NASHVILLE - Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston is raising objections with local legislators over a state Republican House leader's bill to allow Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery step in if local prosecutors decline to pursue criminal charges against protesters amid civil unrest.
In his text to Hamilton County senators and representatives, Pinkston, a Republican, states one of the bills "requires that the local district attorney general SHALL cooperate in the investigation and prosecution. Such [a] bill creates serious ethical issues for local elected district attorney generals.
"If I were to find no probable cause on an investigation or choose not to prosecute, this bill requires district attorney generals to participate anyway and could and would violate our professional ethical standards as a prosecutor," Pinkston added. "None of us want to be in such a situation and furthermore non elected officials should not be allowed to prosecute crimes and avoid the views of the electorate."
Unlike most states, the Tennessee Attorney General position is not a publicly elected position but is filled by the five justices on the State Supreme Court.
The bill was introduced over the weekend by House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, for the special legislative session called by Gov. Bill Lee. In the session that began Monday, lawmakers are expected to address coronavirus liability protections for businesses, schools and other entities as well as new laws and heightened punishments amid social unrest.
A third part of the governor's call is a bill to require health insurers to reimburse Tennessee-based medical providers at the same rate as out-of-state providers. A bill to do just that, sponsored by Rep. Robin Smith, R-Hixson, failed in June amid disagreement.
House and Senate Judiciary committees are expected to take up the enforcement-crackdown bill later on Tuesday.
Among other things, it boosts penalties in multiple areas including vandalism and making it a crime to camp on state property without permission. GOP lawmakers are particularly incensed that demonstrators have been occupying the park across the street from the state Capitol.
Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, said his colleagues have "some pretty significant concerns about the concurrent jurisdiction or granting the state attorney general some kind of jurisdiction to step in place of a DA." He added, "I've heard from my DA. ... I can tell you that's going to be addressed."
Noting he's heard plenty from his own local DA, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Mike Bell, R-Riceville, said "the latest version I've seen does not give the state attorney general the authority to prosecute."
According to Bell, it says Slatery may ask the District Attorneys General Conference for a list of five people to choose from to actually take up the prosecution. Two would be current elected DAs, another two would be assistant DAs and the fifth a private attorney with experience in prosecution.
"The attorney general would choose one of those five," Bell said, adding, "I think that version's probably a little less onerous to the local DAs. I don't know if they've seen it."
Meanwhile, Slatery's spokeswoman, Samantha Fisher, said of the bill that it "reflects a widely held sentiment that laws be enforced, particularly if state property has been damaged or state officials have been injured while trying to enforce the laws. We certainly agree with that sentiment.
"But we don't typically comment on a bill when it is initially introduced," Fisher said. "If the General Assembly wants us to take on additional responsibilities, there will be a number of steps to consider. If requested, we will obviously engage in those discussions."
Lamberth said he is "absolutely open to discussion on any point within any of these bills. I have an enormous amount of trust in the state attorney general's office, they handle some of the most important cases, the most difficult cases in the state."
But Lamberth said something should be in place "if we needed someone else to step in on some of these cases which are extraordinarily important. I mean when folks start tearing down statues or destroying state property or trying to occupy or take over sections of state property that belong to every Tennessean, those are extraordinarily important cases. That's not like a standard shoplifting that comes into court."
The House's goal, Lamberth said, "is to elevate this conversation so that folks, who again commit crimes, not peaceful protesters, we're talking about folks that vandalize, that attack our officers, who commit assault and they deface our monuments that again belong to us all. Those folks, those cases would be elevated within the court system to ensure they are held responsible for their actions. We're not going to tolerate anyone assaulting an officer."
Metro Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk has been the target of criticism from some Republican lawmakers over not moving to prosecute several cases arising from recent protests. The Tennessean quoted Funk's spokesman, Steve Hayslip, saying Funk hasn't adopted a policy against prosecuting present protest-related offenses and the office is considering each offense on a case-by-case basis.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.