; provides that violations subject entities to ineligibility of state moneys; requires law enforcement agencies to enter into memorandums of agreement with federal officials concerning enforcement of federal immigration laws. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 7; Title 8; Title 9; Title 38; Title 39 and Title 40.</span> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv2570371928MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1524264989763_5137" style="font-size: 13px; padding: 0px;">
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-27889448953697904272018-04-09T21:30:00.002-07:002018-04-10T11:35:04.001-07:00Southern Poverty Law Center Joins Legal Action to Free Memphis Journalist; Vigil 6 p.m. Tonight <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnVVA5N1MUEV_B0REkA-yjfYxPwR9FFfTaZIz_cdbB8pkizp0DTLOBcp73leC-QNlZWda6awQFc8DX4yeVowT6qbYQ3w5IwXGYtn2s7BrkdHX00e-jGhbwvX8gAdk1QCx5WiFzVhuwA76/s1600/201+manuel+duran.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="979" data-original-width="1600" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnVVA5N1MUEV_B0REkA-yjfYxPwR9FFfTaZIz_cdbB8pkizp0DTLOBcp73leC-QNlZWda6awQFc8DX4yeVowT6qbYQ3w5IwXGYtn2s7BrkdHX00e-jGhbwvX8gAdk1QCx5WiFzVhuwA76/s640/201+manuel+duran.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Latino Journalist Manuel Duran reports from an action, minutes before he was arrested in Memphis<br />
Photo by Moore Media Images</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtPZ-9ytl0Ouc2QDV4cPuAPKLr2ZlhidOb9sM_Xd2JWgOXCnVsrqzmzPUqvdSTFxlkA-l-PXeAOVDR-txEKxxryittgcXWO2nedzg3UQ6a20HadBvJyt2RMKoWCVTO7L2I7hRgpkHm80I/s1600/201+manual+arrest+my+photo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="903" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtPZ-9ytl0Ouc2QDV4cPuAPKLr2ZlhidOb9sM_Xd2JWgOXCnVsrqzmzPUqvdSTFxlkA-l-PXeAOVDR-txEKxxryittgcXWO2nedzg3UQ6a20HadBvJyt2RMKoWCVTO7L2I7hRgpkHm80I/s640/201+manual+arrest+my+photo.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why did Multi-Agency Gang Unit choose Manuel Duran? Photo by Moore Media Images</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The Southern Poverty Law Center has
joined with Latino Memphis to begin the legal battle to fight the deportation
of Memphis journalist Manuel Duran.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“SPLC successfully filed a motion to
reopen his immigration case,” said attorney Christy Swatzell of Latino Memphis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The Atlanta Executive Office for
Immigration Review, a division of the Department of Justice, will review the
motion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Latino Memphis and the SPLC plan to give
every last effort to fight his deportation, but there are no guarantees,”
Swatzell said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghO310OchqfonVCXuUBtOajBQKzDcAjlrcmNW6fl69LcjhS2KWZglXDnkCABPHw0BjbzDhd6yarUbB09kMUpq5whjQZbee_ze_5SfOiKwxh5i2MLQioRMHkTD0ao5sZHpfZynrn8Jmwcdr/s1600/14+Yuli+Screen+Shot+for+internet+2018-04-04+at+12.50.47+AM+copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1053" data-original-width="1584" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghO310OchqfonVCXuUBtOajBQKzDcAjlrcmNW6fl69LcjhS2KWZglXDnkCABPHw0BjbzDhd6yarUbB09kMUpq5whjQZbee_ze_5SfOiKwxh5i2MLQioRMHkTD0ao5sZHpfZynrn8Jmwcdr/s400/14+Yuli+Screen+Shot+for+internet+2018-04-04+at+12.50.47+AM+copy.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Officer waves away our camera while roughly arresting<br />
Yuleiny Escobar Photo by Moore Media Images</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“It is important to remember that without
the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office continued cooperation with ICE, Mr. Duran
would not be fighting for his freedom from behind barbed wire, hundreds of
miles from his home in Memphis,” Swatzell said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Meanwhile, supporters are planning a candlelight vigil in Memphis for Tuesday night at 6 at El Mercadito, 3766 Ridgeway Road.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>BIZARRE ARREST</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5RDklTvpXfQoJ_0WZsw2I8K3kXf6Vn_eITgEZ83jm5JUgeTbiBAI4hk2SqEOF6xRBdDlpbN3ffFOsuBrbyHc6a87rMYDXvypbFWP3igEWZV7oeciMYNkKi37YdcC7M0hRz1zagfPhNcmh/s1600/201+chain+gang+yuli+and+bill+april+3+2018.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1434" data-original-width="1470" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5RDklTvpXfQoJ_0WZsw2I8K3kXf6Vn_eITgEZ83jm5JUgeTbiBAI4hk2SqEOF6xRBdDlpbN3ffFOsuBrbyHc6a87rMYDXvypbFWP3igEWZV7oeciMYNkKi37YdcC7M0hRz1zagfPhNcmh/s320/201+chain+gang+yuli+and+bill+april+3+2018.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill Stegall as ICE agent actor, "prisoner" Yuleiny Escobar<br />
Photo by Moore Media Images</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Duran was arrested
Tuesday April 3<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-- one day before the
MLK50 anniversary in Memphis – while wearing his press credentials and
reporting outside the Shelby County Justice Center. Duran was covering a
“street theater” action against ICE prison abuses. Charges of disorderly
conduct and obstructing a highway were dropped by Shelby County prosecutors two
days later, but not before Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents filed an
“ICE hold,” or detainer warrant, and took him from the Shelby County Jail upon
his release. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj26quX8TTvoV4q8M0DuookoN0dQzx2XT8pYI0-l8JuylIKBM1g0iDHUwb3j7531xoJ9MfR5nHya2WI4-Cmg0DHVFFkBDlTnPfLOIPFFoQN8dRGSS7nVE8Dv-cE94xNLl8ZnXac_i3nYVZk/s1600/201+Yuli+on+first+sidewalk.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1022" data-original-width="1542" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj26quX8TTvoV4q8M0DuookoN0dQzx2XT8pYI0-l8JuylIKBM1g0iDHUwb3j7531xoJ9MfR5nHya2WI4-Cmg0DHVFFkBDlTnPfLOIPFFoQN8dRGSS7nVE8Dv-cE94xNLl8ZnXac_i3nYVZk/s320/201+Yuli+on+first+sidewalk.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Chain gang" of ICE "prisoners"<br />
Photo by Moore Media Images</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Duran was fast-tracked for
deportation by the Trump administration, which likely has begun targeting
journalists among its harsh immigration policies, and sent directly to LaSalle
Detention Center in Jena, LA, bypassing the routine steps of being detained in
a Memphis facility for a few days, then transported to a facility in Mason,
Tennessee, about 30 miles outside Memphis.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMLWewcbEkfBqcKJ2IOxYxIZfYfhyphenhyphenKunaRIG_eephETP2-O2ZdW_xv9FbMfaMBZ3q4TaQs06FuYPkbQYSD632LF_Ys8PYPI6X1dKJFldIyofOaqYbkjeOJTyL96A_2in6TxTwmvCFmvRew/s1600/1+Zanya+arm+stretch.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="943" data-original-width="1600" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMLWewcbEkfBqcKJ2IOxYxIZfYfhyphenhyphenKunaRIG_eephETP2-O2ZdW_xv9FbMfaMBZ3q4TaQs06FuYPkbQYSD632LF_Ys8PYPI6X1dKJFldIyofOaqYbkjeOJTyL96A_2in6TxTwmvCFmvRew/s320/1+Zanya+arm+stretch.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Officer grabs Zyanya Cruz<br />
Photo by Moore Media Images</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Sources advised us that orders specifically
to seize Duran had come from “the top,” meaning high up in Washington. Other
reports indicate that the Trump administration is gathering intelligence on
journalists who cover political subjects that negatively portray Trump and his
policies. We believe it is likely that Duran was targeted while he was on the
street – not just after he was arrested – while FBI and other federal agencies
were in Memphis for the commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder
April 4, 1968.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p><b>CHILLY RECEPTION FOR THE MAYOR</b></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpIei4t3H2Zt0H85pCnSb_Jm1cGEy85gK8o3rO9fpbRxHeXngAJ9FjB7C1Taf-LwUEb5C2XyU_LIb40kmZs4F4kJ0vRe6RkomaH8npjAkIalXF4xwdOg5MMXghEMwbKZuq900AQ0Z6mO6u/s1600/city+hall+strickland+april+7+2018.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="1600" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpIei4t3H2Zt0H85pCnSb_Jm1cGEy85gK8o3rO9fpbRxHeXngAJ9FjB7C1Taf-LwUEb5C2XyU_LIb40kmZs4F4kJ0vRe6RkomaH8npjAkIalXF4xwdOg5MMXghEMwbKZuq900AQ0Z6mO6u/s400/city+hall+strickland+april+7+2018.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mayor Jim Strickland faces an angry crowd<br />
Photo by Moore Media Images</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">After a chilly, windy march on Saturday April
7 from St. Mary’s Episcopal Church to City Hall, shouts of “Free Manuel” rang
out from the crowd as Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland spoke. Strickland was
challenged to respond to the arrest of Duran and brutal arrest of three women
who were near him. Police pulled their hair, dragged them on the street, twisted
their arms and grabbed their breasts in making the arrests. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Strickland did not say a word, and after
he was scalded in remarks by Edie Love of Standing Up for Racial Justice,
Strickland turned away from the crowd and went inside the warmer confines of City Hall. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Although Duran’s family had posted bond
at about 9 Tuesday night, he was held in custody – the only one of nine
defendants to not be released after Tuesday’s street theater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Female actors were chained together and led
by an ICE agent actor to call attention to forced labor put upon persons who
are imprisoned as allegedly being undocumented immigrants. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">DOING
HIS JOB<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Duran was not acting in a disorderly
manner or disrupting traffic or anyone, as we personally witnessed, while he
filmed actors after they had crossed Poplar Avenue at a crosswalk, then were
heading east on the sidewalk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Defense attorney Ann Schiller gathered
video evidence and presented it to the Shelby County District Attorney’s office
Thursday morning. The prosecutor agreed that there was not sufficient evidence
to prosecute the charge, Schiller said, and the charges were dropped. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Attorney General Amy Weirich, in a rare
move, put out a statement about the suddenly high-profile case:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">CASE DISMISSED<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="background: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“This office has
dismissed misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and obstruction of a
highway or passageway filed Tuesday against Manuel Duran. There was not sufficient
evidence to go forward with prosecution. This ends any legal issues Mr. Duran
has with this office." </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Duran was brought from the jail to court
on Wednesday morning, but the only “offer” on the table from the prosecutor’s
office at that time was a guilty plea. Since there was already a 48-hour
detainer warrant in place, Schiller asked to put off Duran’s arraignment until
Thursday, reasoning that the additional day to work out a better deal would
still come within the 48-hour window. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“He was not even part of the protest,”
Schiller said. “He was not rude to officers. He was not fighting them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“All of a sudden, for some reason, they
take him into custody.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">FORCED
PRISON LABOR<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Activists, including the Memphis
Coalition of Concerned Citizens, had helped to organize the action to bring
attention to private prisons’ profit motives in housing ICE detainees, even
allegedly hiring them out for pennies on the day to corporations such as
Victoria’s Secret, Sprint and Wal-Mart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“This was a peaceful demonstration,”
Schiller said. “What would have happened if the police had let them finish
walking down the sidewalk? I can’t give you a reason why he got taken.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Schiller and Division 7 Judge Bill
Anderson said there appeared to be two plainclothes ICE agents inside the courtroom when Duran’s case was adjudicated.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“We are not holding him on an ICE hold,”
Ferrell said Thursday morning before Duran’s case was dismissed. “We are
holding him on charges by MPD. We don’t hold people on ICE detainers.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">After Duran’s case had been dismissed,
Farrell said, “I understand there was an ICE hold.” Farrell had failed to mention
that when we first spoke. Nonetheless, ICE agents snatched him fairly soon
after his case was disposed of, presumably before he would have been processed
out of custody under normal conditions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“There does not appear they (local law
enforcement) are required to hold persons on a detainer warrant,” said
Swatzell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“There is nothing that
requires them (Shelby County sheriff) to cooperate with ICE.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-68196515689090637832017-12-06T11:03:00.001-08:002017-12-06T11:09:24.270-08:00Net Neutrality is Not Some Geeky Concept: It's the First Amendment Itself<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dq1tl" data-offset-key="48muc-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="48muc-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="48muc-0-0" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">NATIONWIDE DAY OF PROTEST TO PRESERVE NET NEUTRALITY, AKA THE FIRST AMENDMENT Dec. 7, 2017</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Net Neutrality is still an obscure term for a lot of folks. Under Obama, the FCC put Internet providers in the same Common Carrier II class as the phone companies and protected the public. Think of it this way:</span><br />
<b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Telephone as Common Carrier</b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> utility. The phone rings, and you answer it and talk to your mother or whomever you wish about anything you wish. You pay for the service, but the phone company does not charge you more to speak to one person over another, or does not require that you must speak to certain persons or that you must not speak to certain persons or companies.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Telephone as Not Common Carrier</b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">. The phone company can dictate to whom you speak, whom you call, who can call you, and can charge you different rates depending on who it is. The service that transmits your call also determines the content of your call -- what you talk about and with whom. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wouldn't you be outraged if in the middle of a conversation with your mother a phone company recording broke in with a commercial, or stated your mother was not a preferred content provider, or required you to pay a premium to speak with her or certain others that the phone company did not "own?" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, apply that to the Internet. That's Net Neutrality. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is a former Verizon attorney! WTF? Under Obama, the public got protections from abuses by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) cartel, and the First Amendment and the people were put ahead of these corporations. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dq1tl" data-offset-key="6a29o-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6a29o-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AA7_AIWls1U/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AA7_AIWls1U?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<span data-offset-key="etg2c-0-0" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Under Trump, the Giant ISPs such as Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner, having paid millions to lobbyists and other to buy Congress, are about to have their way and shed any limitations on what they can get away with.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Internet is the most democratic device we have now in the U.S. -- the electoral process has lost the voters who have been cheated and gerrymandered out of a voice. If taken over more completely by the ISPs, the Internet will become cable TV. Less will be free, and they will push their own programming (think Comcast which owns NBC favoring NBC's years of content) at the expense of others -- think Netflix getting their transmissions interrupted by the likes of Comcast, which has happened. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Internet is the last level playing field, where regular people have a chance to speak and compete.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Internet Equal Rights, aka Net Neutrality, is supposed to protect democracy, freedom, First Amendment and the public interest -- not narrow corporate interests, which are already stinking rich enough and do not need extra government handouts.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dq1tl" data-offset-key="a5tdn-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="a5tdn-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span data-offset-key="a5tdn-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="a5tdn-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span data-offset-key="a5tdn-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-21467421682556145362017-11-24T17:24:00.000-08:002017-12-07T14:23:16.940-08:00Chipping Away at the First Amendment in Memphis, Tennessee<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">“No single encroachment upon liberty, considered
