WKNO TRANSCRIPT
CHRISTOPHER BLANK (Host): The effort to remove Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert from office has failed, once again, raising both legal and political questions for the future. With us to talk about that and other matters is Memphis political analyst Otis Sanford. Welcome back!
OTIS SANFORD: Thank you, Chris. Always good to be with you.
BLANK: So Otis, a local judge ruled this week, that only three people have the authority to try and remove an elected official from office: The County Attorney, Marlinee Iverson; District Attorney General Steve Mulroy, and State Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti.
For ethical reasons, two of those three said they could not make the case against Wanda Halbert, the Shelby County Clerk. So they hired help, which is fairly standard procedure. But twice now, judge Felicia Corbin-Johnson has said the job of ousting can't be delegated. In this case, Otis, how should voters feel about an elected official being essentially immune from ouster because in this case the lawyers just acted ethically?
SANFORD: The ones who voted for her should feel like why did I vote for her if I'm not happy with her? She did win the election. But beyond that, the voters need to look to the legislature to see if they want to deal with laws or at least amendments to the ouster law.
BLANK: If lawmakers do change the wording to allow surrogates to try ouster cases in the future, it wouldn't take effect until essentially Wanda Halbert's last days in office and her two terms will be up. Is this the end of that? is she just gonna ride to the end of her two terms at this point?
SANFORD: It's looking to me as if she's going to be able to ride this out. And let's keep in mind, also, that we have seen clearly now that incompetence—whether it's at the local level or the national level—is no longer a disqualifier for holding elected office. So, let's just leave it at that.
BLANK: Well, speaking of judges, Otis, sometimes they do cause problems for politicians. And local criminal court Judge Bill Anderson keeps coming up as a source of frustration, especially for the Shelby County District Attorney's Office. Anderson has released several high-profile criminal suspects on their own recognizance—that is, without setting bail. One guy was arrested for shooting four people outside a Midtown night spot. Another shot at police officers. And this week District Attorney General Steve Mulroy made a very public announcement saying he would ask a higher court to reverse Judge Anderson, and issue bonds on these suspects. Can you talk about why we're seeing Mulroy making stronger statements on bail, which has always been a discussion in this community, especially when it comes to crime and poverty.
SANFORD: Steve Mulroy is under lot of pressure here, Chris. State Sen. Brent Taylor has been after him ever since he got elected, and it's nonstop and [he] is planning to try to oust him from office. So [Mulroy] is under tremendous pressure. But even beyond that, it appears to me that Judge Anderson is making some unwise decisions here that run counter to even the most liberal view of whether people should be allowed to get out without posting a bond. Brent Taylor's efforts now should be focused on Judge Anderson, and whether HE is the one who is not fulfilling his duty as a judge, and proceed with ouster proceedings against him.
BLANK: Right, it seems that Steve Mulroy has gotten caught up in some of these other issues on bonds. I wonder, objectively, is there anything you see that would warrant Steve Mulroy's being ousted by the state legislature?
SANFORD: Absolutely not. You don't take this drastic action to kick somebody who was duly elected out of office just because you have political differences with them. And as a matter of fact, if you believe the numbers, crime is going down here. And I understand that perception is reality, and people still perceive that Memphis is a dangerous city and it's riddled with criminals, but the numbers speak that crime is going down. And the fact that Steve Mulroy is taking the kinds of actions that he is taking, whether it's under pressure or not, to fight some of these releases from jail without bond -- that alone is enough to say, "leave him alone. Save your fire for somebody else."
BLANK: Since you bring up the drop in the crime rate, that brings up my next question. Reporter Samuel Hardiman pointed out in the Daily Memphian this week that it's been 11 months since Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis had the word "interim" added to her job title. And that came in part because of the high crime rate. But primarily because of the Tyre Nichols beating by her officers. Is it time the City Council make a decision on removing "interim" in her job title? And has Chief Davis won over some doubters after nearly a year?
SANFORD: The answer is yes, it's time. And mayor Paul Young is right: it's the counsel's move to un-table this decision. And they should do it swiftly. And if they look at the numbers, the numbers do show that violent crime, property crime have gone down this year. And if you're going to blame her when it goes up, you have to credit her when it goes down. And so, I do think it's time to vote her as the permanent police chief. This is too important to just leave hanging like it's been.