the president of our neighborhood association attended yesterday's city council meeting in support of the woman from chickasaw gardens who was raped earlier this week.

one of the things they talked about was supporting a few crime bills that are on the table in nashville - the state of florida passed similar laws, and have had a 30% reduction in crime - folks, that's huge.

I'm copying the body of the e-mail I received below. please look this information over & if you support it, get involved & contact your representatives to let them know you expect their support of it!



Dear Friends:

Thank you for your support today downtown. As we discussed, passage of the "crime bills" before the state legislature is critical to fighting crime in Memphis. Please contact your representatives in Nashville to stress the importance of this legislation.

Contacts are available on the Legislature's web page, http://www.legislature.state.tn.us .

**MY NOTE: You can also go to http://www.shelbyvote.org if you live in shelby county to get the names of your reps. **

When you call/write/email you will need to refer to these bills by their numbers: SB1967/HB1835 and SB1322/HB1834.

The status of these bills is as follows:

SB 1322/HB1834 has passed both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and will be before the Finance Committees soon (no date yet set). If it passes the House and Senate Finance Committees it will be before the entire Legislature. It would be great if you could call, write or email your representative or any of the members of the Finance Committee to stress the importance of this bill to our community, fighting crime, etc. (find out who is on what committee by clicking on "Senate" or "House", then on "committees." Click the individual's name and you will get all of their contact information.

SB 1967/HB 1835 will be before the House Judiciary Committees tomorrow (although some effort is being made to push it to next week). It will be before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week. If it passes the Judiciary Committees, it too will go to the House and Senate Finance Committees. Please call, write or email your representative and members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the importance of passing this bill.

We will be in touch with you regarding an ongoing local response to the crime in our community in the next few days. Until then, we thank you for your support of your friends, family, and the City of Memphis.

That turnout was amazing. It was heartwarming to see. That is a good family & you hate to see them suffer. We all need to support these efforts.

Also, was it just me or did anyone else notice a dearth of councilmen/women and other dignitaries? The only ones I saw were Chumney, Sammons, & Jones.

Crime is the main economy in those other districts.

JerryJeff Wrote:That turnout was amazing. It was heartwarming to see. That is a good family & you hate to see them suffer. We all need to support these efforts.

Also, was it just me or did anyone else notice a dearth of councilmen/women and other dignitaries? The only ones I saw were Chumney, Sammons, & Jones.

Dignitaries? lmfao

I was not able to attend the meeting, but our association President did. I saw the report on channel 5, & they got quotes from all the people you mentioned, but I have no idea who else was or wasn't there.

tigergreen Wrote:

JerryJeff Wrote:That turnout was amazing. It was heartwarming to see. That is a good family & you hate to see them suffer. We all need to support these efforts.

Also, was it just me or did anyone else notice a dearth of councilmen/women and other dignitaries? The only ones I saw were Chumney, Sammons, & Jones.

Dignitaries? lmfao

I was not able to attend the meeting, but our association President did. I saw the report on channel 5, & they got quotes from all the people you mentioned, but I have no idea who else was or wasn't there.

Yeah I know. I couldn't think of what else to call them. So I figured I'd give em a promotion.

They panned the council seats & they were almost all empty. Makes you wonder where all the other council members, mayors etc. were.

JerryJeff Wrote:

tigergreen Wrote:

JerryJeff Wrote:That turnout was amazing. It was heartwarming to see. That is a good family & you hate to see them suffer. We all need to support these efforts.

Also, was it just me or did anyone else notice a dearth of councilmen/women and other dignitaries? The only ones I saw were Chumney, Sammons, & Jones.

Dignitaries? lmfao

I was not able to attend the meeting, but our association President did. I saw the report on channel 5, & they got quotes from all the people you mentioned, but I have no idea who else was or wasn't there.

Yeah I know. I couldn't think of what else to call them. So I figured I'd give em a promotion.

They panned the council seats & they were almost all empty. Makes you wonder where all the other council members, mayors etc. were.

an unconcerned constituency = an unconcerned city council. if no one from their area is holding them accountable, why would they show up?

