Stockard on the Stump: Memphis senator makes district attorney removal his holy grail

Sen. Brent Taylor, a Memphis Republican, is proceeding with plans to remove Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy from office. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy dropped a policy dealing with non-violent felons and gun possession before it ever started. Yet Republican state Sen. Brent Taylor wants to get rid of him anyway.

Nothing political here.

Taylor confirmed to the Tennessee Lookout he still plans to sponsor a resolution to oust Mulroy, a Democrat, when the Legislature convenes in January for the 114th General Assembly session.

A two-thirds vote is required for this type of removal, and Republicans hold supermajorities in the Legislature — about 75 of 99 in the House and 27 of 33 in the Senate — making Mulroy’s removal plausible.

Taylor, who replaced embattled former Sen. Brian Kelsey in a gerrymandered district, calls the felon-gun policy the “straw that broke the camel’s back” and says he’s looking into more issues with the DA’s Office as he prepares the resolution. He’s also been fired up about Mulroy’s refusal to prosecute aggravated prostitution cases, which hasn’t been done in decades, and setting low bail for offenders, which is decided by judges, not prosecutors.

Taylor even has a hotline for leads from people inside and outside the DA’s Office to hammer Mulroy.

Who has the legal expertise to determine whether complaints are legitimate? Taylor says he’s going over information with staff.

He also notes he’s had multiple conversations with Lt. Gov. Randy McNally’s people to prepare a resolution requesting House and Senate speakers appoint an ouster committee, which would hire a special prosecutor to go over the information. The special prosecutor would have subpoena and investigation power to determine whether a basis exists to remove Mulroy and would draft a report for a legislative committee to decide whether the DA should be ousted.

“I happen to believe there is,” Taylor says.

You can’t remove somebody because of policy differences or philosophical differences. You have to identify acts or omissions that are wrongful conduct. So far, he hasn’t identified any. I don’t know what he’s talking about.

– Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, referencing Memphis Sen. Brent Taylor's claims

Mulroy, who defeated Republican District Attorney Amy Weirich in August 2022, issued a statement in June saying the diversion policy for non-violent felons caught carrying weapons was never put into place and then was withdrawn. The idea wasn’t to allow felons to have weapons but to allow those without a violent criminal history to have an alternative to prison.

Mulroy considered it incorrect to say his office wasn’t prosecuting those felons. Diversion was going to depend on criminal history, but it would have applied to such a small number of people, the DA’s Office dropped it before it started because it wasn’t worth a fight.

“There’s never been a removal based on what are essentially policy differences in the history of Tennessee, and there’s a reason for that, because Tennessee Supreme Court says there’s a for-cause standard,” Mulroy says. “You can’t remove somebody because of policy differences or philosophical differences. You have to identify acts or omissions that are wrongful conduct. So far, he hasn’t identified any. I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

The point is moot on felons and guns, and, technically, it can’t be a reason for ouster. It appears, though, Taylor is willing to bank his political future on Mulroy’s removal.

TDOC on the hook

U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger ruled this week the Tennessee Department of Correction violated federal laws by failing to provide sign language interpreters for prison programs, medical appointments, religious services and legal processes. Trauger also found the department failed to provide videophones for deaf prisoners.

Several prisoners and the advocacy group Disability Rights Tennessee filed suit in 2020, claiming the state broke the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.

Trauger said in her opinion, “The plaintiffs have identified hundreds of high-stakes interactions in which interpreters were not provided, many of which involved situations – such as receiving medical care – in which effective communication is an inherently vital component.” She added, “While there may be room for disputing whether certain specific listed encounters fall within the scope of TDOC’s violations, there is no longer any basis for disputing that such violations generally existed and were manifestations of a continuous, ongoing policy or practice.”

A trial is scheduled for January 2025 when several other claims will be decided, as well as a remedy for the violations.

Chalk up another L

Rep. Gino Bulso can’t seem to win for losing.

The Tennessee Journal reports that Bulso’s client, Sumner County developer Bill Charles, lost a defamation and false light lawsuit when the Tennessee Supreme Court dismissed the case.

