Latest news with #CriminalJusticeSubcommittee
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The month in photos: March 2025
A heated exchange between Memphis Democratic Rep. Justin Pearson and Sevierville Republican Rep. Andrew Farmer forced the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee into recess on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo: John Partipilo) SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Giving guns to certain mental health patients could become a crime in Tennessee
Rep. Shaundelle Brooks, a Hermitage Democrat, cries after her firearm bill advances from the Tennessee House Criminal Justice Subcommittee on March 26, 2025. The bill is named for her son Akilah Dasilva, who was killed in 2018 in a shooting at a Nashville Waffle House. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout © 2025) A crowd of supporters and a few lawmakers erupted in applause and cheers Wednesday as the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee advanced Hermitage Rep. Shaundelle Brooks' bill that would criminalize knowingly giving firearms to someone who recently received inpatient mental health treatment. Brooks named the bill 'Akilah's Law' in honor of her son Akilah Dasilva, who was one of four killed in a mass shooting at a Nashville Waffle House in 2018. Brooks, a Democrat, has been lobbying for tighter gun restrictions ever since, and won her seat in the House in November after running on a platform of gun safety advocacy. This is her first session as part of the Tennessee General Assembly. 'Akilah was born here in Nashville, and his life was taken here in Nashville … my son Akilah would still be here with us today if the parents of the perpetrator had followed the instructions of law enforcement, the judicial system and medical professionals who deemed their son unfit to possess a firearm,' Brooks said Wednesday. 'Despite being instructed by each of these oversight agencies to store their firearms safely and not return them to the shooter, the parents knowingly and intentionally disregarded those instructions, broke the law and (were) subsequently held accountable because they resided in another state,' she said. The House Criminal Justice Subcommittee voted 6-2 to advance the bill to the House's full Judiciary Committee. The bill still faces several hurdles before it can become law. Brooks said the bill is focused on 'upholding the law and holding those who break the law accountable.' Travis Reinking of Morton, Illinois was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in February 2022 for killing four people and injuring four others at the restaurant with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Illinois State Police had revoked Reinking's firearm owner's identification card prior to the shooting, requiring Reinking to surrender his guns to his father, Jeffrey Reinking. Jeffrey Reinking returned the guns to his son, including the assault rifle used in the Waffle House shooting — an act that is illegal in the state of Illinois. The elder Reinking was sentenced to 18 months in prison in Illinois in March 2023. Aldane Dasilva, Brooks' son, was 12 when his brother Akilah was killed. For years, his family pursued accountability in court. 'The law did not fail us,' Dasilva said. 'It held both parties accountable: the father of the person that took my brother from me was held accountable using the same statute — the bill presented here today — by the courts of Illinois, because he broke the law.' Tennessee had no such pathway for recourse. In Tennessee, giving firearms to juveniles or people who are intoxicated are misdemeanor crimes. But Tennessee currently has no law against giving firearms to someone who has been committed for mental health evaluation. Nashville Assistant District Attorney Jan Norman was one of the prosecutors who prosecuted Travis Reinking for the Waffle House homicides. She testified Wednesday that she remembers talking with Brooks about the Illinois law. 'We were talking about that law and what the punishment was, and I said to her these words: 'Shaundelle, it's not enough. It's not. The punishment is not enough. But thank God he gave him those guns in Illinois, because if that would have happened here in Tennessee, I couldn't have done a thing about it. He wouldn't have been punished at all if it happened in Tennessee,'' Norman said. Brooks' bill would criminalize the sale, offer of sale, delivery or transfer of a firearm to a person while knowing that the person has been a patient of a mental health institution – voluntarily or involuntarily – within the previous five years. It does not apply to people who were voluntarily admitted for treatment solely for alcohol abuse disorder who have no other secondary mental illnesses or substance abuse disorders. Nashville-area psychiatrist Eric Zabriskie also testified in favor of the bill. He said firearms were the method used in 67% of the 1,245 deaths by suicide recorded in Tennessee in 2022. 