alone, ever seems worthy of great effort to destroy. Ultimately, the
established precedents justify the greater invasion, and the aggregate of these
tyrannies become unbearable. Then comes the revolution…”</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Free Speech for Radicals: Seven Essays<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">--Theodore
Albert Schroeder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiD7h2ShzFqSBj5v0lg_V1OkvdEDjiPoWthrLAlfkisQM_lx5FfrV014HPACMuEXNTUI1wIBqGZFUV83iKfFqpsJNphS_vucFnVLHl6axVFAtuMlrSYYDc4vkF2VLevP45if06A1DSNr08/s1600/First+Amendment+Sign+440px-Occupy_Oakland_Nov_12_2011_PM_57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiD7h2ShzFqSBj5v0lg_V1OkvdEDjiPoWthrLAlfkisQM_lx5FfrV014HPACMuEXNTUI1wIBqGZFUV83iKfFqpsJNphS_vucFnVLHl6axVFAtuMlrSYYDc4vkF2VLevP45if06A1DSNr08/s320/First+Amendment+Sign+440px-Occupy_Oakland_Nov_12_2011_PM_57.jpg" width="239" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana";">When
the First Amendment is conquered and handed over to der Trump or such a future
embodiment, it will not have happened with advance notice, parades in the
street, or Blue Angels flyovers. It will be death by a thousand cuts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">This
is what we are witnessing in America, especially since Sept. 11, 2001, and now
primed for acceleration in the Trump era. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">The
City of Memphis is not exempt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">A
recently proposed replacement of the current “Parades and Public Assembles”
ordinance, Chapter 12-52, has drawn attention, partly because it has been
pitched as less than what it is. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Link
to newly proposed ordinance:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/15o1ag4oiLvh0sKDjhDCac-bMpheShNv9/view">https://drive.google.com/file/d/15o1ag4oiLvh0sKDjhDCac-bMpheShNv9/view</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Link
to existing ordinance which would be replaced:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="https://library.municode.com/tn/memphis/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT12STSIPUPL_CH12-52PAPUAS">https://library.municode.com/tn/memphis/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT12STSIPUPL_CH12-52PAPUAS</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">“This
only applies to parades and races,” City Council member and ordinance sponsor
Reid Hedgepeth told the City of Memphis Public Safety Committee on Tuesday when
only committee members Worth Morgan, Hedgepeth and Mativius Jones were in
attendance. The ordinance passed unanimously out of committee and will begin
its three-reading trek through the larger City Council on Dec. 5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Hedgepeth
said citizens had complained to him about 3K and 5K races screwing up traffic
in neighborhoods. One family complained that streets were so blocked that their
child missed his Saturday morning sports event. Thus, the new ordinance
requires that parade and race organizers apply with the city no less than 90
days before their proposed events and that they must give notice to affected
neighbors, receive negative feedback and pay the police department for its
costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">People
unable to make it to a soccer match because of marathon runners in the streets might
not be the only ones affected by this revised law, which is headed, “Parades,
Races and Public Assemblies.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those
desiring to partake in “public assemblies” are also required to make sure it’s
OK with the neighbors, pay police for costs and get permits for any public
gatherings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Here
are some of the differences between the existing ordinance and what is
proposed, and the usurpations of the First Amendment, small and large, which could
be used to block and make difficult future freedom of assembly in Memphis. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Permit 25 Persons or More<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">“Public
Assembly” definition is changed from “a gathering of 25 persons or more” to “a
gathering…” of no number specified. So, that means two or more?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Ask the Neighbors<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Organizers
of an event which involves movement of the group must post for seven
consecutive days notification to “affected residents and businesses along said
route” and file with the city its plan for such notification.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The new ordinance also would require the
permits office to notify said residents and businesses. A condition of the
permit considers whether MPD has received “written or verbal opposition from
affected residents.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Permit Filing Deadline<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">The
ordinance for public assemblies is changed from 14 business days to 15 in
advance of the event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Spontaneous Events<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Present
ordinance waives the 14-day thing if an assembly is a “spontaneous event,
occasioned by news or affairs coming into public knowledge within three days of
such public assembly.” The proposed ordinance calls for seven days, so in this
way it is less restrictive than the present law. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">For
example, after the city first said it would deny a Feb. 1 assembly protesting
Trump’s anti-Muslin immigration order, it changed course and tried to save face
by saying the assembly was allowed under the “spontaneous” clause.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Nonrefundable Permit Fee<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">The
current fee is $25; the proposed ordinance states a fee of $___ left blank.
Where “closure of public streets or diversion of the normal flow of vehicular
traffic” is required, an additional nonrefundable fee of $100 – versus $50
currently – is required. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Explain Your Lane<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">A
new provision requires that the permit applicant submit a statement justifying
the need to “occupy an entire rather than a portion of a pedestrian or
vehicular right-of-way.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">The Price of Protest<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">A
provision of the current ordinance states the applicant must pay for any police
protection deemed necessary by the police director. The newly proposed
ordinance adds details about the applicant paying for police services. We do
not know of any instances when this has been pushed by MPD in assemblies over
injustice or public policy issues. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">However,
language in both the present and proposed ordinances provides the police
director with the leeway to deny a permit if the applicant does not pay for
police to show up. The idea of policing an event which blocks or congests
traffic should be just for that – directing traffic, not for policing free
speech as we have seen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">One problem with all of this is the city’s paranoia over so-called “protests.” This has needlessly cost the city a lot of money as police have massively overreacted with personnel and even military equipment to such events as July and August 2016 protests outside Graceland; the afore-mentioned protest of the Diamond Pipeline on MLK Day this year at the Valero Refinery, and an Aug. 19 protest of Confederate statues at UT Health Sciences Park, where a 9,500-pound bronze statue of Rebel General Nathan Bedford Forrest rides high. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">The city also pays when its practices get it sued as it now has legal fees and exposure for police turning away African-Americans who sought to attend the 2016 candlelight vigil at Elvis Presley’s former home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Out of 28 persons arrested at those three locations, every case out of Graceland and UT Health Sciences Park has been dismissed, several when officers did not show up at preliminary hearings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Five cases out of 12 persons arrested at Valero were dismissed, including one independent journalist, one observer recording police with a cell phone and three who were standing on the sidewalk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Those arrests were prompted by free speech and public assemblies which discomforted the status quo. One University of Tennessee officer who made two arrests at the Rebel statue wrote in his affidavit, “an unlawful protest was underway.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>City attorney Bruce McMullen later claimed no one was arrested for protesting but for violating the law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What law was that if all cases were dismissed?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY9RFhGH9K8N_TW40OnrTAa3afatr1ybKC0TxyzUXCtXddbUfzS9GAqa57V562mLueHntEGcpnL9bEsqVkEsIDNEl5Uz7EZKgT90jRwXZY5qL64QoIEGWTIVxUvrpgojqUWY_FIVyKKDax/s1600/Statue+arrests+aug+19+2017.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1600" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY9RFhGH9K8N_TW40OnrTAa3afatr1ybKC0TxyzUXCtXddbUfzS9GAqa57V562mLueHntEGcpnL9bEsqVkEsIDNEl5Uz7EZKgT90jRwXZY5qL64QoIEGWTIVxUvrpgojqUWY_FIVyKKDax/s640/Statue+arrests+aug+19+2017.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Police Move in to Arrest Rebel Statue Opponents Aug. 19, 2017</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">In the case of four persons remaining from 12 originally arrested at the Valero Refinery on MLK Day, the Shelby County District Attorney asked them to pay $24,000 to compensate emergency services in order to have their cases dismissed. Such an offer – extortion? -- was “illegal,” according to defense attorney Michael Working, and the four are going to trial in January.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">The four “water protectors” were chained together through concrete-filled barrels in the Valero entrance and exit driveways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The four did not take the DA’s “deal” to come up with $24K as a get-out-of-jail pass in October.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those charged, by the way, are being prosecuted for a Class C misdemeanor, “obstructing a highway or passageway,” which along with disorderly conduct are go-to charges for police when no specific laws are being violated. It is rare that a Class C misdemeanor would go to trial, but the defendants are unwilling or unable to buy their way out of it, and the DA is apparently too set on making an example of people who would embarrass a multinational corporation about its preference for oil over water. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY10vWnfn81prYIlrAwKC-8-3ak2iHgw1G-QVsGMkbZGWTz1vpwRd9BFkeWJ5KBeDZiJsPuuS3WFDS6ZGfwiM0y52Uj0mL1fOirpTD2ZYGXQzVvOS9_xwE2v71z1g7lOebeXMzfdctxYaY/s1600/Olivia+in+Valero+court+May+2+2017+Screen+Shot+2017-11-25+at+12.42.17+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY10vWnfn81prYIlrAwKC-8-3ak2iHgw1G-QVsGMkbZGWTz1vpwRd9BFkeWJ5KBeDZiJsPuuS3WFDS6ZGfwiM0y52Uj0mL1fOirpTD2ZYGXQzVvOS9_xwE2v71z1g7lOebeXMzfdctxYaY/s400/Olivia+in+Valero+court+May+2+2017+Screen+Shot+2017-11-25+at+12.42.17+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Valero Pipeline Opponent Olivia Ramirez Awaits Court Fate at 201 Poplar </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Does
the DA’s move foreshadow that the city’s policy is shifting to charge citizens
for police services in public assemblies which may involve political protests? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">The
proposed ordinance also interjects City Council where its authority was not
asserted before, such as to arbitrate opposition to a permit and to give
“feedback” in denying an application.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">With this newly proposed ordinance on public assembly, its greater fees and requirements imposed on citizens, it appears the price of the First Amendment in Memphis is going up.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Broad Latitude for the Authorities<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Regardless
of how the permitting policies have been enforced in the past, will be in the
future, or if the permit ordinance would discourage First Amendment
practitioners from even trying, there is ample language in the law to allow for
capricious denials and limitations based on political and other discretionary
metrics. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">For
instance, the police director has broad authority to revoke a permit
“instantly” when an emergency elsewhere makes police unavailable for the public
assembly if there would be an “adverse effect upon the welfare and safety of
persons or property.” What makes an “emergency” and what affects “welfare and
safety” are solely determined by the police chief.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Another
for instance: Any person in a public assembly may not be engaged in disorderly
conduct – but police can claim almost anything is “disorderly conduct” as a
catch-all charge, much like “obstructing a highway or passageway.” Those are
the two Class C misdemeanor charges typically put to citizens who are arrested for protesting – those charges usually are dismissed, but the effect of police moving in to
make arrests is that the public assembly is stopped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">How
may these clauses be interpreted in the future?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">This
year some political gatherings – such as the April 4 march down pedestrian-only
Main Street in commemoration of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – have
obtained permits, and some events have not, such as the March 10 event organized
by local indigenous Americans in support of Earth and water protections and
opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTm6BsnBgepCHholZ4MflJPGYog2pS04Mdc2yssZNwzp6NUV8RvVPGl3qH486H6RKqK_Z5FkXrpRJYRai2owk8F0CM6-Rt45xbq2diQ_XZ1zfDW4pGzJiJZN8Vphns_XhryVPYxnuder2/s1600/Valero+form+Hive+Swarm+Independent+Media+Screen+Shot+2017-01-22+at+1.11.42+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1600" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTm6BsnBgepCHholZ4MflJPGYog2pS04Mdc2yssZNwzp6NUV8RvVPGl3qH486H6RKqK_Z5FkXrpRJYRai2owk8F0CM6-Rt45xbq2diQ_XZ1zfDW4pGzJiJZN8Vphns_XhryVPYxnuder2/s400/Valero+form+Hive+Swarm+Independent+Media+Screen+Shot+2017-01-22+at+1.11.42+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Police Prepare to Arrest 'Water Protectors' at Valero Refinery on MLK Day</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">While
police at the April 4 march accommodated a path through side-street traffic, in
the unpermitted but widely publicized March 10 event police rimmed the
perimeter of City Hall, where the group had gathered after a short walk from
Riverside Drive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no traffic
disruption. (The lights over the Hernando-DeSoto Bridge were turned off at
about 8:30 that night, apparently a reflex of paranoia nurtured by the July 10,
2016, bridge shutdown by more than a thousand citizens who joined a nationwide
outcry after police killings of unarmed men.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Nobody
was arrested or challenged by police on March 10 because the organizer had not
gotten a permit. This seems to be the preference of activists now, not to
bother with a permit – the First Amendment is enough of a permit, right? – and
police become aware of a planned event through social media. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">So,
the city has not been clamping down hard on the permit law, but police have
been showing up large for announced rallies which challenge institutions and
multi-national corporations.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Funeral-Like Exemption<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">The
newly proposed ordinance includes this provision, which does not appear in the
existing law: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">“Funeral-like