Charles, the homeowners association president for Hendersonville neighborhood Durham Farms, entered the legal fight after Google reviews came out criticizing Freehold Communities for plans to put in a “rental only” area and to make other alterations in the planned community.

Though we’re certain Bulso has garnered some legal wins along the way, in addition to passing stupid bills, he’s also had some sloppy losses.

Foremost, Bulso had his rear end kicked in an expulsion hearing more than a year ago even though a kangaroo court was set up in his favor. In questioning state Rep. Gloria Johnson about her role in a House floor protest led by Democratic Reps. Justin J. Pearson and Justin Jones, Bulso committed the cardinal sin of asking a question for which he didn’t know the answer.

The result gave Johnson an opening and eventually led some Republicans who had promised to vote for Johnson’s ouster to change their minds. (House Republicans also displayed an idiotic video showing Johnson standing to the side of Pearson and Jones mouthing some words and twiddling her thumbs. We don’t know if that was Bulso’s idea, but it might as well have been.)

Bulso displayed his legal acumen again this year with an unconstitutional bill that would have removed state courts from challenges of House rules. He cited a case from an intermediate appellate court that, I’m told, had little to do with the matter.

He also fought for a bill to remove PRIDE flags from public school classrooms, saying he’d heard of an instance in which a Williamson County teacher had such a flag on the desk. Pictures or some sort of documentation would have helped sell the story. But alas, the bill died.

Then, Bulso put his political career on the line this spring by making one of the strangest legal arguments in legislative history as he opposed a bill outlawing first-cousin marriage in Tennessee. Bulso tried to use Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that led to same-sex marriage nationwide, to make the case that if the marriage of gay first cousins isn’t a public health concern, then it should be OK for first cousins to marry. (I almost forgot to mention Bulso noted in a committee meeting that his grandparents from Italy were first cousins and had to move to Tennessee from Ohio so they could marry. No doubt, the Bulsos are a proud clan.)

Some might consider this piling on. But in the case of the Brentwood Republican, it’s just another embarrassment.

Speaking of embarrassments

Republican state Rep. Paul Sherrell of Sparta went to the mat recently against the governor’s private-school voucher bill.

During an election forum in Warren County, Sherrell said he opposed the measure because it would have allowed Muslims and LGBTQ folks to open schools and, by God, we don’t want that.

This is the same Sherrell who said Tennessee should revive lynchings and who wrote checks for cash at volunteer fire department ham breakfasts, purportedly to buy firefighters a biscuit but then never even bought a cup of coffee.

Republican challengers Tim Lewis and Robert McCormick also said they opposed private-school vouchers but mainly because the move would take money from public schools, not because they would lead to Islamic and LGBTQ schools.

To be sure, some Democrats used this same argument when the governor’s initial education savings account bill came up in 2019. The idea that an Islamic school could be formed using state money was sure to scare Republicans. The argument didn’t exactly latch on.

Instead, Republicans were scared the public school people in their districts would hammer them if they voted for Gov. Bill Lee’s voucher deal. They’re still scared, and Lee couldn’t push his number one initiative across the finish line.

Yet we’re going to be put through another round of voucher fights in 2025, and it’ll be interesting to see if the winner from District 43 sticks with his opposition.

No polling?

The Nashville Rotary Club isn’t always the best place for Republican governors to speak. They’re friendly folks, but when it comes to the Q&A portion of the show, the questions can be a little pointed.

Such was the case this week when one of the Rotarians asked Gov. Bill Lee why most of his policies run counter to statewide polls and the wishes of most Tennesseans.

Lee countered that poll results depend on the way questions are asked. For instance, people are “passionate” on both sides of abortion, he pointed out.

“Polls are helpful, but we all know they’re not the answer,” Lee said.

Ultimately, he noted, elected officials, including himself, can be removed from office by voters. (Apparently, Lee’s gubernatorial campaign never used polling.)

In other words, whatever he and supermajority Republicans say should go because they’ve been returned to office consistently over the last 15 years. Forget about gerrymandering. It’s either vote me out or learn to deal with it, which for most people would be difficult to say in a blue city where rednecks love to hang out.

“My how the years have flown / But there was a time, back in my prime …” *

(* “As Good as I Once Was”, Toby Keith.)

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