'If we continue to do nothing and take no preventative public mental health measures such as this bill, fewer (people) will make it back into (mental health) treatment, and more will go to the morgue and into the ground instead,' Zabriskie said. Wednesday's committee meeting fell during a time of remembrance and mourning in Nashville. Thursday marked the second anniversary of a shooting at The Covenant School that killed 9-year-old students Hallie Scruggs, Evelyn Dieckhaus, and William Kinney as well as school headmaster Katherine Koonce, custodian Mike Hill, and substitute teacher Cynthia Peak. Amid the public outcry for gun law reforms that followed, a 2023 special legislative session of the Tennessee General Assembly called by Gov. Bill Lee ended without the passage of any bills restricting access to guns. On Tuesday, the Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education honored Antioch High School staff for their actions during a January shooting. Solomon Henderson, 17, opened fire in the school's cafeteria, killing 16-year-old Dayana Escalante and injuring another student before taking his own life. James Shaw Jr., who wrestled the gun away from Travis Reinking and sustained injuries in the Waffle House shooting, also testified Wednesday in favor of Brooks' bill. 3 kids, 3 adults killed in shooting at Nashville private elementary school 'I've just seen the outcome of (a mass shooting), and I've seen how it could fracture families. I've seen the holes it could make. I could see how the mending doesn't happen. And, as well, I've seen myself the diagnoses that I've had, of having PTSD and having things of that nature,' Shaw said. 'I think it's a step in the right way for some of the other mothers that are here from (Covenant) and from Antioch and from the other shootings that we've had recently here in Nashville,' he continued. 'I think this is a step in the right way, so I'm very supportive of her bill, and I think it will help Nashville push forward and for us to just make laws, good laws, about gun safety and practice.' Reps. Andrew Farmer (R-Sevierville), William Lamberth (R-Portland)), Lowell Russell (R-Vonore), Rick Scarbrough (R-Oak Ridge), Jason Powell (D-Nashville) and Gabby Salinas (D-Memphis) voted in favor of advancing the bill. Representatives Fred Atchley (R-Sevierville) and Clay Doggett (R-Pulaski) voted in opposition. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee gun safety bill inspired by Waffle House shooting victim passes first House hurdle
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — In rare form, a gun safety bill sponsored by a Democrat passed a Tennessee House subcommittee this week. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Shaundelle Brooks (D-Hermitage), would make it an offense to sell, offer to sell, deliver, or transfer a gun to a person knowing they've been a patient at a mental institution within the past five years. Rep. Brooks named the proposed legislation 'Akilah's Law' in honor of her late son, who was one of four people shot and killed in the Nashville Waffle House shooting in April 2018. 📧 Have breaking news come to you: → The shooter, Travis Reinking, was deemed by authorities mentally unfit to have a gun, but prosecutors said his father, Jeffrey, gave him one anyway. 'Despite being instructed by each of these oversight agencies to store their firearms safely and not return them to the shooter, the parents knowingly and intentionally disregarded those instructions, broke the law, and were subsequently held accountable because they resided in another state,' Rep. Brooks said during the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Wednesday. According to officials, Reinking's father gave him the gun in Illinois, which already had a similar law to 'Akilah's Law' on the books. 'Thank God he gave him those guns in Illinois because if that happened here in Tennessee, I couldn't have done one thing about it,' Jan Norman, Nashville's assistant district attorney, testified during the subcommittee hearing. 'He wouldn't have been punished at all if it happened in Tennessee.' During the hearing, Republican lawmakers commended Rep. Brooks for meeting with each of them about the bill. 'That's how you work your bills, that's how you work your legislation and things you care about,' Rep. Andrew Farmer (R-Sevierville) said. 'I think you're going to go a long way in the Tennessee state legislature.' After Rep. Brooks' bill passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee seven to two, applause erupted. However, later in the week, she told reporters her work was far from over. 'I'm going to continue to work hard and push and connect with the committees,' Rep. Brooks said. 'I'm new at this, and I'm hoping for the best.' ⏩ Rep. Brooks' bill is scheduled to be debated in the House Judiciary Committee next Wednesday. The Senate version of the bill is set to be debated in the Senate Judiciary Committee next Monday. Travis Reinking is currently serving a life sentence for the Waffle House shooting. His father, Jeffrey, was sentenced to 18 months in 2023 for giving him the gun. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former News Channel 5 Meteorologist Bree Smith backs Tennessee bill to criminalize deepfakes