processions by vehicle or foot for the purposes of honoring the deceased,
raising awareness of the deceased’s death, or celebrating the life of the
deceased.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Is
this the golden loophole? The words under which social justice supporters can
slip down streets and sidewalks? The “subsection B” which will cause every
rally to have the stated commemoration of MLK or another deceased person? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Opportunity to Reexamine<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">If
it becomes City Council’s intent to deal only with 5K races coming to your
neighborhood, the ordinance should be limited to that and not take this
opportunity to hinder public assemblies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">If
City Council feels it must get into this, the whole ordinance should be
examined. In fact, we have some proposals which are not specific to just permits but
do involve public assemblies:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">1—When
officers make bad arrests, those officers should be written up and suspended
without pay the number of days the defendant had to appear in court. A bad
arrest is one wherein the defendant’s actions do not support the charge as we
saw in several cases from the Rebel statue protest Aug. 19.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words, there was no good reason
stated for the arrest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">2—When
officers fail to appear for preliminary hearings, the same sanctions should
apply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A person who is charged is put
through the wringer, has his or her mug shot plastered on TV and the Internet
as a “suspect,” and misses time from life and work and is subject to attorney
fees and court costs. This is in addition to the anxiety, embarrassment,
humiliation or sense of fear that accrues to the citizen wrongly charged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">3—All
stipulations, fees, permits, requirements and langauge about “public
assemblies” should be deleted. If someone is breaking an actual law, we already
have that covered. We don’t need no stinkin’ permit to talk and show up. We got
one, aka, First Amendment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-70027291835382633202017-10-20T11:13:00.001-07:002017-10-23T11:20:31.309-07:00Trump-Sessions Block DOJ's Review of Memphis Police<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The Department of Justice collaborative review of the Memphis Department of Police Services is dead in the water almost a year after it was announced with much fanfare.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">MPD has entered a downsized deal with the office of Community Oriented Policing Services as the Trump administration has neutered the DOJ's efforts to improve community policing in Memphis and 14 other U.S. cities.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKS1qEOnNJ9-sJjpEyrTWLcVDjeZoRCLbhRugLuPo93JBxD5I43X9Dt2iVnnXmgtEUjyR0UQNDsnalhf2v8sNUrrjamw7nqMvSd6ReCB2fr-fDV-Y63qSIqxuiUyUpCGlPGovwugPhLE/s1600/Sessions+fist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="750" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKS1qEOnNJ9-sJjpEyrTWLcVDjeZoRCLbhRugLuPo93JBxD5I43X9Dt2iVnnXmgtEUjyR0UQNDsnalhf2v8sNUrrjamw7nqMvSd6ReCB2fr-fDV-Y63qSIqxuiUyUpCGlPGovwugPhLE/s320/Sessions+fist.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; text-align: center;">AG Sessions: "Course Correction"<br />
New York Daily News Photo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Attorney General Jeff Sessions last month declared that the COPS office would pull back its Collaborative Reform Initiative for Technical Assistance (CRI-TA) program which works with law enforcement agencies to recommend ways the agencies could improve policing practices and police-community relations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">What's left of the COPS office work with MPD is an offer of "technical assistance" --basically a menu of training that MPD may request -- such as police response to mass demonstrations, officer safety and wellness and problem-solving techniques. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">What's gone are the findings and recommendations that COPS was to present to MPD, then to follow through with monitoring and assistance during the two-year project. Toward the goal of preparing that report, the COPS team had worked hundreds of hours, including trips to Memphis, and time was invested by MPD and community organizations that had met with COPS. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">No such reports will be released to the public now, confirmed Valerie Jordan of the COPS communications division. "We're not going to give out that information," Jordan said. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2QR3r5UNDN3tsCUN4v0SQQUdcgDndET5NrmgC403BRJ0wQQvANKc3pDbdyqlLRqTTgdtDM9InwUYFkNnAGbFigzmtr3DOtmdpd96sZOA15soNF5U7q48Y2Q5RIb_ZsLCX5U8i40eu6mg/s1600/COPS+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="291" data-original-width="915" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2QR3r5UNDN3tsCUN4v0SQQUdcgDndET5NrmgC403BRJ0wQQvANKc3pDbdyqlLRqTTgdtDM9InwUYFkNnAGbFigzmtr3DOtmdpd96sZOA15soNF5U7q48Y2Q5RIb_ZsLCX5U8i40eu6mg/s400/COPS+logo.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">SHIFTING INTO REVERSE, SEMANTICS AND ALL<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Director of Police Services Michael Rallings on Oct. 12 signed a whittled-down "Memorandum of Understanding" between the COPS office and the Memphis Police Department for the “Collaborative Reform Initiative for Technical Assistance.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This document “supersedes and replaces” the "Memorandum of Agreement" executed by Mayor Jim Strickland on March 3, 2017. Notably, the city of Memphis itself is not a party to this document as the October MOU is not signed by Strickland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Both documents are linked here:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-FgLYWZIRu6X0hMUGplT2htcGs/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Oct. 12, 2017, Memorandum of Understanding between DOJ and MPD.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-FgLYWZIRu6X25ZNHY3dGZrU1U" target="_blank">March 3, 2017, Memorandum of Agreement between DOJ and MPD and City of Memphis.</a></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Comparing the two documents simplistically -- beyond one being an "agreement" and the other an "understanding" -- the March agreement has a list of 17 commitments on the part of the city, and the October understanding has five.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Notable changes include:<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The earlier document provided for “full access” to records, and the new one provides records “as appropriate and needed.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The city’s pledge of “willingness to implement the agreed upon reform recommendations, which will be based on professional standards, best practices, research...and the President’s Task Force on 21<sup>st</sup> Century Policing” has been scratched entirely. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The city’s agreement that “all reports will be publicly presented and widely disseminated by the COPS office” has been scratched.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">You get the idea. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">In the new "understanding," the COPS office committed to the city to “complete all technical assistance efforts by August 2018.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">In a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-announces-changes-collaborative-reform-initiative" target="_blank">Sept. 15 DOJ press release Sessions<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></a> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">said the community policing office needed a “course correction” and should defer to local law enforcement to run and police their own shops.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">“Changes to this program will fulfill my commitment to respect local control and accountability, while still delivering important tailored resources to local law enforcement to fight violent crime,” Sessions said. “This is a course correction to ensure that resources go to agencies that require assistance rather than expensive wide-ranging investigative assessments that go beyond the scope of technical assistance and support.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">MONTHS OF WORK DOWN THE DRAIN?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The next major step in the COPS office work with Memphis would have been its initial assessment, including findings and recommendations. COPS team members had made several trips to Memphis, including public listening sessions last year, and they were in Memphis during the summer. For instance, in July they went on police ride-alongs and met with the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board and community organizations such as the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center and People for the Enforcement of Rape Laws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The COPS crew was tight-lipped and would not publicly comment on their work. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpnGw6MLw121Q6KC4k8sVhkfe-7PG6bVRDDgosDiuTVWyHE5SH02W3HB19SesLCaN9sgHj6YmB3nINaCEpzLBBpgSrfw2uB5_Y2ZU0-NePH-ah8PEuy44LN9vXlrsuTxbESV_2ZDjryM/s1600/Keenon+James+DOJ+COPS.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1143" data-original-width="1600" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpnGw6MLw121Q6KC4k8sVhkfe-7PG6bVRDDgosDiuTVWyHE5SH02W3HB19SesLCaN9sgHj6YmB3nINaCEpzLBBpgSrfw2uB5_Y2ZU0-NePH-ah8PEuy44LN9vXlrsuTxbESV_2ZDjryM/s320/Keenon+James+DOJ+COPS.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; text-align: center;">Keenon James of COPS team at July CLERB meeting<br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">When goaded into standing up and saying something at the July CLERB meeting, Keenon James of the COPS office blandly offered, “We appreciate the opportunity to be here and be involved in the great things going on in the city of Memphis.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">That body of work is mostly down the drain. The COPS team would have made one more trip to Memphis before compiling their report. The knowledge they gained of MPD and the community -- including preferred barbecue eateries -- now has become background to any efforts going forward. Potentially, key objectives of the <a href="https://cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/Memphis_Goals_and_Objectives.pdf" target="_blank">COPS assessment as released in May </a>can carry over in the form of training and assistance in use of force, citizen complaints, citizen oversight of police and officer accountability. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cousine; font-size: 13.199999809265137px; line-height: 19.799999237060547px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cousine; font-size: 13.199999809265137px; line-height: 19.799999237060547px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><a href="https://ric-zai-inc.com/Publications/cops-w0804-pub.pdf" style="color: #007f7f; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">To get an idea of what type of information could have been, this links to a findings and recommendations report COPS made about the Calexico, California, police department.</a> </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">COMMUNITY POLICING SUMMER<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">While the DOJ folks were in town, however, it seemed as though the city and the police department were striving to be on their best behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Mayor Strickland’s city-paid attorney Alan Crone made an unprecedented appearance at the July CLERB meeting which was attended by three members of DOJ staff. Crone made a lengthy speech, waxing and waning about the awesomeness of police oversight in Memphis and how the city and police were embracing it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Police chief Rallings made himself more visible, attending community meetings and stepping up public appearances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, on Saturday June 10 Rallings attended four community events, with an MPD photographer in tow to post photos on the police Facebook page. Events included “Touch a Truck” downtown, where kids could play on fire trucks and police vehicles, and Reginald Johnson’s “Stop the Gun Violence” event in Frayser in honor of his son Samuel, whose murder down the street from his home is still an open case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSk0ZJDYRm1ZaefTNvOnxqc0ZgM4uojmmV0jmS30skIB9j3mWM77Zvyz2mGDjS2K_X9KfMXbIpxyIhnOLlAmQK5D2OdvSI90UbScNugaE9Azld8lIl7wg8JXnmYCszp6g31EJKBzMPisY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-07-11+at+12.56.59+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="1600" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSk0ZJDYRm1ZaefTNvOnxqc0ZgM4uojmmV0jmS30skIB9j3mWM77Zvyz2mGDjS2K_X9KfMXbIpxyIhnOLlAmQK5D2OdvSI90UbScNugaE9Azld8lIl7wg8JXnmYCszp6g31EJKBzMPisY/s400/Screen+Shot+2017-07-11+at+12.56.59+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Police chief pressing the flesh at Reginald Johnson's Stop the Violence Event </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">When citizens opposed to Wal-Mart’s cheap-labor practices and the company’s investments in private prisons had widely posted on Facebook their intentions to have a “salsa dance party” inside a Memphis Wal-Mart, police and Wal-Mart management were waiting for them. Police gathered inside and outside the store and were fortified with about 16 cruisers in the parking lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Wal-Mart store management was on the phone with corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, and they were told to get the police to “drag them out of there and arrest them, and anybody with them, and charge them up.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While police shooed the band of salsa-playing “unshoppers” out of the store as they shouted, “boycott Wal-Mart,” no arrests were made.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">After it was over, one of the event organizers told police in the Wal-Mart parking lot, "Thank you for not arresting us." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">While MPD rarely releases body-worn camera or in-car video footage, they provided to local media a video clip of an officer's encounter with an African-American attorney who had complained he was racially profiled at a traffic stop in July. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Ah, those were the days. It was Community Policing Summer in Memphis. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">POLICING THE POLICE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Delays and stops and starts plagued the COPS efforts with Memphis even before this “significant change,” as the DOJ put it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After announcing the collaborative review on Oct. 26, 2016, the COPS office on March 3, 2017, put out a release saying the agreement with the city of Memphis was over because the city had not entered into a Memorandum of Agreement after all that time. Strickland’s PR rep said she was “shocked” at the announcement. Before the day was over, DOJ said it was a misunderstanding, and things were supposedly back on track after Strickland signed the agreement and dated it March 3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rallings had signed it on Jan. 13.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Rallings and the city had invited the DOJ’s COPS office to work with MPD to make assessments and recommendations about the department.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “collaborative reviews” are voluntary, and in many cities their requests of DOJ have followed infamous police killings of unarmed men, such as Philando Castile, shot and killed by a St. Anthony, MN, officer in July 2016.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Memphis, officer Connor Schilling shot and killed unarmed backseat passenger Darrius Stewart July 17, 2015, after a traffic stop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Of 16 cities and police departments which began collaborative reviews with COPS between 2012 and 2016, St. Anthony's was the last one, announced on Dec. 15, 2016. Only one has been completed, Las Vegas, which was the first such effort undertaken after an extreme number of officer-involved shootings. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">In the March agreement with the city of Memphis, the last item – item 17 – states, “Acknowledgement that participation in the CRI-TA program does not preclude any future investigations into the patterns and practices of the law enforcement agency by the DOJ Civil Rights Division.