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Another mass shooting in Texas again spurs politicians to respond to gun violence. This shooter, a legal gun owner who bypassed school security guards and killed 21 people while heavily armed police stood by, has left Republicans struggling to assign blame for this carnage that ignores the destructive power of the murder weapon. -
The State Supreme Court determined that school districts are not governments, and therefore a Republican-led effort to put school vouchers in Shelby and Davidson Counties did not violate the state law forbidding legislation directly targeting particular local governments.
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If signed by Gov. Lee, the law would allow an individual parent in any one school district to bring a book before a panel of Republican-appointed reviewers. Removal of books would be statewide. One Representative said schools should "burn them." -
From Truth In Sentencing laws to arresting the homeless for "camping," some Republicans question tougher penalties for people they'd like to see improve their lives.
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Thefts, road rage, shootouts, murders — when the crime rate starts to impact the local economy, it's time for stronger measures.
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Politicians with rubber stamp on conservative laws take unusual step of heeding criticism on further gun deregulation and allowing adults to marry children.
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Political polarization has upped the risk of supporting a member of the opposite party. Political analyst Otis Sanford says it helps if, like Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, there's no election in the near future.
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Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson faced questions over her support of Critical Race Theory, which has become a top talking point of Republicans ahead of the midterm elections.
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In his newly amended bill, Rep. Kevin Vaughan (R-Collierville) wants to prevent citizens from stopping oil companies from running pipelines through their neighborhoods or near vulnerable natural resources. Political analyst Otis Sanford says it's about exerting more state control over local decisions.
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New actions in the Tennessee General Assembly this week include preventing cities from raising minimum wages and considering whether newcomers to the state should be able to run for U.S. Congress.
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Several recent Tennessee state laws ensure that Nashville Republicans have the final word on how residents of Memphis wish to run their local government. Political analyst Otis Sanford says there is increasingly two sets of Tennessee laws — those made for Tennesseans and those made for Memphians.
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Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland dedicated much of his State of the City Speech Wednesday to reversing the upward trajectory of violent crime, which has hit record highs since the start of the pandemic.