Tennessee State Capitol (Photo: John Partipilo) Former NewsChannel 5 meteorologist Bree Smith said she was 'devastated' when imposter social media accounts claiming to be her began to solicit personal information and money from fans last fall. 'These accounts used fake pictures that showed my face on someone else's semi-nude body. They also made fake videos that used my face and my name to try to convince people it was the real me,' Smith testified in the Tennessee House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Wednesday. Smith is now pushing lawmakers to outlaw non-consensual 'deepfakes' — videos, photographs and audio files created by artificial intelligence that depict things that did not occur without consent from the people depicted. In the last several months, Smith said dozens — if not hundreds — of imposter accounts have posed as her, posting about fake contests and direct-messaging fans and friends asking for help, promising sexual acts and soliciting money for hotel stays. 'I felt humiliated and scared,' Smith said. 'I didn't know what to do or how to fight it, and I didn't know how to protect the viewers and the people that trusted me online from being subject to this kind of extortion.' A bill brought by Nashville Democratic Rep. Jason Powell would make it a felony to publish, or threaten to publish, fake AI-images with the intent to damage a person's reputation or cause them harm. If the images are deemed likely to facilitate violence or interfere with governmental conduct, the creator would face additional jail time. The bill would also allow victims to file civil suits against the deepfake creator and seek a restraining order or injunction to prevent the continued display of the images or videos. Smith left her job of nine years at NewsChannel 5 in January. The station told The Tennessean in January that it tried to negotiate to renew Smith's contract, but those negotiations were not successful. The 43-year-old mother of two said she has tried without much success to report the accounts to various social media platforms, but 'it's like whack-a-mole.' 'As a public servant, this has devastated my life's work,' Smith said. 'I have been a meteorologist in Middle Tennessee for nine years, and it is not a glamorous job. I did what I did because I believed that I could help people. I believed that when severe weather was happening, I could save people's lives, and so then to have my face, my reputation, the trust that this community put in me now being weaponized to hurt the very people that I spent my entire career trying to protect — I mean, it essentially stole what I've worked so hard to create.' The committee voted 7-0 on Wednesday to move the bill to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee lawmakers push to criminalize harboring, smuggling undocumented immigrants
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Tennessee bill that would make it a crime to harbor, hide, or smuggle an undocumented immigrant passed its first hurdle in the House Wednesday. The amended version of the proposed legislation would make it a Class A misdemeanor to hide an illegal immigrant, a Class E felony to hide or transport an illegal immigrant for financial gain, and a Class A felony to hide or transport an illegal immigrant under 13 years old for financial gain. The bill also expands the crime of human trafficking to include promoting the prostitution of a minor. Rep. Chris Todd (R-Madison County) told lawmakers during a House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Wednesday his bill would target dangerous, illicit industries that grew under the Biden Administration 'due to malfeasant border policies and rampant illegal immigration.' Rep. Todd said these groups take advantage of vulnerable people by trafficking and/or holding and hiding them against their will. 📧 Have breaking news come to you: → 'We do not want them in a position where, especially against their will, are in a position of being solicited or trafficked or harbored against their will for someone else's gain,' Rep. Todd said. 'We're trying to tackle that, and this is an area of the law that we've discovered is missing a piece. We're trying to close that loop so folks don't get off the hook when they're doing this.' However, Ashley Warbington, whose husband is undocumented, is worried the harboring portion of the bill could make it a crime to merely live with her husband. 'If I refuse to open up the door to ICE agents trying to separate us, will Tennessee prosecute me for protecting my family?' Warbington testified. 'I could give the example of any day of the week when we are at the house and I lock the door with my husband, but I think it goes past that. It goes with any interaction I may have in the community, with my son's friends, a school outing. I think there are so many examples where we could be at risk of violating this law if it passes,' Warbington told News 2 after the hearing. Democrats added nonprofit groups that provide housing, transportation, and other services to undocumented people are also concerned about the bill's potential impact. 'I think we're punishing people and our organizations in our community that are trying to help people who have already suffered a lot,' Rep. Gabby Salinas (D-Memphis) said. 'It hurts my heart as a Tennessean to see these organizations that are trying to do good in our community to have to use part of their budget to fight something in the courts.' However, Rep. Todd tried to assure lawmakers under the bill, these groups wouldn't be guilty for simply providing assistance. 'This creates a Class E felony offense for human smuggling, creates a Class A felony offense for aggravated human smuggling, and expands the offense of human trafficking to include promoting the prostitution of a minor. These are the kinds of things we're talking about here,' Rep. Todd said. 'I don't know any [nongovernmental organization] that is doing the right thing that would fall under that.' ⏩ The bill passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee 7 to 2 in a vote along party lines. The House version will move to the full House Judiciary Committee. The bill is also working through the committee process on the Senate side. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