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">During the Obama administration, there were 25 “patterns and practices” investigations by the DOJ's Civil Rights Division into law enforcement agencies – like with the voluntary reviews, many investigations were sparked by public outrage over police killings of unarmed young, black men, such as Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, and the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. Most of those investigations ended in consent decrees, in which the cities agreed to take certain reform measures and to pay for monitoring of their progress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">After the collaboration between COPS and MPD was announced in October, the COPS team came to Memphis and held two public listening sessions at which citizens aired their grievances with local policing in a setting absent of any uniformed law enforcement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The consensus among citizens at the Nov. 30 meeting, which we filmed and posted, was that there is no realistic way to complain about the police.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5WxUYZwvzQUkGXySLXxhiPlIH0haSTUBYZysIj0HfUx_KNDo-KBz_nJ41GpVGCcAqtbAYBJ6Ty3OGZJkj7MAzhEFJkra4AiRp_lZzeu2aIFyLxYIdBHHaUIonzb0P9x3Z07HVBnPyNf4/s1600/George+Fachner+nov+30+2016+DSC01506.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5WxUYZwvzQUkGXySLXxhiPlIH0haSTUBYZysIj0HfUx_KNDo-KBz_nJ41GpVGCcAqtbAYBJ6Ty3OGZJkj7MAzhEFJkra4AiRp_lZzeu2aIFyLxYIdBHHaUIonzb0P9x3Z07HVBnPyNf4/s400/George+Fachner+nov+30+2016+DSC01506.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">COPS team leader George Fachner listens to citizens Nov. 30, 2016 </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board was revived by City Council ordinance in November, 2015, after having been quietly disbanded by Mayor A.C. Wharton in August, 2011. But the citizen oversight body can only make recommendations to the police chief and has no real authority other than to conduct monthly, public meetings and hear complaints from aggrieved citizens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Police director Rallings has rejected every single recommendation thus far from CLERB. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">SHUT DOWN BY TRUMP-SESSIONS</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">In contrast to the pace of patterns and practices investigations launched during the Obama administration, expect none to happen under Trump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, Sessions has said DOJ would review existing consent decrees with cities and seek to roll them back if possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The DOJ under Trump-Sessions has been loudly all about the “law and order” rhetoric of longer sentences and stricter enforcement over Obama-era efforts to support community policing and to slow private prisons and mass incarceration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Sessions views the COPS office as adversarial to law enforcement, which should not be subjected to a federal watchdog.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">As Memphis and other cities jumped on board the COPS collaborative review train, we speculated that their motivation in part was precisely what the MOA referenced in "item 17:" to hedge against a patterns and practices investigation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Memphis announced its participation just days before Trump was elected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are left to wonder, Would the city and MPD have taken that step if they knew Hillary Clinton would not be around to continue President Obama's policies? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Noble Wray was the highest ranking DOJ official at the city’s press conference announcement Oct. 26.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The presidential election was held Nov. 8. Wray resigned from the DOJ before the week was out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Funding is expected to be cut to the COPS office and the Civil Rights Division – although COPS has provided many resources to law enforcement, boasting that it has funded 127,000 officer positions across about 13,000 law enforcement agencies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">"We haven't gotten anything definite," the DOJ's Jordan said about possible funding and cuts. "We are staying with what they call a continuing resolution to keep going, until we find out something."</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">No collaborative reviews have been undertaken in 2017, and the last report on the subject of collaborative review was published Jan. 17, three days before the presidential inauguration and as Obama appointee-Civil Rights Division head Vanita Gupta cleaned out her office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">When the COPS team held its last listening session in November, we asked their PR rep Mary Brandenberger what was in store for them under Trump as many DOJ staffers were polishing up their resumes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">“I wish somebody would tell me,” said Brandenberger. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">This spring, Branderberger apparently caught a version of Trump's most obnoxious line. Last we heard she is no longer with the COPS office.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">OUR EARLIER REPORTS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Here are links to our earlier reports and stories from various media and researchers:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><a href="https://whowillwatchthewatchersfilm.blogspot.com/2016/12/did-memphis-get-in-justunder-wire-on-u.html" target="_blank">Did Memphis Beat the Clock as Citizens Talk, DOJ Listens?</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><a href="https://whowillwatchthewatchersfilm.blogspot.com/2017/05/department-of-justice-releases-scope-of.html" target="_blank">DOJ Outlines Memphis Assessment Goals</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><a href="https://whowillwatchthewatchersfilm.blogspot.com/2017/07/doj-studies-community-policing-in.html" target="_blank">Police Director Steps Up the PR</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><a href="https://whowillwatchthewatchersfilm.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2017-08-02T16:20:00-07:00&max-results=7" target="_blank">DOJ Meets with Police Oversight Board </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-justice-department-sessions-police-20170404-story.html">http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-justice-department-sessions-police-20170404-story.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-justice-department-civil-rights-division_us_586eb67ae4b099cdb0fc4e24">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-justice-department-civil-rights-division_us_586eb67ae4b099cdb0fc4e24</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><a href="http://samuelwalker.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/DOJ-PP-Program-Feb24.pdf">http://samuelwalker.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/DOJ-PP-Program-Feb24.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/justice-departments-review-police-agreements-matters/story?id=46566294">http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/justice-departments-review-police-agreements-matters/story?id=46566294</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-obama-police-reform-20160809-story.html">http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-obama-police-reform-20160809-story.html</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-31785697194803730872017-10-09T14:08:00.000-07:002017-12-07T14:24:24.421-08:00Maneuvering the Minefield of Bureaucracy and ConfederatesConfusion and delay often are the tactics of an institution trying to resist change, and here are two pieces of confusion and delay we seek to clear up:<br />
<br />
The City of Memphis request to remove the statue of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest will be adjudicated by a simple majority of the Tennessee Historical Commission -- not a two-thirds majority as citizens may have understood from recent media reports. <br />
<br />
And, despite a letter from the Tennessee Historical Commission executive staff to city officials stating they would not be taking up the city's request at its next meeting, the commission members may do so if they please.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo1Pg0RCJxWwq0MDHFAt-ER5Kz-esq9ZrdMuNnHqPoSrvXvx86Pi90dgdclZLWTXLzDPYSXV-4rHcgieosebZ9EeiIEHe_8exyoJtIsL3Ut36vxMBx9T916fuWxS4F_mcwzO7EKHQWaulj/s1600/boot+shot+Screen+Shot+2017-05-30+at+12.01.37+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="897" data-original-width="1600" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo1Pg0RCJxWwq0MDHFAt-ER5Kz-esq9ZrdMuNnHqPoSrvXvx86Pi90dgdclZLWTXLzDPYSXV-4rHcgieosebZ9EeiIEHe_8exyoJtIsL3Ut36vxMBx9T916fuWxS4F_mcwzO7EKHQWaulj/s320/boot+shot+Screen+Shot+2017-05-30+at+12.01.37+AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Will THC keep Memphis beneath the boot of the Rebel general?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The commission meets in Athens on Friday, and the first item on the agenda includes public comments, and the second item is to consider the city's request of a waiver of the 2013 Tennessee Heritage Act, which pulled authority from cities and into the state's hands on removing or renaming military-related artifacts. The commission is expected to hear from Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, #takemdown901 activist Tami Sawyer and citizens who may make comments. A provision of the Act allows for local jurisdictions to petition the commission for a waiver of its rules and permission to move or rename such artifacts.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
Second item on the agenda is the commission's consideration of the city's request -- although commission chairman Dr. Reavis L. Mitchell recently wrote a letter to Memphis administration stating that Memphis' petition for a waiver of the rules would not be considered at the October session. The commission's next meeting won't be until February, 2018. <br />
<br />
For clarification of those two pieces of conflicting information, we reached out to the Tennessee Historical Commission and to Memphis attorney McMullen.<br />
<br />
"We filed a waiver before the 2016 act went into effect," said McMullen, "so according to the 2013 act, a simple majority of commission members is required, and any appeal is to be made through Chancery Court in Nashville. The 2016 act requires a super-majority, two-thirds, and any appeal goes through a jurisdiction where the statues are located."<br />
<br />
That's what we understood -- but it's always safe to make sure we are not the misguided ones.<br />
<br />
McIntyre's letter blunting the city's effort notwithstanding, it is up to the voting members of the commission itself -- 24 persons appointed by the governor plus five ex-officio members, including Gov. Bill Haslam -- to decide whether they will act on Memphis' petition.<br />
<br />
In the THC's letter to Memphis, the commission said it intends to continue tinkering with its process and criteria for adjudicating such matters -- instead of voting on the city's request itself.<br />
<br />
However, the THC (whose members and petitioners may need a little Tetrahydrocannabinol to get through this process; sorry, couldn't help that) has been dithering over this at least since <a href="http://publications.tnsosfiles.com/rules_filings/04-08-17.pdf" target="_blank">April when they put out an itemized set of decision points</a>, and continuing into their June meeting.<br />
<br />
And, they're not done yet? <br />
<br />
At this pace, no wonder Memphis City Council attorney Alan Wade said, "It is probably easier to have someone executed by lethal injection than to get a waiver from the Tennessee Historical Commission."<br />
<br />
We have yet to hear back from the Tennessee Historical Commission office. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.tn.gov/assets/entities/environment/attachments/THC-Oct-2017-Agenda.pdf" target="_blank">Meeting agenda</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://tn.gov/environment/topic/thc-tennessee-heritage-protection-act" target="_blank">Heritage Protection Act and Tennessee Historical Commission</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://tn.gov/environment/article/board-tennessee-historical-commission" target="_blank">Meeting details and members</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/tncode/" target="_blank">TCA 4-1-412</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-FgLYWZIRu6MkJoSFZ4MkdTT2s/view" target="_blank">City of Memphis waiver request</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-FgLYWZIRu6RV8wU1dzTVJSNzg/view" target="_blank">Letter from THC to Memphis</a><br />
<br />
From THC website:<br />
<br />
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #131e29; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; letter-spacing: -0.375px; line-height: 1.375rem; margin-bottom: 20px;">
"Two petitions have been filed with the Tennessee Historical Commission:</div>
<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #131e29; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; height: 71px; letter-spacing: -0.375px; line-height: 1.375rem; margin-left: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; width: 1484px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; list-style: none; padding: 0px 0px 11px 13px; position: relative;">"The City of Memphis has petitioned for the removal of a statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; list-style: none; padding: 0px 0px 11px 13px; position: relative;">"Middle Tennessee State University has petitioned to rename Forrest Hall, a building that houses the ROTC program.</li>
</ul>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #131e29; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; letter-spacing: -0.375px; line-height: 1.375rem; margin-bottom: 20px;">
"The rules ultimately enacted will apply to applications for waivers submitted under both the 2013 and 2016 versions of the Heritage Protection Act.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #131e29; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; letter-spacing: -0.375px; line-height: 1.375rem; margin-bottom: 20px;">
"The City of Memphis request to move the Forrest Statue from Health Sciences Park was submitted under the 2013 act, prior to the passage of the 2016 Act. Thus it will be considered under the provisions of the 2013 act, and is the only waiver application before the Commission to be considered under the 2013 Act.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #131e29; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; letter-spacing: -0.375px; line-height: 1.375rem; margin-bottom: 20px;">
"A majority vote of the THC is necessary to approve a waiver request submitted under the2013 Act. A 2/3 vote of the THC is required under the 2016 Act."</div>
From <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/5/29/1667130/-Is-Nathan-Bedford-Forrest-monument-is-about-domination-not-history" target="_blank">DailyKos, Nathan Bedford Forrest Monument Is about Domination, Not History</a><br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-74041430481037183602017-10-05T09:21:00.001-07:002017-10-06T22:13:31.415-07:00Did Memphis Arrest People for 'Engaging in Public Protest?'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1RmlHaaDmXYq_fXW-OZEuRHo6Jaks6XcQztf0ylaQzD5FRm7q3ziwjhsM2k0x5totT89pHk_kEYElfYhubzxwzrWgbN9IJ33MBhMGbyqzF0e6ILavlZk4iXLSXI_7faRkXsT3GLsNf2y/s1600/Statue+arrests+aug+19+2017.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1600" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1RmlHaaDmXYq_fXW-OZEuRHo6Jaks6XcQztf0ylaQzD5FRm7q3ziwjhsM2k0x5totT89pHk_kEYElfYhubzxwzrWgbN9IJ33MBhMGbyqzF0e6ILavlZk4iXLSXI_7faRkXsT3GLsNf2y/s640/Statue+arrests+aug+19+2017.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Police Move in to Arrest Citizens who Oppose Confederate Statues in City Parks</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Memphis city attorney Bruce McMullen's statement that officers did not arrest citizens for protesting but for "violating the law" at a Confederate statue protest raised eyebrows when he made the remark and has raised the hackles of those who were arrested Aug. 19.<br />
<br />
After citizens sought to place a "Black Lives Matter" banner around the horse's feet on the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue in Health Sciences Park, police arrested seven persons. Five were charged with "disorderly conduct" and two with "obstruction of a highway/passageway." Those are typical "catch-all" charges officers use when no more specific violations have occurred.<br />
<br />
At a panel discussing removal of this and one other Confederate statue in public parks in Memphis, McMullen, the city's chief legal officer, stated:<br />
<br />
"I don't think the city has ever arrested anybody for engaging in public protest. People that were arrested were arrested for violating the law."<br />
<br />
Which begs the question: What law? <br />
<br />
