Love/Hate Mail
A dunce cap for the General Assembly
"I'm from the government, I'm here to help" — anytime the legislature is in session we are in trouble ("Enslaved by the Bell," Jan. 21). The special session of the legislature is evidence of that. Let's let a score of a single test given to a student who has no accountability for his or her grade on the test count for 35 percent of my evaluation as a teacher. Teachers that are already spending a large portion of class time on TCAP objectives will now spend all of their time on them, to the exclusion of everything else.
We already have major problems getting enough teachers, and when we do hire one there is a less than 50 percent chance they will be teaching five years from now. Imagine what this bill will do to teacher recruitment! Your article "Enslaved by the Bell" has it right. My first thought when I read the article's subheading — "Gov. Bredesen bends Tennessee teachers over a desk" — did not involve corporal punishment!
Tommy Franklin — Nashville
More support for Danny Tate
Thank you for telling Danny Tate's story ("Court-Ordered Hell," Jan. 21). I met him through a fellow friend from Arkansas. I was appalled at the story Danny told, and honestly couldn't believe it at first.
His love for his children is the only reason he is still alive and fighting. I hope your story will reach people powerful enough to help him. Certainly, the Tennessee legal system should reconsider and step in where this man's own brother seems to have failed in such a heartbreaking way. The letter of the law absent the spirit of the law diminishes the law.
This is an epic betrayal of a flawed, vulnerable human being. I know there are two little girls out there who are counting on somebody to help their daddy be well again. A man with a gentle heart and soul like Danny Tate deserves all our best efforts. Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
Annette Boettcher
Tate will survive
That was a brutally honest story on Danny Tate ("Court-Ordered Hell," Jan. 21). There is no doubt that his family meant well, but we are dealing with draconian drug laws, statutes and attorneys who stand to gain. It reminded me of "Swamper" Eddie Hinton, the greatest white soul singer/songwriter from Alabama, who lost his musical life in Muscle Shoals when a small amount of marijuana was found in his house in the '70s and he was told to leave the state or be prosecuted. He became a "ghost." It appears Danny has no choice but to comply and work out of the system. His talent will carry him forward from the first song on his first CD "Someday" to now. He can make up the money and then some. I wish him nothing but the best.
Brad Hardisty — Antioch
'Til he gains control again
I have been a casual acquaintance of Danny Tate since before his first cut with Rick Springfield ("Court-Ordered Hell," Jan. 21). Generally, I have only crossed paths with him every few years. He has always impressed me as a genuinely nice person who is very talented and I have never heard anyone say anything negative about him. His successes never seemed to change him as far as I could see. In your article he admits many sins but I cannot believe the legal travesty that has befallen him. I appreciate the Scene shedding light on this injustice and hope your article helps him regain control of his rights.
Leonard Wolf — Nashville
Sympathy for Judge Kennedy
I am very familiar with the saying "some things are best not stirred," but Brantley Hargrove's article has led me to ignore probable good advice ("Court-Ordered Hell," Jan. 21).
Upon reading the cover I could not imagine the identity of the "errant judge" or what Hell was envisioned. Maybe the courts had placed an innocent man in prison. But Judge Randall Kennedy and a two-year-old conservatorship in no way, shape, form or fashion qualify as "Hell!"
I am in Judge Kennedy's court on average once a week. I find him to be knowledgeable, fair, courteous and considerate. He very often deals with disabled adults in conservatorship in open court. Judge Kennedy always engages these folks and makes them feel comfortable with the court proceedings. We can only hope Mr. Hargrove has not altered the pleasant manner of proceedings in Judge Kennedy's court.
Mr. Hargrove's article is filled with leaping legal conclusions. His explanation of the Court of Appeals reversal, which is the Court of Appeals' job to review and rule, is very creative: "...meaning the Probate Court had strayed so far from established legal procedure ..." Glory me, is that what an appeals reversal means?
The facts of this terrible case are not fully known. It would take sworn depositions of all parties to ascertain what exactly happened to cause Danny Tate to lose most of his funds and resources.
To blame Judge Kennedy for Mr. Tate's extensive problems is very unfair.
Martha Cone Beck — Nashville
No leashes in heaven
Please accept my sympathies in your loss of Rufus ("A Dog's Life," Jan. 28). How lucky he was to have found such a loving family. And how lucky you were to have had him. I, too, lost a wonderful dog from bloat and I still miss him dearly 3½ years later. You are so right about heaven not being heaven if there are no dogs. I look forward to the day I am reunited with all the dogs I have lost in my life.
We all as pet owners dread that day the always comes, but they give so much in their short lives. People should be so loving.
Debbie Kirk — Nashville
like
dislike
