Ousting Memphis' Activist DA
🤺 Sen. Taylor vs DA Mulroy · Education extortion · Federal funding freeze · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
The word “culture” gets thrown around a lot, but I always have a hard time understanding what people are actually referring to when they invoke it. The “Culture War” is fought via the state and the courts over the legal bounds of acceptable behavior. Culture is also manifest in language, entertainment, art, and holidays.
But what rarely gets mentioned are the more subtle aspects of culture, such as etiquette, values, expectations, and base assumptions about how the world works. Commonly, loud proponents of cultural diversity will point to food and art to make the point that diversity enriches us. What they neglect are the more fragile social ties that tie us together, including how we address our elders and how we hold ourselves in conversations with superiors and inferiors.
At the root of social fragmentation is not a disagreement about what food we enjoy or even what holidays we celebrate and how we celebrate them. Art, food, and celebrations can actually bridge cultural divides, at least temporarily.
But it's the quieter, daily manifestations of culture that bind us. They signal a shared experience and a generally agreed-upon way to reckon with the exigencies and complications of life. Our worlds are more legible when the people in them share a common culture.
Onward.
Seven months ago, Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor announced that he would pursue the ouster of Memphis District Attorney Steven Mulroy. “I just reached a breaking point,” Taylor told us last week when we sat down with him for an update. He considers Mulroy a friend and colleague after knowing him for more than two decades and serving with him on the Shelby County Board of Commissioners. According to Taylor, the straw that broke the camel’s back was over the summer when Mulroy decided to reduce the sentence for felons found in possession of firearms.
According to the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, Mulroy has received north of $600,000 in Soros donations. “He is following the Soros-funded DA playbook,” said Taylor. At the beginning of Tennessee’s 114th General Assembly, the Memphis senator passed a resolution establishing a select committee made up of five House members and five Senate members to investigate claims against Mulroy. At the end of their work, they will make a recommendation to the legislature on whether to remove the Memphis DA. If removed, the governor will appoint a replacement to serve until the next election.
“I reject the label of being a Soros DA,” Mulroy told Action News 5 back in February. But it’s hard to dismiss the parallels between his policies and the left-wing billionaire’s criminal justice reform agenda. “Causes”: that’s how Tayor refers to the nine topics of complaint he intends to bring before the committee. Based on the evidence he’s collected, the Shelby County senator plans to disclose how Mulroy has circumvented the law, neglected his duties, and deceived the public.
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🎓 Education Extortion? Special Session is in full swing, so it’s time to grab the popcorn. House Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) and Representative John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) exchanged a few snarky barbs during yesterday’s Finance, Ways, and Means Committee meeting. Though a few legislators were less than thrilled to discuss the fiscal note attached to the governor’s school choice legislation alongside disaster relief funding, the committee ultimately approved the bill.
Yesterday, when the Hawkins County Director of Schools, Matt Hixson, spoke before the Senate Education Committee, he claimed that officials are being blackmailed into backing school choice. “I’m going to put my mayor on the spot a little bit,” he said. “My mayor emailed me directly several weeks ago after a meeting with the governor in which he specifically stated he felt pressured to support this legislation in order to secure, or potentially secure, past, current, and future relief funding for the county.”
You can watch all special session meetings live on their General Assembly website.
🥶 Zero Chill Over Funding Freeze A flurry of recent executive orders signed by President Trump put a pause on government funding that could disrupt organizations and programs dependent upon federal dollars. The panic has already set in, lawsuits have been filed, and Nashville is sure to be impacted by some of the changes. According to the Banner, Vanderbilt University and Medical Center could be on top of that list. Having received $546 million National Institute of Health grants in 2023 alone, a recent NIH freeze could put a number of projects on ice.
In addition, the refugee resettlement nonprofit Nashville International Center for Empowerment is already feeling the effects of certain pauses. Music City will no longer be taking in 82 refugees this spring since immigrant transport flights have been canceled. Meanwhile, the freeze on the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has city officials eyeing the effects Trump's rollbacks may have on local infrastructure. According to Axios, a recent Office of Management and Budget memo has since been rescinded by the White House, adding to the snowballing chaos that Democratic leaders have gleefully seized upon in recent days.
DRUG OVERDOSES IN NASHVILLE
DEVELOPMENT
- Local health-focused restaurant to open 12South location (NBJ)
- California clothing company slated for 12South (Post)
- Effort to open small bar in Arcade progresses (Post)
- Pie Town building sells for $2.2M (Post)
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🎸 Phantogram @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, $30, Info
🎸 Marfa @ The Basement, 9p, $12.85, Info
🎸 Emily Zeck @ The Basement, 7p, $12.85, Info
🪕 Bluegrass Night @ The American Legion Post 82, 7p, Free, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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