Four of those cases have been dismissed in court -- two for "defective warrants," which in legalistic terms means the arresting officer made an error on his affidavit. It may be something simple, such as the wrong date or address was written down. In these cases, however, the flaw was more fundamental. The affidavits did not describe any behavior on the part of the citizen that was a basis for the charge. The remaining three cases are awaiting preliminary hearings.<br />
<br />
Besides officers and command staff from the Memphis Department of Police Services, also present and participating in arrests were officers from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center Campus Police and Parking Services. An officer who swore to two charging affidavits stated: <span style="background-color: yellow;">"An unlawful protest was underway." </span><br />
<br />
Those are two of the cases still pending.<br />
<br />
Some of those arrested have posted on Facebook, asking the city to explain what laws were violated. That's a good question which deserves a good answer, doesn't it?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg3QJ5MktBLm70I3rbuJN_6l2RPkcVdPCtdtrOeAJIeqNXBEjKhnNvVMEf_JK98mi5ZJOj_tqhKgB0nHan-gYmVh-MLX7BFjiFHpniXTkWgM1OJzOk80yi9kCHWSprFrtafg0Oa_uATsFw/s1600/Statues+scott+arrest.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1600" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg3QJ5MktBLm70I3rbuJN_6l2RPkcVdPCtdtrOeAJIeqNXBEjKhnNvVMEf_JK98mi5ZJOj_tqhKgB0nHan-gYmVh-MLX7BFjiFHpniXTkWgM1OJzOk80yi9kCHWSprFrtafg0Oa_uATsFw/s640/Statues+scott+arrest.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Officers take Scott Prather to the ground after he walked away from the NBF monument Aug. 19</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prather's charge of "disorderly conduct" was dismissed in court</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMbgoUDbU4mvjfTEOt6bElBXM8L6G58I2-vcTm7B_BXiKxpkZ_HOq7Xwb7dGCVX0TvVNMMQ6bxy-APiFg1LwzmFLjNYcEWNlK78H3JOQuwItzFD-9q5ozB_uzhx8dGkJ6slCScfhAV_MxU/s1600/Affidavit+red+Screen+Shot+2017-10-06+at+11.43.15+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1178" data-original-width="1600" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMbgoUDbU4mvjfTEOt6bElBXM8L6G58I2-vcTm7B_BXiKxpkZ_HOq7Xwb7dGCVX0TvVNMMQ6bxy-APiFg1LwzmFLjNYcEWNlK78H3JOQuwItzFD-9q5ozB_uzhx8dGkJ6slCScfhAV_MxU/s640/Affidavit+red+Screen+Shot+2017-10-06+at+11.43.15+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Below is a video clip that includes McMullen's remarks on that panel, held Oct. 3, 2017, at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. Other videos and stories from Citizens Media Resource, Daily Kos and Who Will Watch the Watchers? are linked at the bottom.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZLWWDFKSIAU/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZLWWDFKSIAU?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<a href="https://citizensmediaresource.blogspot.com/2017/10/slow-road-or-rad-road-to-removing-rebel.html" target="_blank">Slow Road or Rad Road for Memphis to Remove Confederate Idols?</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/20/1691819/-Memphis-is-Latest-Battlefield-at-the-Junction-of-America-vs-the-New-Confederacy-and-Rebel-Statues" target="_blank">Memphis is Latest Battlefield at Crossroads of Rebel Statue Removal</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/5/29/1667130/-Is-Nathan-Bedford-Forrest-monument-is-about-domination-not-history" target="_blank">Nathan Bedford Forrest Monument is about Domination, not History</a><br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-83566173308247583762017-10-04T00:44:00.002-07:002017-10-06T20:52:27.599-07:00Slow Road or Rad Road to Removing Rebel Statues? <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6D-BGwCke8u8ppKwfjLeoRg_PAeuFjsLu2koXhOPcxhgTk0n2GPyTyKVWznY5r5Xgn0krIVUWFju68qO-vmOsmgqDTv7VJAUQopK0pEhm-w-bwTvfDtT9E4_LjbSCGf89B_BReigv7WFo/s1600/Statue+banner+aug+19+2017.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="1600" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6D-BGwCke8u8ppKwfjLeoRg_PAeuFjsLu2koXhOPcxhgTk0n2GPyTyKVWznY5r5Xgn0krIVUWFju68qO-vmOsmgqDTv7VJAUQopK0pEhm-w-bwTvfDtT9E4_LjbSCGf89B_BReigv7WFo/s640/Statue+banner+aug+19+2017.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before police swoop in to make arrests, statue opponents unfurl a Black Lives Matter banner </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">State Sen. Lee Harris says the city of
Memphis could apply political pressure to get Confederate statues removed from
city parks by putting a fence around the parks or by not cutting the grass.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“That would create national news,” Harris
said. “I don’t know any politician who does anything unless you box them
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Politicians are not as courageous as
you think.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Harris made the remarks at a forum, co-sponsored
by the Black Law Students Association,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law yesterday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Harris was joined on the panel by City of
Memphis Chief Legal Officer Bruce McMullen; private attorney and attorney for
Memphis City Council Alan Wade, and private citizen Tami Sawyer, who has
spearheaded the #takeemdown901 people’s movement to remove a statue of former Confederate
President Jefferson Davis and a statue of former Rebel General Nathan
Bedford Forrest from two city parks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2TsSTQvcE-6ZaLXzF9EC0Hltig-IeNkhm8XWlK6X1Q0v9sA7BKitQJSoax90ffnRVFXZSeKCN7nWNzfVrARmbCo-EU6QjnNcgrnbXx1pOWnYhMySK4UH0Yn_c_2ukJxuzXDtFoouisRjI/s1600/Statues+Tami+eye+roll.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="1600" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2TsSTQvcE-6ZaLXzF9EC0Hltig-IeNkhm8XWlK6X1Q0v9sA7BKitQJSoax90ffnRVFXZSeKCN7nWNzfVrARmbCo-EU6QjnNcgrnbXx1pOWnYhMySK4UH0Yn_c_2ukJxuzXDtFoouisRjI/s640/Statues+Tami+eye+roll.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">As Bruce McMullen explains how the city has never arrested anyone</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">for protesting, Tami Sawyer goes from eye roll...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccom82eIF-We3Kh7W38gipWF9mp1Yee4AlFFexmkAfM9yjcjAj2pDJHL3p5ylz5w0GZpP2u___oJ9dzwOm5dUNzH6c2lOfn6s8kOa5XMbPReCHyEISLbaJb73QHw4uVbC3LZ3LReq2aHN/s1600/Statues+Tami+amused.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="824" data-original-width="1582" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccom82eIF-We3Kh7W38gipWF9mp1Yee4AlFFexmkAfM9yjcjAj2pDJHL3p5ylz5w0GZpP2u___oJ9dzwOm5dUNzH6c2lOfn6s8kOa5XMbPReCHyEISLbaJb73QHw4uVbC3LZ3LReq2aHN/s400/Statues+Tami+amused.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">To amused...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrle3iX_UYywNVb67y9hB8s_sW5C34hWTLi3VIsWJjlywBlFRW2H3H4KOq41_87nn72S6O2d5hd6tEdBwfCb4gnuGb4WG7mGRU8czY6BztzKIJ5PImTB2dKmahe8gzHWOAL6yUz7qJsb-6/s1600/Statues+Tami+miffed.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="1548" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrle3iX_UYywNVb67y9hB8s_sW5C34hWTLi3VIsWJjlywBlFRW2H3H4KOq41_87nn72S6O2d5hd6tEdBwfCb4gnuGb4WG7mGRU8czY6BztzKIJ5PImTB2dKmahe8gzHWOAL6yUz7qJsb-6/s400/Statues+Tami+miffed.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">To miffed...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGn-VvYrbcPlEnpqxkzCIQyrEYm-8Ugldm33zb1IOgt-msbhKZRa073i5nvtVdD54jkUQn34U5xxBX0XU5P5naegMC8WoL_8EQb4OXFKJGplKNe5dR6mmX2TOGjh6lh3D72TtDxM8Gkkb3/s1600/Statue+Tami+hands+up.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="781" data-original-width="1600" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGn-VvYrbcPlEnpqxkzCIQyrEYm-8Ugldm33zb1IOgt-msbhKZRa073i5nvtVdD54jkUQn34U5xxBX0XU5P5naegMC8WoL_8EQb4OXFKJGplKNe5dR6mmX2TOGjh6lh3D72TtDxM8Gkkb3/s400/Statue+Tami+hands+up.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">To, Whatever </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The Tennessee General Assembly passed
laws in 2013 and 2016 which shifted power from municipalities themselves to the
Tennessee Historical Commission when it comes to renaming city parks and
removing Confederate monuments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Gov. Bill Haslam, who appoints THC members, had officially implored the commission to vote at its Oct. 13 meeting </span>on the city's request to remove Forrest’s statue in Health Sciences Park,
formerly Nathan Bedford Forrest Park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">However, the THC recently said that matter would not
be on its agenda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>City of Memphis Mayor
Jim Strickland and McMullen have said they will attend the meeting and
encourage the THC to grant the city’s request.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">McMullen and Wade said the mayor and city
council are committed to removing the statues, but they want to exhaust all
administrative and legal measures, including taking the matter to the Tennessee
or U.S. Supreme Court if necessary – rather than the city simply taking it upon
its own authority to remove them.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rlQNKXJz_-Y/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rlQNKXJz_-Y?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Above: We go all C-Span Lite, with minor editing, to bring you a video of the panel discussion at University of Memphis law school. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>CITY MOVING WITH DELIBERATE SPEED</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Sawyer expressed skepticism of the city’s
level of commitment to get the Rebel monuments out of public space, and at times
tensions rose between Sawyer and city attorney McMullen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">McMullen said public sentiment was part
of the city’s appeal to the Tennessee Historical Commission, which prompted
Sawyer to ask if the city would acknowledge that about 5,000 citizens had
signed a petition that has been delivered to the mayor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">McMullen started, then appeared to be searching for an answer, as
Sawyer reframed her question and pressed, “Will you acknowledge publicly that we sent to the mayor a
petition with 5,000 signatures in support of the waiver?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4vc7godzdo7aYuueom0Zfu-cR0xVugSHXFbfkwMkqzP9XcAXk4uVG1MaHld59Zv9pG7WsdV8v39TuNtieFGHfIvzE8IPf-DAFHC5mG25s_mXyDe4-5BU2hsXxTn4LMxOpl8vHpYkrKz7t/s1600/Statue+Earle+Fisher+Aug+19+2017.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="772" data-original-width="748" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4vc7godzdo7aYuueom0Zfu-cR0xVugSHXFbfkwMkqzP9XcAXk4uVG1MaHld59Zv9pG7WsdV8v39TuNtieFGHfIvzE8IPf-DAFHC5mG25s_mXyDe4-5BU2hsXxTn4LMxOpl8vHpYkrKz7t/s320/Statue+Earle+Fisher+Aug+19+2017.png" width="310" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Rev. Earle Fisher rallies the crowd</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">at Aug. 19 rally to oppose Rebel statues</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“You said that four times, “ McMullen
retorted, before agreeing they had received the citizens’ petition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">At one point Sawyer outlined the
timetable of the THC’s quarterly meetings and noted that the matter would still
not be acted upon by the THC when national attention came to Memphis April 4,
2018, upon the 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Let me correct one point,” McMullen
said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“You can’t correct me; you may edit,”
Sawyer replied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>ARRESTING TAKE EM DOWN 901</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">During a rally Aug. 19 at the Forrest
statue, Memphis police arrested seven citizens – some of whom were standing on
the marble monument while others attempted to place a Black Lives Matter banner
around the feet of Forrest’s bronze horse, King Phillip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Sawyer blasted the city for abridging
citizens’ freedom of speech, and McMullen claimed no one was arrested for
protesting but rather for “violating the law.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is unclear which law or laws the city attorney thought were broken or
were being prosecuted upon citizens as police charged the catch-all disorderly
conduct in all but two cases, and four cases so far have been dismissed in
court. The remaining three cases have yet to receive a preliminary hearing. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Arresting officer affidavits in two cases specifically cite: "An unlawful protest was underway."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">After that action, Mayor Strickland put
out a statement criticizing statue opponents for being “divisive,” and he later
convened several local preachers and others for a photo opportunity showing his
support for removing the monuments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
this gathering Strickland did not include Sawyer or others who were on the front
lines of #takeemdown901, such as Rev. Earle Fisher, and he called the effort to
remove the Confederate statues “our drive.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Sawyer says the time is now to remove the
statues, and she cited the city’s history of not following laws – such as to
integrate schools in the 1950s – when laws conflict with public sentiment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>MONUMENTS TO INTIMIDATION </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“These monuments were put there to intimidate
African-Americans,” Wade said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“That is
the very reason they should come down…. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“The continued presence of this monument
– Forrest notwithstanding; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he was the
general and you can laud all his accomplishments – but it’s not about who is
there. It’s about why it is there. And it is there to demean African-Americans
and continue to perpetuate this distinction in our culture and wealth and everything
else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The continued presence of that
thing is a thumb in the eye of our citizens, saying we are still in control and
you will never catch up with us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“That’s the important thing to keep in
mind from a social point of view. But as a legal thing, we are going to fight
those out,” Wade said. "We believe we have a great likelihood of succeeding." </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“We have made contact with all levels of
government that are connected with this effort – the governor, the city and
county mayors, city council, the historical commission -- and we have delivered
petitions to them with about 5,000 signatures,” Sawyer said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“This was never a specific attack on Mayor
Strickland, and while we sit here and laud his efforts, that’s great, but the
protest and the actions were to make a public push for removal and to bring
this to the forefront of the administration and city council to have them
removed,” Sawyer said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>THE CITY’S PRECEDENT TO SHUN THE LAW</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“As we think about this not just in the
legal context but in the historical context, when we go back to 1954 and we
were ordered by the Supreme Court (Brown vs. Board of Education) to integrate
schools with all deliberate speed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
it took seven years for schools here to be integrated. And it took 13 parents
to file a lawsuit through the NAACP legal defense fund for their kindergarteners
to be the ones brave enough to integrate these schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The schools they integrated are either closed
today, or they are a hundred percent black and Latino, or they are a hundred
percent low income.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“In 1951 there was a legal standard to
integrate schools and to insure there was no separation,” Sawyer said, “and that
there was equality in schools. Our city government chose to ignore that law,
because that’s what they thought was right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And our city government then chose not to engage in the process they
were required to do. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because that’s what
they thought their people wanted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“So I continue to push, as the activist
on the panel, and say if the people are saying this is what they want, those
that the people have asked to represent them have the power and the right to be
radical in making this change.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Harris said that the movement to take
down the statues has gained momentum in contrast to the city’s struggle in 2012
and 2013 to rename the parks that contain the monuments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the Tennessee General Assembly passed
laws in 2013<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and 2016 that usurped the
