In May 2023, Tennessee’s State Building Commission approved a three-year, $168 million contract renewal with CoreCivic to operate the South Central Correctional Facility, despite the private prison corporation’s documented record of inmate deaths, safety violations, and nearly $18 …
CoreCivicBill LeeTennessee Department of CorrectionTennessee State Building Commissionprivate-prisonscampaign-financegovernment-contractsregulatory-capturecorporate-corruption+1 more
The Tennessee House of Representatives expelled two young Black Democratic lawmakers—Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis—while sparing white Democratic Representative Gloria Johnson, in a blatantly racially discriminatory vote that temporarily disenfranchised approximately …
Tennessee House RepublicansJustin JonesJustin PearsonGloria JohnsonCameron Sexton+1 morelegislative-suppressionracial-discriminationvoting-rightsprotest-criminalizationinstitutional-capture+1 more
Governor Bill Lee signed legislation on August 21, 2020 that escalated penalties for camping on Tennessee state property from a misdemeanor to a Class E felony punishable by up to six years in prison and permanent disenfranchisement—a transparent effort to suppress Black Lives Matter protests that …
Bill LeeTennessee General AssemblyRandy McNallyCameron Sextonprotest-suppressionvoting-rightsfelony-disenfranchisementracial-discriminationlegislative-capture+2 more