One of my top legislative priorities is fighting violent crime. I am a very strong supporter of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program and voted for its reauthorization in 2007. In the 1990's, the COPS program put thousands of new police officers on the nation’s streets, resulting in a decade that saw the greatest drop in crime in a generation. Despite the dramatic success of the COPS program, the Bush Administration has cut COPS funding dramatically in recent years, which has resulted, not surprisingly, in an increase in violent crime. Therefore, in addition to voting to reauthorize COPS, I have fought for additional funding for the COPS program so that we can put more police officers on Memphis streets to tackle crime head-on.

I’m also fighting violent crime in other ways.  I have introduced H.R. 3386, the Mickey Wright Act, which would provide an additional tool for law enforcement officers and prosecutors to go after murderers and their accomplices by providing for tough criminal penalties for anyone who transports a homicide victim’s corpse across state lines with intent to discard evidence of the homicide. Through this law, I hope to help law enforcement bring some greater measure of justice to homicide victims and their families.

In addition to the Mickey Wright Act, I also introduced legislation which will require the Attorney General to create a pilot program to examine racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system.  H.R. 6518, the Justice Integrity Act of 2008, is designed to increase public confidence in the justice system and address any unwarranted racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal process.  

Over the past 30 years, my experiences in working directly with the people of Memphis and the 9th District have taught me that many in the African American community have deep misgivings about fairness in the criminal justice system.  Certainly, there is inequity in our criminal justice system with racial profiling and certain mandatory minimum laws, but I believe that H.R. 6518 can start the process of mending fences between law enforcement and minorities as well as improve equality and fairness in the system.   

Cosponsored Legislation

I have cosponsored or voted for numerous pieces of legislation concerning criminal justice, including the following:

∙HR 623 – The Second Chance for Ex-Offenders Act permits expungement of criminal records for certain non-violent offenders who have served their sentences.

∙HR 923 – The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act creates new units in the FBI and Justice Department to investigate and prosecute unsolved civil rights crimes that occurred before 1970. 

∙HR 1281 – The Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act criminalizes certain deceptive practices designed to prevent legitimate voters from voting and also enhances penalties for voter intimidation.

∙HR 1592 – The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (1) establishes grant program for state and local law enforcement agencies to assist them in the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes; (2) authorizes the Attorney General to provide assistance to state and local law enforcement agencies in hate crimes cases; (3) expands the list of protected characteristics. 

∙HR 1593 – The Second Chance Act authorizes grants for prisoner re-entry programs.  Prisoner re-entry programs help ex-offenders with their transition back into society after having served their sentences. 

∙HR 3846 – The Youth PROMISE Act addresses youth gang activity by promoting prevention and intervention strategies, rather than punitive ones. 

Appropriations

∙I secured $2,444,000 for the University of Memphis Integrated Gang and Violent Crime Reduction Program, which makes possible the Memphis Police Department’s “Operation Blue Crush” program to ensure that crime fighting resources are deployed when and where they are needed.