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Read MoreCategory: Law Enforcement
In the Land of the Free, Innocent Men Spend Decades in Prison
The State of Tennessee has denied Lawrence McKinney justice for nearly 40 years, and it is time to rectify this horrible mistake. The 60-year-old Wilson County man spent 31 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. That…
Read MoreJudge’s Sleep Schedule Continues to Deprive Defendants of Speedy Trials
A Nashville judge’s ruling last week released a man from jail because of a delayed hearing, but Monday three other people charged in the same case remained behind bars. Their case is assigned to Nashville Presiding General Sessions Judge Rachel…
Read MoreNashville Judge Reprimanded After Poor Courtroom Performance
A Nashville judge says a “cavalier attitude” and another judge’s limited work schedule left one man languishing in jail for weeks longer than necessary. Criminal Court Judge Mark Fishburn on Wednesday ordered the man, Richard Atchley, released from jail pending…
Read MoreHow Cops Twist the Law to Pursue Drug Suspects
Around 10 p.m. on April 14, 2011, two Metro police officers from the North Precinct’s Crime Suppression Unit approached the front door of a brick home just off Buena Vista Pike. They wore raid vests, according to court documents: “black…
Read MoreOutrage After Rutherford County Cops Begin Arresting Young Children
Parents in Murfreesboro are outraged after they claim their elementary age children were arrested at school. There was a heated discussion inside First Baptist Church Sunday. It was standing room only with city leaders and concerned neighbors claiming a handful…
Read MorePolicing for Profit Corruption Bill Fails in State House
This was the year that some civil liberty advocates had hoped would bring an end to “policing for profit” in Tennessee. But with lawmakers heading for adjournment, most of those reform measures have once again gone down in defeat. In…
Read MoreGallatin Cop Kills Mentally Ill Woman During Eviction
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting that took place while authorities said they were serving eviction papers outside a Gallatin home Wednesday morning. Laronda Sweatt, 40, was shot and killed by a Gallatin Police Department…
Read MoreMeet the Police Unit Known As “The Ghetto Bird”
Black and silver blades whipped though the air, creating a crescendo as the sleek blue helicopter’s two-man crew prepared for take off in North Nashville. South of the city, Metro police auto theft detectives using GPS coordinates to track a…
Read MoreHouse GOP Votes to Conceal Police Misconduct; Keep Records from Taxpayers
Legislation produced and given quick initial approval by a state House panel last week would prohibit public disclosure of most body camera recordings made by Tennessee law enforcement officers for at least a year — and potentially keep video of…
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