authority of cities to control the monuments, Gov. Bill Haslam “did not have
political courage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has a way to go,
but he has come a long way, and he is now for their removal." <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Harris noted that when he was a member of city council they considered renaming it "Ida B. Wells/Nathan Bedford Forrest Park," awkwardly combining the journalist who exposed lynching atrocities with the slave trader and first Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan. We have supposed how they might have then altered the monument (see photo). <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5wb5GZRYZqBpduevfztgCilgnwA16FVNVOYP_lhhQnNu22ZI1SU-9zCwvAyzEK7DPbik6JRAOxE6jjaiZqDe989ivscibxWTZgPrUSVBdOQMIHGiqraFyC-30JpyfbzT-3JxMHzJuFiZs/s1600/Ida+Wells+on+horse+facebook+screen+shot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1220" data-original-width="920" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5wb5GZRYZqBpduevfztgCilgnwA16FVNVOYP_lhhQnNu22ZI1SU-9zCwvAyzEK7DPbik6JRAOxE6jjaiZqDe989ivscibxWTZgPrUSVBdOQMIHGiqraFyC-30JpyfbzT-3JxMHzJuFiZs/s320/Ida+Wells+on+horse+facebook+screen+shot.png" width="241" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Can you imagine...?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>A RADICAL PATH?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“We can take a radical path,” Harris
said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We can close the park, put a
fence around it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are probably a long
way from doing something like that, but that’s a national news story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That would put so much pressure on the
governor and the Tennessee General Assembly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“We can stop maintaining the parks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t cut the grass, because the state has
said we don’t have control over our parks,” Harris said. “Let it get six feet
tall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s another national news
story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be sure, it hurts us, but it
really puts the pressure on Nashville.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are a lot of levers to be pulled that we haven’t pulled quite
yet.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Sawyer spoke of the racial wealth gap and
education inequity between African-Americans and Caucasians in Memphis, and she
said the effort to remove the Confederate symbols highlighted those
issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-LBlrp72XaClfvNpseL3x4j5aQNYrQlj8QpqWnUnWLHF8hZEvDWAl5j1ABFDeJ9kOSM-bFADkQe50axYIf5OI99IXjD77mqhqlaPQSu9L-cv63GUpzD1IgzIZEsNYJjX-Y8_IQ7JEIN6E/s1600/boot+shot+Screen+Shot+2017-05-30+at+12.01.37+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="897" data-original-width="1600" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-LBlrp72XaClfvNpseL3x4j5aQNYrQlj8QpqWnUnWLHF8hZEvDWAl5j1ABFDeJ9kOSM-bFADkQe50axYIf5OI99IXjD77mqhqlaPQSu9L-cv63GUpzD1IgzIZEsNYJjX-Y8_IQ7JEIN6E/s320/boot+shot+Screen+Shot+2017-05-30+at+12.01.37+AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Under the boot of the Rebel general</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“We don’t go away when the statues come
down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will continue to bring
attention to the racial inequality in this city,” Sawyer said.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;">There was no audience Q-and-A opportunity, although we had our question ready for the city attorney:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;">As Baltimore took away its statues and a city official called it putting them under "protective custody" against vandals, how much is Memphis paying to have 24-hour police protection for the two statues, and would it not be better and cheaper to put them in "protective custody" for their own safety? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-35792513858402444962017-09-09T21:43:00.002-07:002017-09-14T08:23:02.067-07:00Memphis-Made Doc Set for World and Tennessee Premieres<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Who Will Watch the Watchers?</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> will have its
World Premiere in Los Angeles Sept. 16 at the Justice on Trial Film Festival and will screen for the first time in Tennessee Sept. 28 at the University of Memphis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVx08Ib7ZpyYOXnfrwbpZkIOW925BPzv3XfP3qtyYOaRUGC3U9NPc0nFGISAVKNWmPv5bzxmxJtrY912dObkAR9i-hCIVjOuoLgOrkZBxS3TiFcbWN-e4xRd9ht13PzypLVTvkfECQ-MWR/s1600/1+top+left+Paul+Garner+arrest+Valero+Screen+Shot+2017-07-08+at+2.06.39+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="974" data-original-width="1272" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVx08Ib7ZpyYOXnfrwbpZkIOW925BPzv3XfP3qtyYOaRUGC3U9NPc0nFGISAVKNWmPv5bzxmxJtrY912dObkAR9i-hCIVjOuoLgOrkZBxS3TiFcbWN-e4xRd9ht13PzypLVTvkfECQ-MWR/s320/1+top+left+Paul+Garner+arrest+Valero+Screen+Shot+2017-07-08+at+2.06.39+AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Garner Watches the Watchers<br />
seconds before being arrested</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The Memphis-made documentary is set
in the local and national context of 21<sup>st</sup> Century hot topics, such
as filming police, Black Lives Matter, dissent in the Trump era and citizens
getting “woke” to a society that leaves many behind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Told as a
real-time narrative, the film tracks the struggles of young
activist Paul Garner, who is arrested for filming police then leads a grassroots
movement to seek justice at City Hall in an election year. The story’s timeline
reaches into 2017 and follows local and national events along the way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmLVHPFl8lNVU6Gut2N_nl7yVC5je1eYlB474ySU8l2pO54Ety5CXkplTJuOreOKbpmcW-4K_QjhZBeo6ZrGgTlbCM28hwbEBEcxWGtqOKW6EV9ipBs9bPWI9L8fgdd9sMkNIKlUC2WYt/s1600/Statue+Who+Will+Watch+the+Watchers+poster+and+signs+on+aug+19+2017+copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1108" data-original-width="1032" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmLVHPFl8lNVU6Gut2N_nl7yVC5je1eYlB474ySU8l2pO54Ety5CXkplTJuOreOKbpmcW-4K_QjhZBeo6ZrGgTlbCM28hwbEBEcxWGtqOKW6EV9ipBs9bPWI9L8fgdd9sMkNIKlUC2WYt/s320/Statue+Who+Will+Watch+the+Watchers+poster+and+signs+on+aug+19+2017+copy.png" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nathan Bedford Forrest<br />
monument Aug. 19, 2017</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">A STORY
OF MEMPHIS ACTIVISM</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“This film tells a story about activism in Memphis and how police abridge the First Amendment, in Memphis and everywhere," said filmmaker Gary Moore. "It's a people's history and a case study of citizens trying to make change within the system. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The film includes never-before-seen footage and some
content that would not make it into mainstream media.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Filming began in
2014 after citizens were arrested while cell-phone recording police at Manna
House homeless refuge and at a Trolley Night hip-hop event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an emotional roller coaster for citizens
such as Garner, organizing director at the Mid-South Peace & Justice
Center, who was arrested twice for filming police and who led Memphis United grassroots
coalition in a movement to bring back the Civilian Law Enforcement Review
Board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the middle of the campaign, a
Memphis patrolman shot and killed unarmed teenager Darrius Stewart after a
traffic stop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">FILM
CONTINUOUSLY UPDATED<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The film also
spans developments such as the 2016 Mississippi River Bridge shutdown where
Interstate 40 bisects America and the mayor’s February 2017 blacklist of citizens
who were ordered to be escorted by police if they entered in City Hall and
arrested without warning if they showed up on his lawn. The film
includes footage as recent as the Aug. 19 action opposing the Nathan Bedford Forrest
statue in Health Sciences Park. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Civil Rights hero
and Freedom Rider Dr. Rip Patton of Nashville narrates the opening and closing
sequences of the film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The film includes
graphic violence and profanity and has not been rated by the Motion Picture
Association of America. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who Will Watch
the Watchers?</i> will have its Tennessee Premiere Sept. 28 at the University
of Memphis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Moore Media & Entertainment previously produced the role-reversal comedy
short, "The Suburban Itch," and is developing for television two
episodic dramatic comedies: In <i>The Pregnant Prick</i>, a womanizing member
of Congress changes his ways after he becomes pregnant -- due to global
warming, scientists prove. <i>Second Coming</i> is a
what-would-Jesus-really-do series in which Jesus returns to Earth and exposes a
televangelist and a crooked politician. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-32624279289266414612017-08-28T16:02:00.001-07:002017-08-29T01:43:33.587-07:00Shiloh Won't Take Confederate Statues off Memphis' Hands, Park Head Says<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Don’t
look for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Shiloh National Military Park</b>
to accept the statues of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nathan
Bedford Forrest</b> or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jefferson Davis,</b>
despite that suggestion in a <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Commercial
Appeal</span> editorial and that option being entertained by some on <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Memphis City Council.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmkMntdVDol00P7HS9IcXVuhma5xexomzV2sIzagsWysNvco-oKf5H0R84ZBTe4GZA3muju8PEbn2wETVp8WLg6a1pOtvChduCPNdXSNDiKJCMTvlHFt9c8KB7IyOsXVONe9QvI_KsnJx/s1600/shiloh+angel+cradling+soldier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="427" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmkMntdVDol00P7HS9IcXVuhma5xexomzV2sIzagsWysNvco-oKf5H0R84ZBTe4GZA3muju8PEbn2wETVp8WLg6a1pOtvChduCPNdXSNDiKJCMTvlHFt9c8KB7IyOsXVONe9QvI_KsnJx/s400/shiloh+angel+cradling+soldier.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Angel cradling a solider is the type of monument <br />
found at Shiloh, not generals on horses</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">“I do not
believe there are any monuments in Memphis that would meet our design
standard,” said Shiloh park superintendent <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dale
Wilkerson</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">National Park Service</span> has a fairly well-prescribed standard and
process for monuments in parks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
monuments related to the battle of Shiloh have to meet the design standard for
this park.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Wilkerson said no one has approached the park about moving the Memphis statues there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Before he
was promoted to brigadier general, Forrest had command of a Confederate rear guard after the Union victory. He was reported to be the last man shot
at Shiloh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A bronze statue of Forrest, who became a general before the
war was over, mounted on his horse and a monument to Jefferson Davis in Memphis
have been the subject of efforts to remove them from public spaces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The city
of Memphis cannot seem to get out of its own way on what to do about the
statues, and to underscore the city’s level of disarray, earlier today the city
put metal barricades around the statue – then took them down!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisnPtyGajxTaNwoZEXsPz_ByE96nT-fit_34m48MwER6c2umvikvsq95nhIqmrskjs4KcB_I-4Ka_Us1t0_LVgdvcil5Q_NZgoUPPyElw6T2l2neLX2c0J1aJBWXzdfcT35cs5HQiNwhPl/s1600/statue+fenced+in.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="748" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisnPtyGajxTaNwoZEXsPz_ByE96nT-fit_34m48MwER6c2umvikvsq95nhIqmrskjs4KcB_I-4Ka_Us1t0_LVgdvcil5Q_NZgoUPPyElw6T2l2neLX2c0J1aJBWXzdfcT35cs5HQiNwhPl/s400/statue+fenced+in.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Memphis put up metal barricades, then took them down</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">See our
earlier story in dailykos, which includes “Arrests and Aftermath..,” a video of
police grabbing citizens at the statue on Aug. 19.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/20/1691819/-Memphis-is-Latest-Battlefield-at-the-Junction-of-America-vs-the-New-Confederacy-and-Rebel-Statues">https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/20/1691819/-Memphis-is-Latest-Battlefield-at-the-Junction-of-America-vs-the-New-Confederacy-and-Rebel-Statues</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">A SOLDIER’S WAR<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">“The battle
of Shiloh was a soldier’s war, not a general’s war,” Wilkerson said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“There are markers that say this or that
general was here, but there are no monuments to generals and no monuments of
men mounted on horses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Generals
can make a plan, but once the battle started, many of the men found themselves
in forests with thick smoke, and they were disconnected from their
commanders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had to prosecute the
battle on their own and determine how to proceed,” Wilkerson said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">“All
artwork at Shiloh is an allegorical piece of art that’s meant to tell a
story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For instance, the Wisconsin
monument is an angel cradling a dying soldier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is no monument or artwork of any particular person.”<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">IT TAKES AN ACT OF CONGRESS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Only
Congress can establish a national park, Wilkerson explained, and “we look to
our enabling legislation which prescribes the design of the park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have to ask, What was Congress’
intent?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our enabling legislation says
that states involved in the battle can place monuments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were 19 states involved, and 16 have
placed monuments. Conversely, a state such as Virginia cannot place a monument
here, because no soldiers from Virginia were involved in the battle.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Shiloh
was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About 110,000 men fought over two days, April
6-7,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1862, and there were 23,746
casualties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">“That was
more casualties than every previous American war combined, including the
Revolutionary War,” Wilkerson said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It
was one of the first large-scale tragedies of the Civil War.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The park
was established in 1894, and many veterans of that battle gave input to the
park service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Many
veterans thought of it as a soldier’s battle, not a general’s battle,”
Wilkerson said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">CITY STUMBLES, MAYOR HAS A HISSY
FIT<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The city
of Memphis is awkwardly struggling with its two Confederate monuments, Forrest
in Health Sciences Park and former Confederate President Davis in Mississippi
River Park downtown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mayor Jim Strickland</b> has said he wants
the monuments gone, even referring to it as “our drive,” he says he is
hamstrung by a law which requires the Tennessee Historical Commission to give
the city permission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The commission
rejected the city’s request last year, although City Council voted in 2015 to
remove Forrest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Strickland
had something of a media hissy fit last weekend after police arrested seven
persons who were at Forrest's statue as some persons tried to put a
“Black Lives Matter” banner around the feet of Forrest’s horse, King
Phillip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Strickland called the
Commercial Appeal’s reporting of the arrests and protests “divisive,” although
Strickland’s public defensiveness and media meltdown were more divisive and
