As the Tennessee legislature shifts its focus to bills that are essential to maintaining necessary services and managing the extreme economic and social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it should push to through a criminal justice reform measure that would free up $18 million in taxpayer dollars.
Early economic forecasts predict severe and previously unexpected fiscal hits to states, particularly those that heavily rely on revenue from tourism and hospitality – like Tennessee.
In the first week of social distancing alone, the Nashville Visitors & Convention Corp. estimated a $28 million loss in direct spending from cancelled conventions and hotel room nights. That was before the SEC and NCAA men’s basketball tournaments were cancelled and more extreme social distancing measures were advised. And as a former Tennessee Titans player, I know all too well how significant world-class sporting events are to the Nashville and broader Tennessee economy, and even though the cancellation of these events was the right thing to do, it will lead to tremendous loss for local business and industry, and the tax dollars they bring in.
No doubt in the coming days Tennessee lawmakers are going to be focused on managing this dramatic blow to the state’s coffers and the increased demands placed on certain state services and agencies, such as public health. Governor Lee’s criminal justice reform agenda is fertile ground to provide the cost-savings Tennessee will need, and one common-sense measure that would begin freeing up $18 million in taxpayer dollars was already sailing through the legislature with broad, bipartisan support and no known opposition.
This bill reduces the size of Tennessee’s drug-free school zones from 1,000 feet to 500 feet and gives judges more discretion in sentencing. Now I know what you’re thinking: “Drug-free school zones” sound good. But like a lot “tough on crime” bills passed in the 1990’s…they don’t do what you think they do.
In fact, in many of these “drug-free school zones,” there isn’t even a school. This law, which was sold as a stricter protection for our kids, actually ended up hurting families, especially those in underserved communities. Right now, people caught possessing even a small amount of drugs can be subjected to quadruple the time in prison because they were arrested in one of these “drug-free school zones,” even though there is no school in sight. These laws apply day or night, regardless of whether children are present, and they even apply to private residences and cars.
The over-reaching “drug-free school zones” in Tennessee have numerous unintended consequences. In some communities, entire neighborhoods and districts fall within these zones, triggering harsh mandatory minimum sentences that fail to keep dangerous drugs away from our kids, and force taxpayers to throw good money after bad. The sentencing enhancements attached to these zones can add 15 years onto sentences, which is one of the reasons our prisons are bursting at the seams.
And as we grapple with this sudden pandemic, now more than ever we have to wrap our heads around the added public health threat that overcrowded prisons and jails present. Health experts say it is not a matter of if, but when, this virus breaks out in jails and prisons. The spread of this and future viruses and diseases should wake us all up to the public health threat that persists in the absence of meaningful justice reform.
Reducing the size of the so-called “drug-free school zones” is a common-sense step, sponsored by well-respected conservatives Rep. Michael Curcio and Sen. Mike Bell (and supported by numerous conservative and bipartisan associations), that the Tennessee legislature can take to free up $18 million in taxpayer dollars and begin sending a message that safely reducing prison populations is a public health imperative.
Very soon, education, economic development, and of course health care will require more significant investment, and while $18 million may be a drop in the bucket, every drop counts. The legislature should deem this common-sense criminal justice reform legislation “essential,” and pass it now…before it’s too late.
Rocky Boiman
Super Bowl Champion and former Tennessee Titans player, is an ESPN college football analyst and host of his own radio program, “The Eddie & Rocky Show,” on 700 WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he now resides with his wife, two boys, and boy on the way