I like the intent of SB1967/HB1835, but would have some concerns about it being employed in situations where a firearm was not an element of the crime.

If Bob is negligent in a fatal traffic accident and has a handgun in the car, and Sue is negligent in a fatal traffic accident and does not have a gun in the car, the state can tack an additional crime and up to 10 years on Bob? It's not exactly fair.

I couldn't support this unless it was limited to firearms used in the commission of a felony, or persons in possession of a firearm during a violent felony.

U_of_Elvis Wrote:I like the intent of SB1967/HB1835, but would have some concerns about it being employed in situations where a firearm was not an element of the crime.

If Bob is negligent in a fatal traffic accident and has a handgun in the car, and Sue is negligent in a fatal traffic accident and does not have a gun in the car, the state can tack an additional crime and up to 10 years on Bob? It's not exactly fair.

I couldn't support this unless it was limited to firearms used in the commission of a felony, or persons in possession of a firearm during a violent felony.

Then contact your senator & rep and tell them exactly that - that you would support it if it were worded that way. Please don't just remain silent about it.

U_of_Elvis Wrote:I like the intent of SB1967/HB1835, but would have some concerns about it being employed in situations where a firearm was not an element of the crime.

If Bob is negligent in a fatal traffic accident and has a handgun in the car, and Sue is negligent in a fatal traffic accident and does not have a gun in the car, the state can tack an additional crime and up to 10 years on Bob? It's not exactly fair.

I couldn't support this unless it was limited to firearms used in the commission of a felony, or persons in possession of a firearm during a violent felony.

I thought the intent of the proposed law was for those individuals who have firearms that are only involved in a violent crime.

HungryTiger Wrote:

U_of_Elvis Wrote:I like the intent of SB1967/HB1835, but would have some concerns about it being employed in situations where a firearm was not an element of the crime.

If Bob is negligent in a fatal traffic accident and has a handgun in the car, and Sue is negligent in a fatal traffic accident and does not have a gun in the car, the state can tack an additional crime and up to 10 years on Bob? It's not exactly fair.

I couldn't support this unless it was limited to firearms used in the commission of a felony, or persons in possession of a firearm during a violent felony.

I thought the intent of the proposed law was for those individuals who have firearms that are only involved in a violent crime.

The intent of the guy who wrote it and it's use once it's on the books can be two different things unfortunately. It does not have the wording in it to prevent it from being used to prosecute Bob for simply possessing a legal handgun at the time he commit an unrelated felony through negligence, not malice.

U_of_Elvis Wrote:

HungryTiger Wrote:

U_of_Elvis Wrote:I like the intent of SB1967/HB1835, but would have some concerns about it being employed in situations where a firearm was not an element of the crime.

If Bob is negligent in a fatal traffic accident and has a handgun in the car, and Sue is negligent in a fatal traffic accident and does not have a gun in the car, the state can tack an additional crime and up to 10 years on Bob? It's not exactly fair.

I couldn't support this unless it was limited to firearms used in the commission of a felony, or persons in possession of a firearm during a violent felony.

I thought the intent of the proposed law was for those individuals who have firearms that are only involved in a violent crime.

The intent of the guy who wrote it and it's use once it's on the books can be two different things unfortunately. It does not have the wording in it to prevent it from being used to prosecute Bob for simply possessing a legal handgun at the time he commit an unrelated felony through negligence, not malice.

Then how does it go about getting reworded? If they just have to make an amendment as this goes through, no big deal.

That group of folks who went down to the Council chambers is forming a group called "Citizens Against Crime". Apparently it is going to try to link up neighborhood groups and everyday citizens to try to fight back. We'll see.

tigergreen Wrote:

JerryJeff Wrote:

tigergreen Wrote:

JerryJeff Wrote:That turnout was amazing. It was heartwarming to see. That is a good family & you hate to see them suffer. We all need to support these efforts.

Also, was it just me or did anyone else notice a dearth of councilmen/women and other dignitaries? The only ones I saw were Chumney, Sammons, & Jones.

Dignitaries? lmfao

I was not able to attend the meeting, but our association President did. I saw the report on channel 5, & they got quotes from all the people you mentioned, but I have no idea who else was or wasn't there.