more telling than any newspaper story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Strickland
made a point to say that he was a long-time member of the NAACP, and he was
chided on social media as his credentials claim sounded to some like the
equivalent of, “I have black friends.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">While Strickland has the highest-paid PR staff
of any elected official in Tennessee, somehow they did not rein in Strickland
from his Trump-like outburst.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The national Confederate statuary controversy was stoked Aug. 12 when a neo-Nazi drove his
car at a high rate of speed into persons who were counter-protesting a large
action on the part of so-called “alt-right,” white supremacists, neo-Nazis and
Ku Klux Klan members in Charlottesville, Virginia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heather Heyer was killed when struck by the
car, and 19 or more persons were hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Forrest was the first Grand Wizard of the Klan, and he sold slaves at
his “Negro Mart” in downtown Memphis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">CITIZENS MEDIA RESOURCE <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">OFFERS</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BROKERAGE SERVICES<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">While the
city of Memphis is dithering around and wringing its hands, like it does not know
which end is up, to jump-start the removal of the statues may require a willing
buyer to step up, or an auction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To assist
the city and to help mend the divide between government and the community,
Citizens Media Resource is forming an entity for the purpose of brokering the
sale of the Confederate statues to private buyers, such as a museum or for part
of an individual’s collection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In fact,
look for us later as Statuary Clearinghouse, Auction and Brokerage (SCAB) as a liaison to discreetly field prospective buyers and facilitate a
sale from the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know, that sounds
a bit tongue-in-cheek, which is our typical style – but we are dead-dog serious
about this approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would help the
city tremendously if they could say, Hey, we got us a buyer, and here’s who it
is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That would pull the process along,
instead of the city being left to embarrassingly flounder. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-6413869936861257882017-08-16T09:59:00.002-07:002017-08-16T10:00:06.397-07:00Behind-the-Scenes Help Gets a Nod for all those Talks about Law Enforcement<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the process of making a film, there are people who help in small or large ways but who have no </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">paid or official roles. That's why you see "Thanks To" or "Special Thanks" credits. Not that everybody who deserves a "thanks" gets one!</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqHxnPHVYSDlPsr9PTzsi9lVwMk0ZzExrc1_6Gs7AgagF6ptEGFM3bcKfSGUIjJo0T5Kkl4ZuOsX-GnVCGjjdbv3P1BhsMuuKCKYuKdW1vMk1BbB8nlSa0yFNYyo9MKsqOoDUFV938bM/s1600/Kirkpatrick+Oakland+March+1+2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="846" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqHxnPHVYSDlPsr9PTzsi9lVwMk0ZzExrc1_6Gs7AgagF6ptEGFM3bcKfSGUIjJo0T5Kkl4ZuOsX-GnVCGjjdbv3P1BhsMuuKCKYuKdW1vMk1BbB8nlSa0yFNYyo9MKsqOoDUFV938bM/s320/Kirkpatrick+Oakland+March+1+2017.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Anne Kirkpatrick is sworn in<br />as Oakland chief March 1, 2017</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Memphis native and now Oakland police chief <b>Anne Kirkpatrick</b> consulted with us while we were making the feature doc, <i>Who Will Watch the Watchers?</i> We talked in spring 2016 about the city of Memphis search for a new police chief, and Kirkpatrick was interested in the job. She was friendly, open and generous with her time, even if I called her too late at night for someone who was in the Eastern time zone -- not Pacific as I had expected -- and had to get up early the next morning to do her job training police chiefs for the the FBI. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kirkpatrick worked for the FBI, traveling to train command staff in U.S. cities, including Memphis, when the top cop job came open. We talked about police practices, her philosophy and goals, and broader things that helped me shape a director's perspective while researching a film. She enlisted me to keep her up to date on Memphis news related to the search. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kirkpatrick had been one of only two national candidates to be recommended to <b>Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel</b> after a $500,000 search by the <b>Chicago Police Board</b> in 2015-2016. This followed the firing of CPD superintendent <b>Gary McCarthy</b> in the wake of the <b>LaQuan McDonald</b> killing by a Chicago officer. Despite the costly, national search and the strong recommendations for Kirkpatrick and <b>Dr. Cedric Alexander</b>, who at the time was public safety director for DeKalb County, Georgia, Emanuel rejected the board's report and hired from within the existing Chicago department. But, he told Kirkpatrick at the time that he had a special role in mind for her. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In June 2016 Kirkpatrick was named to head the Chicago's new <b>Bureau of Professional Standards</b> with the onerous task of cleaning up CPD and going beyond reform to "change hearts and minds," she said. In January, Kirkpatrick left CPD to become chief of police in Oakland. Many current and former Memphis police department police directors and deputy directors know Kirkpatrick, mostly from her sessions training them in Memphis. Kirkpatrick told us she thought highly of the Memphis command staff, and the feeling was mutual, according to those she trained. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When it came time for Memphis <b>Mayor Jim Strickland</b> to appoint a new director of police services, he hired <b>Michael Rallings</b> from within. Mayors presumably are under much pressure to do that. Nonetheless, Strickland had made a big deal out of the city conducting a "national search" for a new top cop to replace <b>Toney Armstrong</b>. They hired the <b>International Association of Chiefs of Police</b> to recruit for the position, although there was a mysterious gap between the time Strickland announced the search in January, 2016, and when it officially was authorized in May, 2016. The city said they spent $40,000 or so for the search fee and perhaps about that much more in time and expenses interviewing, lodging and entertaining candidates and meeting with the search entity. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The city went through the charade of bringing four national candidates into Memphis -- for interviews, ribs at Rendezvous and an intro to the city -- even after Interim Director Rallings had already been annointed as the presumed heir to the position after his role in the <b>Hernando DeSoto Bridge</b> shutdown July 10, 2016. Perhaps Strickland thought he could have a learning experience that he could bank for the future by playing out this "national search." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The mayor has not revealed to us any of his thought processes, however, nor has he ever responded to our interview requests. (MPD at least called us back and said officially "...we decline to participate" but wished us well.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The only time we got a call back from Strickland's PR team was after we talked to people at the International Chiefs of Police and they alerted <b>Ursula Madden</b> that we were asking questions. Madden called me in what I would describe as something of a frenzy. We wrote a story and sent a link to <b>Richard Ransom</b>, then anchor at Channel 3. Ransom did a "cop search" story every night that week, then got Strickland on the "Informed Sources" show for that weekend. Within days of our calling out the city for foot-dragging and by late Friday afternoon, suddenly the search was up and running. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">At no time did the search firm contact Kirkpatrick. Why not? Let's underscore this. <u>The police search group did not contact a Memphis native and top-rated national candidate who trained existing Memphis police chiefs and command staff</u>. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">She was good enough to train us but not be one of us?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nor did they contact Alexander, who was actually offered the CPD chief job by Emanuel -- who then reneged under pressure by Chicago aldermen. At some point, we wrote an analysis about the Memphis cop search. <b>Jerome Wright</b>, then editorial page editor at The Commercial Appeal, contacted us about using it for their Sunday Viewpoint section. I realize that these types of pieces often are written by advocates or experts inside an industry or profession, who are pushing an agenda; but sometimes they are written by AP or actual journalists. For some reason, I had this idea I might be knocking a journalist out of money -- I was just writing as a journalist, not an "expert" on anything or someone pushing a position -- so I inquired if there were any compensation for the piece. Just asked. Unsurprisingly, that's the last I heard of it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We also talked with Alexander during this time, including about police practices and philosophical issues. Alexander had been a member of <b>President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing</b>, and he wrote a book, <i>The New Guardians: Policing in American Communities for the 21st Century.</i> The President's Task Force made the point that officers should be guardians, not warriors. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alexander asked us to spend some time in Georgia, where we would have unlimited access to his department, he said, and make a documentary which he thought would be a good fit for CNN -- for whom he was a frequent law enforcement consultant. We did not follow up on that offer, but we appreciated the thought. Although Kirkpatrick and Alexander did not know it, those conversations helped as we made <i>Who Will Watch the Watchers?</i> And we are thankful. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-34711206296415541962017-07-20T09:37:00.001-07:002017-07-20T09:39:03.561-07:00Talking Out of Both Sides of One MouthJeff Sessions is all for states' rights -- except when he isn't. Author and researcher <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2017/07/18/jeff-sessions-supports-states-rights-except-when-he-doesnt/?utm_term=.d47c5a3bc411" target="_blank">Radley Balko lays it out in The Washington Post. </a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqXoQcXfaD7ArVXNvpw3RcBsJZMM9wtDqYnUrpRuHGsW6n54Y2-ePKyQifGORRaC0fm-ccBe9Nh26FNx_1jrEDf7K6m1E-Da4Va4CUJzSeTvuLuwA56j6REo_V7bDoWbHsjvt5YkLuTIW/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-05-24+at+9.54.42+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="968" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqXoQcXfaD7ArVXNvpw3RcBsJZMM9wtDqYnUrpRuHGsW6n54Y2-ePKyQifGORRaC0fm-ccBe9Nh26FNx_1jrEDf7K6m1E-Da4Va4CUJzSeTvuLuwA56j6REo_V7bDoWbHsjvt5YkLuTIW/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-05-24+at+9.54.42+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Republicans often talk up states' rights as a sacred principle, but in this decade they have amped up the squashing of states' rights when they caught the states actually doing something sensible for people.<br />
<br />
In a mutation of failed "trickle down," just as the U.S. Congress has cast down decrees abridging laws upon states, many state legislatures -- including Tennessee -- have defecated down on cities and counties. <br />
<br />
Examples in Tennessee include: 1-- State takeover and smashing of free public education and converting whatever "education" is left, especially in Democratic-voting Shelby and Davidson Counties, to for-profit schemes. 2--The state legislature overriding cities of Memphis and Nashville wanting to lessen marijuana possession as a crime. 3--Legislation against cities wishing to require minority hiring quotas for public contracts. 4--Pushing past cities' and counties' desires to keep firearms out of their public parks and other spaces. <br />
<br />
In an almost-funny reverse reflex, Tennessee legislators a couple of years ago pledged to arrest any federal officers crossing the state border to enforce federal laws about firearms. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2017/07/18/jeff-sessions-supports-states-rights-except-when-he-doesnt/?utm_term=.d47c5a3bc411" target="_blank">Balko gives us chapter and verse from the mouth of Sessions. </a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-68133976289743164212017-06-30T21:19:00.000-07:002017-07-01T11:00:55.081-07:00Georgia Election is Case Study in "Don't-do-This" for Democrats<h4>
It's not hard to figure out that Republicans have been out-messaging Democrats. We have seen that facts don't matter and that strong messaging overcomes playing not to lose.</h4>
<br />
Having been a speechwriter, political strategist and PR operative for causes and candidates since Jimmy Carter was President, I was sufficiently horrified in this century to join others in forming Messaging Values Project -- a study of how to clearly message progressive values. <br />
<br />
During this project we met political researcher and strategist <b>Drew Westen</b>.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfSMepv5TeupVip4cFoHMjw4MPVfezuQjhEzjG6YnsqO8Gt5Q_bl6KAzbQYg4bf948uluvtUYtLQrtwJjqg0GDg1ZvsDJLBU8ALLfEGYnrQESNIAIbznnzD_OPdI34vNTrR1miQG4fRIEa/s1600/Nancy+Pelosi.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="1516" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfSMepv5TeupVip4cFoHMjw4MPVfezuQjhEzjG6YnsqO8Gt5Q_bl6KAzbQYg4bf948uluvtUYtLQrtwJjqg0GDg1ZvsDJLBU8ALLfEGYnrQESNIAIbznnzD_OPdI34vNTrR1miQG4fRIEa/s320/Nancy+Pelosi.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Westen is to Democrats what <b>Frank Luntz</b> is to Republicans. Westen, who lives outside Atlanta, conducts focus groups to learn which messages and words resonate with potential voters and which ones fall flat. He understands how to "prime" a message by firing off mental "frames" in the mind of an audience. <br />
<br />
Westen is every bit as good as Luntz -- better, I think, because he does not play on ignorance and hate -- but not as widely known. Westen does not have a track record of success (if you call convincing voters to screw up the country a success) like Luntz. For example, one Luntz gem was to advise Republicans to call Obamacare a "government takeover." <br />
<br />
One subject for study, although it should not be a political issue, is abortion. I hate to even bring it up. It's a no-win subject. It's a personal matter that Republicans have wrangled and manipulated into hate and crazy and votes. There is no changing anyone's mind on this, but it is an issue that Westen tested in focus groups. <br />
<br />
"A man and a woman have the right to plan a family. Voters respond favorably if you begin with that," Westen said in describing the results of focus groups on messaging women's reproductive rights.<br />
<br />
Westen closely observed Democrat <b>Jon Osoff's</b> recent loss to Repubican <b>Karen Handel </b>in a highly watched and richly funded special congressional election in Georgia's sixth district.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/06/27/opinions/democrats-need-to-fix-westen-opinion/index.html" target="_blank">In this CNN story, Westen lines out the Democrats' failures in this race, and he advises Democrats should use this as a what-not-to-do case study for 2018 congressional races. </a><br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-90663564680916371402017-06-28T08:08:00.000-07:002017-06-28T08:22:21.853-07:00Dialing for Democracy: Turning Back the Turn-Off of Medical Care<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Remember when Republicans used to holler about "death panels" and putting a "bureaucrat" between you and your doctor? Almost seems like the good ol' days in 2010 when the Affordable Care Act was widely debated and a discussed before being voted into law (and letting insurance companies stay between you and your doctor).</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqz4r0NotQegeQn5AS4BEyh9p1rFdIC6nZQuUSVoD5YMAD8O0b6rDrnFGK0m6-gkVzdlR-jqGCV_78hDbvhUkExxmuBATs7jUR4GPdjsA9perHTM0lKyllUdL-LWvdJzYdK5lxriFS92mR/s1600/McConnell_Supreme-Court_2016_ap_img.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="907" data-original-width="1440" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqz4r0NotQegeQn5AS4BEyh9p1rFdIC6nZQuUSVoD5YMAD8O0b6rDrnFGK0m6-gkVzdlR-jqGCV_78hDbvhUkExxmuBATs7jUR4GPdjsA9perHTM0lKyllUdL-LWvdJzYdK5lxriFS92mR/s320/McConnell_Supreme-Court_2016_ap_img.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do you want this man to decide if you go to the doctor?<br />
