It was one of the attributes that drew us — and others, we’re sure — to support Franklin businessman Bill Lee in the 2018 Tennessee Republican gubernatorial primary.
He had an interest in prison reform, but not only did he pay it lip service but he had lived his support.
Working with a nonprofit ministry called Men of Valor that matched volunteers to men coming out of prison, he spent one morning a week with his match for several years.
When Lee campaigned for governor and then in office, he wanted to tackle the issue and did so.
“Returning to prison and re-entry and things that relate to public safety, based on his own experience” were on his mind, he said before being elected to his first term. “I really got interested in that subject thinking we can do better than that” — the state’s high recidivism rate — “in Tennessee.”