WKNO TRANSCRIPT
CHRISTOPHER BLANK (Host): Early voting has started in Tennessee. Many folks know there is a future governor on the ballot and some congressmen. But voters will also be locking in some new laws. With us to go through some of the ballot is political analyst Otis Sanford. Welcome back.
OTIS SANFORD: Thank you, Chris. Good to be back with you.
BLANK: Well, let's start with the three amendments to the state constitution. They're right at the top. For amendment one, you'll be voting to expand the number and types of crimes that could allow a judge to deny bail. At the moment, no bail detention is only allowed for capital offenses, but now there's a long list of things that could keep someone accused of a crime locked up for years ahead of a trial. Otis, is this a popular idea?
SANFORD: Well, I think we're going to find that it will be popular because obviously people say crime is the number one issue. So, it will probably be popular and I predict that it probably will pass. It allows judges to deny bail. It doesn't demand or or mandate that they deny bail. So, it's still up to the judge really to make the decision.
BLANK: Well, amendment two is about taxes, namely banning the state legislature from ever imposing a state property tax. Why is this on the ballot? We don't have a state property tax.
SANFORD: Well, it's just another one of those, I think, Republican-driven initiatives to say we don't ever want to see any kind of state tax like this -- property tax or income tax on the ballot. And the best way to deal with that is to put it as a amendment to the constitution. You know, you got to be careful about putting amendments into constitution because it locks things in and, you know, 100 years from now things may be different. But I think this is probably the more popular one of the three.
BLANK: People hate taxes. I know I do. But, you know, you're also tying the hands of future governments, as well.
SANFORD: Yes, you are. That that's my point. Putting it in the constitution is just a little bit much, and some Democrats, back when they voted on this, made that point, including state senator Sara Kyle of Memphis.
BLANK: Amendment three is also crime-related. It's also quite a long read if you're standing in a voting booth. But the gist is that it expands what is known as "Marsy's Law". And this kind of enumerates the rights of crime victims. It has a lot of parts to it. Maybe Otis, you can give us a couple of highlights so we know what we're voting for or against.
SANFORD: Basically, it gives the victims or family members of victims the right to be a part of and informed of parole proceedings. It also adds protections against juvenile offenders. That was never addressed, I don't think, in any previous law on this. And so, now victims can be protected against juvenile offenders, you know, coming back if they ever get out of of detention. Those are the two major things. It also adds, Chris, that victims need to be informed about every step of the process. When a convicted criminal is up for parole, the victims need to know everything that's going on and have an opportunity to be heard.
BLANK: Well, for folks in Memphis, there are also some charter amendments down at the end of the ballot. These are basically local ordinances. First, Otis, I did not know that to become a librarian in the city of Memphis, you had to be appointed by the mayor. I mean, that's about 230 appointed positions. Ordinance 59-66 would change that. Why are we doing that now?
SANFORD: People who work as librarians, they work at the will and pleasure of the mayor. And if the mayor doesn't like a certain person, the mayor could fire that person and they wouldn't have any rights. So, this change just means that they become civil servants. They have a right to appeal any disciplinary action. It also has to do with the pay. So, I think this is probably going to pass as well if people really understand what we're talking about here.
BLANK: Well, so early voting ends on the 29th. Next week, we'll take a closer look at the candidates here at the at the end of the campaigns. But, I also want to get your thoughts this week on one of the more gossipy nuggets from the campaign trail. Republican Marsha Blackburn, running for governor, dropped an AI video this week of her and others, Brent Taylor, Bill Hagerty, dancing to Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us". It is a rap song for those who are not familiar with that. She seems baffled by the criticism that she got for this video. Otis, if if you were on the senator's PR team and she said, "I want to put this funny video out there." What might you have advised her?
SANFORD: I'm going to say, "Senator, let's not do this." When you have pretty much thumbed your nose at debating, for example, you were one of the ones who criticized Kendrick Lamar when he did that performance at the Super Bowl a couple of years ago. You were the main one who spearheaded the effort to divide the 9th Congressional district, which is heavily African-American, to diminish the African-American vote in congressional races. This will come across as insulting. I would have advised her not to do this. I wish she had not done it because I think it makes her look a little foolish.