Yeah I know. I couldn't think of what else to call them. So I figured I'd give em a promotion.

They panned the council seats & they were almost all empty. Makes you wonder where all the other council members, mayors etc. were.

an unconcerned constituency = an unconcerned city council. if no one from their area is holding them accountable, why would they show up?

1) Not all coucil members are members of a committee but any council member (committee member or not) may attend and voice their opinion during the committee meeting as Carol Chumney did.

2) A police memorial ceremony was taking place at the same time in front of city hall. Jack Sammons told the crowd that the mayor and some of the council members were attending that ceremony and expect some of the council members to join them which they did. Seven councilmen were there - - Sammons, Chumney, Jones, Taylor, Cooper-Taylor and Brittenum, as well as McCormick who showed up near the very end of the committee meeting.

3) Herenton never showed up but Police Chief Godwin and his department heads showed up.

4) Sammon told the audience that this was a council committee meeting and not an administrative meeting, which means the mayor is not required to attend the meeting.

from CA.com:

Politics kept mayor from crime meeting

Herenton explains decision not to attend City Hall session

By Jacinthia Jones

May 17, 2007

Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton on Wednesday sought to rally citizens against crime and respond to criticism for not attending a City Hall meeting where 150 citizens, mostly women, came to say they're fed up with crime and want something done about it.
What triggered their outrage was the rape and beating last week of a woman who was set upon by two men as she and her son returned to their Goodwyn Street home.


Herenton said he sympathizes with the victim just as he does every time someone in his "family" is hurt. "When you're the mayor of a city, you embrace your city as being your family. If any segment of your family is wounded or affected by crime, it hurts," he said.
"It is clear to me that crime has no respect for neighborhood, class or race," Herenton said. "It rears its ugly head wherever an opportunity presents itself.

"It's not just that community that's concerned about safety, it's every community. It didn't take a rape, it takes just where they live."

Speaking to reporters, Herenton said he and Police Director Larry Godwin discussed beforehand how to handle the City Council committee-turned-community meeting, and Herenton opted not to attend.

"Had I gone in there, I knew that at least one of the council persons would have used that as an opportunity to politicize a dreadful event," he said. "And for some self-serving politician to use that occasion to politicize crime, certainly I would have walked into that."

Herenton said he doesn't go to every funeral or fire or prayer vigil.

"It doesn't mean I don't care. I care. I care very deeply," he said, adding that instead he works behind the scenes talking to his directors and getting resources in place to fight crime.

But Councilman E.C. Jones, who was among those who criticized the mayor, said the mayor has a duty to address his constituents.

"It's already politicized," said Jones. "These people came to City Hall asking, 'Where is the mayor?' They didn't ask for the City Council. He could've just came by there, and said, 'Ladies, it was a terrible crime and we're doing everything we can, but I just wanted to come by and tell y'all that.' How long would that have taken?"

Councilwoman Carol Chumney, who is running for mayor, accused the mayor of neglecting his responsibility.

"This mayor has always been hands off, and that's part of the problem," she said. "He's always said, 'That's not my job.' Well, what is his job?"

Herenton said he has a responsibility as mayor to provide officers, resources and the best technology to fight crime.

Last year, he asked for 500 new cops that he said could be paid for with a property tax increase, but got little support from the council.

In the upcoming 2008 budget, Herenton has proposed spending $4 million to hire more than 100 new officers next year. He wants to spend about $700,000 more to implement a high-tech "real time" crime center.

He acknowledged again the city's difficulties with recruiting officers, especially African-American men. Because so many young black males have criminal records or drug problems, Herenton said, the academy is seeing more black women.

Meanwhile, Herenton said the community needs to help cops by being vigilant through Neighborhood Watch programs and encouraging lawmakers to pass legislation that imposes tougher sentencing laws on criminals.

-- Jacinthia Jones: 529-2780

OneShiningMoment Wrote:"Had I gone in there, I knew that at least one of the council persons would have used that as an opportunity to politicize a dreadful event," he said. "And for some self-serving politician to use that occasion to politicize crime, certainly I would have walked into that."

