Blackburn & Hagerty Introduce Bill to Get Tough On Crime

Tennessee’s US senators are asking President Biden to get tough on crime. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty say they have introduced legislation called the “Restoring Law & Order Act”. The senators say that progressive policies, such as “defunding the police” have put Americans at a higher risk of crime. The two pointed to the recent rash of crimes in Memphis where a young man went on a shooting spree and a man abducted and killed a 34 year old mother of two while she was jogging. In fact, they say that the mayor of Memphis Jim Strickland helped craft the legislation. Blackburn and Hagerty say their bill would establish a federal grant program that would provide more funding for more officers and is focused on violent crimes such as rape, murder, and carjackings. They say it will also increase resources to target drug crimes and funding for state law enforcement agencies. Blackburn also says the bill would address delays in testing rape kits. She pointed out how Eliza Fletcher’s killer’s DNA was found involved in a September 2021 rape case. That finding happened the same day Eliza Fletcher’s body was found. Blackburn alluding to the fact that if the rape kit in that case had been tested on a timely basis, the man who killed Eliza Fletcher would not have been on the street.

The senators also both said it’s time to end the “war on law enforcement officers”.