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now they are putting U.S. senators and representatives between you and your doctor, your pharmacy, your physical therapy, etc.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><b>Dialing for Democracy</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Phone lines to members of
Congress often are busy – yeah, they know it’s you and just don’t want to
answer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Crackerjack box: Little-known Lamar Alexander info below contacts)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Personal calls are
powerful because a breathing person has to engage you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But fax is an option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had faxed Leemar about Jeff-Beau Sessions
and was surprised to get an email back, explaining how Sessions was his
friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surprise was that I got a reply,
not that Alexander had his head up….<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
least someone had to go to slight trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Sen. Lamar Alexander<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">DC office 202-224-4994<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">FAX 202-228-3398<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">For phone calls, if you
get tired of busy signal in DC, call Nashville office, even if you live in
Memphis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don't believe Memphis
qualifies as part of Tennessee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ask them
to "log the call."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Nashville office
615-736-5129 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fax 615-269-4803<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Memphis office<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>901-544-4224 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fax: 901-544-4227.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Bonus: David Cleary, Alexander chief of staff, email </span></span>david_cleary@help.senate.gov<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Sen. Bob Corker<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">DC office 202-224-3344<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">FAX 202-228-0566<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Call to Chattanooga office
would be second choice after DC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Chattanooga office<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>423-756-2757<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fax 423-756-5313 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Nashville office <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>615-279-8125<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fax 615-279-9488<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Memphis office <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>901-683-1910<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fax 901-575-3528<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">ALEXANDER THE NIXON AIDE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Alexander learned dirty
politics while he was a Nixon White House attorney under Haldeman and
Ehrlichman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did you miss that one on his
resume? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, he does not want people
talking about that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE JIM BEAM<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Mr. Wholesome from
Maryville, TN, in the 1970s Alexander used a church charter to get around local
laws and serve liquor at a Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant he owned in Gatlinburg.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">CITY SLICKER GOES COUNTRY<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">All you need to know about
Alexander’s phony politician game is that he put on a red plaid shirt to act
like a working man when he ran for governor in 1978.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When his crew got near a media or other
event, they would plop Alexander behind the wheel of a pickup truck so he could
“drive into town” in his pickup and plaid shirt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">AMERICAN GET-RICH SCHEME<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Alexander gets rich using
his government positions for personal gain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No surprise, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this 1996
Chicago Tribune story – while Alexander was a mere single-digit millionaire -- lays
out some of his spurious land deals from the 20<sup>th</sup> century and how he
has leveraged his positions in office to personal wealth:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-02-19/news/9602190118_1_blackberry-farm-tennessee-governor-lamar-alexander">http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-02-19/news/9602190118_1_blackberry-farm-tennessee-governor-lamar-alexander</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Open Secrets compiled this
listing of assets, updated as of 2014:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<span style="color: #16191f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/assets.php?year=20100&cid=N00009888">http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/assets.php?year=20100&cid=N00009888</a></span><!--EndFragment-->
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-34102172399236603802017-06-22T17:01:00.001-07:002017-06-22T17:16:44.802-07:00Myths and Realities of Globalization in 2017 and Beyond <br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Linguist and intellectual Noam Chomsky and Cambridge economics professor Ha-Joon Chang <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/41037-myths-of-globalization-noam-chomsky-and-ha-joon-chang-in-conversation" target="_blank">talk out the powerful, transnational forces that run our lives in this Truthout interview.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhecrZQsO_xLfd8Y-GiTU_UDWH3gJWy1T20waRLs69dOlbJ43ebvlHHMVXlo7t2jxQ2PxkDG5xzBO5rs7ir7dDtxAu3f_5PI-NvK6rfc6WPmQtOiBdJfTEDWCku_mFyDEQ2zRRTmmha4ruu/s1600/Noam+Chomsky+by+jeanbaptisteparis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhecrZQsO_xLfd8Y-GiTU_UDWH3gJWy1T20waRLs69dOlbJ43ebvlHHMVXlo7t2jxQ2PxkDG5xzBO5rs7ir7dDtxAu3f_5PI-NvK6rfc6WPmQtOiBdJfTEDWCku_mFyDEQ2zRRTmmha4ruu/s400/Noam+Chomsky+by+jeanbaptisteparis.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noam Chomsky Photo by jeanbaptisteparis</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In our story with Noam Chomsky from 2012, he described the U.S. as having become a "senate of the wealthy" and operating as something of a third-world nation. Nothing has happened to change that view. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-1274560657977301862017-06-02T21:44:00.001-07:002017-06-02T21:47:58.825-07:00Forrest Statue Is about Domination, not History<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was <b>Memorial Day</b>, and I decided to see if any history would rub off on me if I visited the <b>Nathan Bedford Forrest</b> monument in<b> Memphis, Tennessee</b>. After all, that's the rationale Mississippi legislators and others give for keeping the 22-foot tall bronze idol to the rebel general, slave trader and first Grand Wizard of the <b>Ku Klux Klan</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/5/29/1667130/-Is-Nathan-Bedford-Forrest-monument-is-about-domination-not-history?_=2017-06-02T21:27:05.706-07:00" target="_blank">We posted this in Daily Kos, and here's the link. </a></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYLgsPjxj3tMkHDdzh9U0tPjRa9xfuQ3AUGkWS8KK1T_H6D0aNxtGWg3PYpKvVA1jZKP58IbrL3uHir3zR_AY3ojPGw3NTMpKedeL1ovsGdEECv0YIByg6mITpezNu5hxUfyuOdO0EbIq/s1600/boot+shot+Screen+Shot+2017-05-30+at+12.01.37+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="897" data-original-width="1600" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYLgsPjxj3tMkHDdzh9U0tPjRa9xfuQ3AUGkWS8KK1T_H6D0aNxtGWg3PYpKvVA1jZKP58IbrL3uHir3zR_AY3ojPGw3NTMpKedeL1ovsGdEECv0YIByg6mITpezNu5hxUfyuOdO0EbIq/s640/boot+shot+Screen+Shot+2017-05-30+at+12.01.37+AM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h3>
Beneath the boot of the Confederate general</h3>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyhEvIBq3PEsgvgIU5yONV6v7DcqK4Yt62NmPvHhV25v7KZ3x1C-qegtGwrIQFDYCUqIQ9L9OTfFNsliMt5FvPSHiJ0mN26NafJRQCieVmT83qiCBnigz2DFR5xa_xj6GNBL3aOrgoxLT/s1600/Negro+Mart+Screen+Shot+2017-05-31+at+12.07.37+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="816" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyhEvIBq3PEsgvgIU5yONV6v7DcqK4Yt62NmPvHhV25v7KZ3x1C-qegtGwrIQFDYCUqIQ9L9OTfFNsliMt5FvPSHiJ0mN26NafJRQCieVmT83qiCBnigz2DFR5xa_xj6GNBL3aOrgoxLT/s320/Negro+Mart+Screen+Shot+2017-05-31+at+12.07.37+PM.png" width="229" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-995072666171083826.post-16853977001278182732017-05-24T19:53:00.001-07:002017-06-15T22:48:03.779-07:00Sessions of the Old South is Poster Boy for the New Slavery<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><b>Jefferson
Beauregard Sessions</b> is a buggy whip in an age of self-driving cars.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">While
Sessions’ mentality is circa 1843, he strangely exists in the 21<sup>st</sup>
century and is the poster boy for the New Slavery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2bnwHePzIXlAo_WtpO3lbEYkeC5WSX4NTXglAKIPuyjcMOuHLYowd15sUQ1aWIQDM5mk-vZxdDnMoRgIGyOZl5zD1Dqd1gD9JXeNwbH7tVMIC7Y2vtUugsJ2JiblOv-hp27F_jJ9j3D1/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-05-24+at+9.54.42+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="968" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2bnwHePzIXlAo_WtpO3lbEYkeC5WSX4NTXglAKIPuyjcMOuHLYowd15sUQ1aWIQDM5mk-vZxdDnMoRgIGyOZl5zD1Dqd1gD9JXeNwbH7tVMIC7Y2vtUugsJ2JiblOv-hp27F_jJ9j3D1/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-05-24+at+9.54.42+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">While
we don’t exactly have Old South slavery for which Sessions clearly pines, we
have a New Slavery in which there are shrinking opportunities for advancement,
the dismantling of the public education system and mass incarcerations as a
trade for corporate profits and political donations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><b>Like with slavery,</b> Americans are stuck and cannot get out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Meanwhile,
the High and Mighty are rolling over the Poor and Meek. Democracy cannot save
us from ourselves as it has been hulled out and rendered impotent and unworkable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">As
wealth trickles up with more and more in the hands of fewer and fewer people,
everybody else, middle class down to persons who can’t rightly feed kids, are
losing ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A middle class person, who has a bachelor’s degree and who has done everything society told him to do, does not have much of a chance at getting a job
without an inside connection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being
“over-educated,” this person cannot even get an hourly job asking, “You want
fries with that?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">The
so-called working poor are wage slaves as is anyone working by the hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Working by the hour means the employers can
pull you in and out at their convenience, and heaven help you if you don’t come
in when the night manager calls you at the last minute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> You clock out to take a mandated 30-minute break, but you stay at work and buy their hamburger or taco, because you don't have time to go anywhere. If you are sick or have to take care of some business, you don't get paid -- unlike someone in a salaried position. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Large employers seek part-timers who don’t
trigger a requirement to provide benefits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thus, those costs are off-loaded onto taxpayers in the form of
subsidized health care and childhood feeding programs, which are both on the
<b>Trump-Sessions</b> chopping block.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><b>If
you are a person</b> of color, the table tilts even more against your chances at a
level playing field.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">It
is no fluke that the secretary of education is bent on dismantling public
education and the attorney general has called for more severe sentences for minor
drug offenders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While reversing <b>Obama</b> administration
policies, Sessions also goes against bi-partisan initiatives at more
common-sense approaches to criminal justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is no coincidence that dissent in the Trump era is under attack as
many states, including Tennessee, have passed or entertained laws to limit free
speech and “protesting.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">It
is no happenstance that this administration seeks tax cuts for the wealthy at
the expense of health care, the arts, public education, the environment – you
know, the things that would serve all Americans in common and which would make
for a stronger society by bringing more citizens to the party. That democratic idea
died Dec. 12, 2000, when five individuals, including one who said she was ready
to retire but not with a Democrat in the White House, elected a President.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Ironically, while Trump wants to build a wall to keep out Mexicans, his policies and those of radical right Republicans are turning the U.S. into Mexico. In Mexico, there are the rich and there are the poor. There is virtually no middle class. You are either making it or you are struggling to survive in poverty. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><b>Fake
Christians have</b> been wrangled to play along with this charade which doesn’t
read much like the Jesus of “do it for the least of them.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Denying health care and reproductive services
for women creates more population, when we clearly do not have enough real jobs
to go around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By forcing this population
increase along with keeping kids hungry and whole segments of society “down on
the farm,” the supply of cheap labor pits citizens against one another and
holds down wages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Tennessee
Senator Bob Corker of all people recently said the Trump administration is in a
“downward spiral.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, a down-spiral is commonplace for many regular Americans. For instance, if a person cannot pay a traffic
ticket, then gets her license suspended, then can’t show up for work or job
interviews. Or, he needs one more shift before payroll cutoff at Speedy Spuds so he can keep utilities from getting cut off; he shows up to work, and Speedy Spuds and everything for a mile is dark and closed because of a storm; and on and on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnuYGhAu5sFzeUgqW5a6i1N3NFfjK0neb1itQzQU7J-9SJQ_nrn6OgCT8BFC9RmiG1Vvez9HncH4WhncGUr4xyxmSjEw8m8Z30Mw_NVZyypSIgQ4sHAcZkX5FH9sVNuE6Tpv_AR7pRshJj/s1600/Strickland+best+side+eye+Screen+Shot+2017-02-19+at+10.57.54+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1137" data-original-width="1600" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnuYGhAu5sFzeUgqW5a6i1N3NFfjK0neb1itQzQU7J-9SJQ_nrn6OgCT8BFC9RmiG1Vvez9HncH4WhncGUr4xyxmSjEw8m8Z30Mw_NVZyypSIgQ4sHAcZkX5FH9sVNuE6Tpv_AR7pRshJj/s320/Strickland+best+side+eye+Screen+Shot+2017-02-19+at+10.57.54+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Memphis Mayor Strickland Gives Us the Side-Eye</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">When
Sessions shows up in Memphis on Thursday, May 25, citizens who see the horrors
of Trumpism and Sessions’ Old South will urge <b>Mayor Jim Strickland, Police
Director Mike Rallings </b>and other elected and appointed officials to boycott
Sessions’ remarks, scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Federal Office Building, 167 N.
Main.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Strickland, Rallings and
more will show up hat in hand and seeking whatever misguided favors or surplus
tanks they think Sessions could toss their way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sessions in a recent speech already targeted Memphis as an example of
high crime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is someone Memphis is
supposed to welcome?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><b>The
high crime</b> is that Sessions is bringing his Old South to our town and that it
is regular citizens, not our elected officials, who have the nerve to call him
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only thing that could save
Strickland is if he publicly disavows Sessions and his politics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Except, he won’t. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0