Herenton said he doesn't go to every funeral or fire or prayer vigil.

"It doesn't mean I don't care. I care. I care very deeply," he said, adding that instead he works behind the scenes talking to his directors and getting resources in place to fight crime.

But Councilman E.C. Jones, who was among those who criticized the mayor, said the mayor has a duty to address his constituents.

"It's already politicized," said Jones. "These people came to City Hall asking, 'Where is the mayor?' They didn't ask for the City Council. He could've just came by there, and said, 'Ladies, it was a terrible crime and we're doing everything we can, but I just wanted to come by and tell y'all that.' How long would that have taken?"

Councilwoman Carol Chumney, who is running for mayor, accused the mayor of neglecting his responsibility.

"This mayor has always been hands off, and that's part of the problem," she said. "He's always said, 'That's not my job.' Well, what is his job?"

Herenton said he has a responsibility as mayor to provide officers, resources and the best technology to fight crime.

Last year, he asked for 500 new cops that he said could be paid for with a property tax increase, but got little support from the council.


He acknowledged again the city's difficulties with recruiting officers, especially African-American men. Because so many young black males have criminal records or drug problems, Herenton said, the academy is seeing more black women.

This guy is an embarassment.

His number one concern, NUMBER ONE CONCERN is POLITICAL POWER.

He doesn't make a statement of outrage.
He doesn't make a statement of commitment to crush crime in the city.
He doesn't stand arm in arm with the community.

Instead he cowers in fear of CAROL CHUMNEY.

Uh Wille...BLACK women are getting raped too.

And then says he'll throw 500 more cops from his throne.

Yeah. Great. Thanks Willie. That'll fix it.
Thanks for keeping your eye on the ball...or should I say your balls.

Quote:"It doesn't mean I don't care. I care. I care very deeply," he said, adding that instead he works behind the scenes talking to his directors and getting resources in place to fight crime.

So he has the RC Johnson approach?

I just saw where they have arrested the second suspect in the Chickasaw Gardens area attack:

http://www.wmctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6531692

Until you get rid of the IDIOT Herenton and his worthless clan of idiots, Memphis will continue to lead the country in crime.

If Memphis really wanted to get rid of crime - they would.

When you start killing criminals for their stupid A$$ actions, you get rid of it.

Go back to hanging criminals in a public forum and you may change behavior.

Until then, you will continue to get the same results.

Here is a little more information on the crime bills that are up for approval in Nashville...please, if you agree with them, PLEASE DON'T FORGET to contact the Governor's office, as well as your State Senator and Rep!! Apparently a phone call to the Governor's office works better than e-mail. The lady who answers will add your name to the list of concerned citizens wanting these to pass.

It only takes a minute of your time!

SB1967/HB1835 (“Crooks with Guns”)

This bill requires tougher mandatory sentencing for violent offenders who commit a felony involving a firearm. Among the bill’s provisions:

An offender who discharges a gun while committing a felony would be required to serve a minimum 10 year prison sentence.
An offender who possesses a gun while committing a felony would be required to serve a minimum six-year prison sentence for the most serious crimes and a three-year sentence for less serious crimes.
A convicted felon caught possessing a gun would be subject to a felony.
Fiscal Note: A $60.3 million. Note that this estimate does not take into account potential deterrent effects of tougher sentencing laws.



SB1322/HB1834 (“Street Terrorism”)

This bill sets longer sentences for violent gang crimes, or those involving three or more offenders. Among the bill’s provisions:

A felony offence would automatically increase in classification, as well as sentence, in a gang-related situation. For example, a Class B felony with a sentence of eight to 12 years would become a Class A felony with a sentence of 15 to 25 years.
In the case of a Class A felony, offenders would be required to serve the mandatory maximum sentence.
Fiscal Note: $20.8 million. Estimate is expected to decline sharply as local law enforcement agencies collect additional data on gang incidents.



SB1554/HB1836 (“District Attorney Staffing”)

This legislation would add 64 prosecutors in judicial districts across Tennessee in an effort to reduce caseloads and give prosecutors the resources they need to convict violent offenders.

Fiscal Note: $6.5 million.