Recent editorials from Tennessee newspapers:
___
Oct. 15
The Johnson City Press on a petition requesting DNA testing in a criminal case that could exonerate an executed man:
Of all the preposterous legal situations we’ve read about in recent years, an effort this week to halt a DNA inquiry in a Tennessee execution review might just take the cake.
The case in question is that of Sedley Alley, whom the state executed 13 years ago despite his own request for DNA testing in 2004. Alley had confessed to killing 19-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Suzanne Collins in Millington in 1985, but he later said the confession was coerced.
According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, then-Gov. Phil Bredesen ordered a brief delay of Alley’s execution so that Tennessee courts could consider extra testing, which the state Supreme Court ultimately refused.
Alley’s daughter, April, recently petitioned the court for DNA testing after law enforcement officers in St. Louis contacted her attorneys about an alternative suspect. Among her attorneys is Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project, a criminal justice reform advocacy organization for the prevention of wrongful conviction. Scheck has argued that a subsequent ruling from Tennessee’s Supreme Court, years after Alley was executed, opened the door for the testing to take place now.
The Associated Press reported that the daughter’s attorneys on Monday argued she should be allowed to petition for the testing on behalf of her father’s estate. The state’s response - in the form of Shelby County Assistant District Attorney General Steve Jones - was in part that the state’s DNA analysis law allows only the person convicted of the crime to request testing.
Sedley Alley is dead. He cannot petition the state for anything - DNA or otherwise. Jones knows that. The court knows that.
The state, of course, does not want Alley’s case reopened. If indeed Tennessee executed an innocent man, the fallout could be both financially and politically volatile.
According to the Innocence Project’s website, DNA has exonerated 367 defendants, including 130 people convicted of murder, since 1989. Among them was Paul House, a Tennessee man who served 22 years on death row before his exoneration via DNA testing in 2009.
Even the staunchest defenders of the death penalty should recognize that the potential for error means that the measure - given its irreversible finality - must be carried out only when all evidence has been exhaustively examined.
It may or may not have been in the Alley case. That’s for the courts to decide on the merits of the petition.
But Jones argued against the daughter’s petition with the position that the estate lacks the necessary standing - only her dead father would have it. Regardless of Alley’s guilt or innocence or the merits of the death penalty itself, the absurdity is mind-boggling.
If the court agrees with Jones, the state of Tennessee could be infinitely protected against post-execution revelations of innocence via DNA.
Online: https://www.johnsoncitypress.com
___
Oct. 14
The Kingsport TimesNews on the whether the state needs constables:
Although their primary responsibility is to serve civil warrants, Tennessee’s elected constables have the same authority under the state’s judicial system as other law enforcement officers, including the ability to make arrests.
But of late, local constables are making news not for conducting arrests but for being the subject of one:
- Oct. 2: A Johnson County constable is charged with child abuse and neglect.
- Oct. 1: A Sullivan County constable is indicted for signing off on court documents that he did not serve.
- Oct. 1: A Washington County constable is indicted on auto burglary and theft charges.
- Aug. 12: A Sullivan County constable is indicted on multiple charges after allegedly lying about serving court documents.
- Feb. 8: A Hawkins County constable faces felony charges for conducting a traffic stop with blue lights and detaining his suspect before he took office.
That’s just this year. Last year a Carter County constable was indicted for aggravated assault and oppression and a Jefferson County constable was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute oxycodone.
Clearly, part of the problem is the lack of qualification to run for constable.
No police or sheriff’s department would hire someone off the street for law enforcement duties. But all it takes to be on the ballot for constable is to be 21, a non-felon, have at least a GED, and be able to read and write.
Until last year, you could strap on a gun and start patrolling the streets, and by the end of the year complete a week of law enforcement training, and you were good to go for life. Fortunately, state Rep. Timothy Hill, R-Blountville, and state Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City, crafted legislation requiring constables to take part in training every year. Gov. Bill Haslam signed the bill in May 2018.
But is more training needed? For that matter, are Tennessee constables needed? Virginia got rid of them years ago. In Tennessee, it’s up to individual counties as to whether they have constables. Sullivan County has 24.
Another part of the problem is that constables don’t report to anyone. Since they are elected, they have no supervisor. They must provide their own uniforms, vehicles and fuel, and they receive no salary. They are compensated only for delivering legal documents and similar endeavors.
Perhaps state law should be changed requiring elected constables to fall under the authority of the county sheriff’s department. They could continue to be paid only for delivering service but would report to department officers as to their performance. Considering how many of them are on the wrong side of the law, we think it’s worth a thought.
Online: https://www.timesnews.net
___
Oct. 12
The Greenville Sun on getting a flu shot:
When most of us think of coming down with influenza - the flu - we picture being miserable and confined to bed for a few days then getting better. But for a lot of people, including many in Greene County, that is not the worst-case scenario.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 500,000 people across the United States were hospitalized after contracting the flu during the 2018-19 season, and more than 50,000 died.
And those most at risk for flu-related complications that could lead to such extreme and even fatal results are also the ones who can least protect themselves: the very young, the very old, and people with immune systems already compromised by other conditions. That’s why it’s so important for all of us to get a flu shot.
As Cicely Babb reported recently, the CDC recommends people get a flu shot by the end of October - with flu season typically peaking in December - but you can get one now, and that wouldn’t be too early. In fact, the 2019-20 season has already claimed victims, including a 4-year-old California child whose death in September was classified as flu-related.
And that child’s death fits the unfortunate mold of those for whom the flu can be a deadly illness. As Babb reported, children younger than 5 years old, people older than 65, pregnant women, and people with certain chronic health conditions are considered at high risk for serious complications from the flu. Those complications can include bacterial pneumonia, ear and sinus infections, and worsening of previously existing medical conditions such as heart disease, asthma, diabetes or cancer.
And, as Babb reported, the flu is a highly contagious illness that people can spread before they even know they’re sick. So even though the flu vaccine isn’t guaranteed to prevent a person from becoming ill - because there are so many, mutating strains of flu and the formulation each year is based on the most prevalent - health officials say it is the best defense against the flu and will at least lessen symptoms.
So the flu shot is definitely worth getting. Besides, you might consider yourself strong and healthy enough to fend off the flu, but is everyone around you - your loved ones, your friends - as able to withstand illness? And are you willing to take that chance?
Online: https://www.greenevillesun.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.