Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Law and Order Haslam Defends Crackdown: 'Our Purpose Is to Provide a Safe Environment'
Posted by Jeff Woods on Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 9:58 AM
The morning after the state attorney general’s office declined to resist Occupy Nashville's federal lawsuit, Gov. Bill Haslam again defended his crackdown as necessary to protect public safety and refused to acknowledge any mistakes.
“For us, this isn’t about winning a legal argument, OK?” the governor told reporters during a brief availability after he spoke to higher education officials in Franklin.
Haslam insisted public safety was at stake, citing thefts and public indecency on the Plaza during the occupation, and he complained that state workers had to clean up “human waste.”
“Actually, it was just a common sense issue,” he said. “People are camping out. There are no public restrooms.”
At the same time, Haslam seemed to welcome the temporary restraining order issued yesterday by U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger.
“Our purpose is to provide a safe environment. If we can come up with rules to make that happen, then that’s what we’re for. Our goal is not to remove people from the Plaza. Never has been, never will be. Period. Our goal is to provide a safe environment. That’s not just our goal. That’s our legal responsibility.”
As for the arrest of Nashville Scene reporter Jonathan Meador, Haslam said his only regret was that troopers didn’t ask for his press credentials after he insisted he was a reporter. The governor said he was unaware of the arrest of another reporter who was trying to cover the story, MTSU student journalist Malina Chavez Shannon.
Here’s the Q&A:
Haslam: I know there are a lot of questions about Occupy Nashville, and I am willing to take questions on that. There are certain things I can’t answer because of the lawsuit. But what I can, I’m more than willing to talk with you about.
Q: The state attorney general’s office won’t even defend your actions. Do you concede that you’ve made some mistakes?
Haslam: What we agreed to was a temporary restraining order. That’s what the state attorney general’s office agreed to. There’s still a lawsuit to come so again, I can’t comment on a lot of those things. But let me back up and talk about this. For us, this isn’t about winning a legal argument, OK? It really is about our responsibility for safety, and we had a condition where we had multiple people come and ask us saying, we don’t feel safe here. We had state workers saying, you know we’re cleaning up human waste every morning. We had situations where even the group itself, Occupy Nashville, was saying, would you help on this? Actually, it was just a common sense issue. People are camping out. There are no public restrooms. There are no public parks in Metro that I know of or in the state that allow overnight camping without a permit. There’s a reason why you don’t go to Centennial Park and camp. It’s really common sense. There are no public restroom facilities. I’ve seen a whole lot of newspaper articles and TV news shows. I haven’t seen anybody interview our General Services workers who have been cleaning up in the morning.
Q: If you had it to do over again, would you make the arrests?
Haslam: Well again, our point was we thought it was important to set up a curfew. It was just common sense. There were people camping down there are no public restroom facilities, and crime had become an increasing issue. And so we set a curfew, which we again felt was reasonable. That being said, the only way to enforce a curfew was to do what we did.
Q: Governor, did the two speakers ask you to remove the protesters?
Haslam: I had multiple requests, not just from the speakers. I don’t want to blame the speakers. We made the decision. But I had multiple requests, not only from the speakers, but also from legislators, Republican and Democrat.
Q: What do you say to the two journalists who were arrested?
Haslam: I thought there was just one.
Q: There was also an MTSU student journalist.
Haslam: OK, I wasn’t aware of that. In this case, I think Commissioner Gibbons has communicated with the editor of one of the journalists [Nashville Scene reporter Jonathan Meador] and said this, when folks came in, that particular individual was not wearing media credentials. And when all the other media moved to the side, this person moved to the middle. I think, as he said, he regrets that we didn’t ask when he identified himself as a member of the media, we did not ask for his credentials at that point. We regret that that didn’t happen.
Q: Do you think the arrests just drew attention to the situation?
Haslam: A lot of people say, well y’all are just helping these people. It’s not about for us helping or hurting the movement. We have a responsibility. Think about this. We’re not out trying to prove a legal point. This isn’t fun for us or our highway patrol officers. They have other things to be doing. But we feel like we have a responsibility for safety, and if something happens there, I can promise you this whole group will just be here saying, governor how did you let that happen?
Q: If you’re going to arrest people, don’t you also have a responsibility to do it legally? Do you think you’ve been doing this legally?
Haslam: Again, there will be a time for a legal hearing on these issues and that’ll be the proper time to address this. Again, we acted on a situation where we felt like safety was threatened, and we had multiple requests from legislators and by the way from other people who work in the area saying something needs to happen here.
Q: Is it possible, sir, that your attorneys failed you in not advising you that they needed to go through the rule-making process?
Haslam: I really don’t know about that. Again, the legal hearing on this hasn’t been argued yet. We agreed as the state for a temporary restraining order. Again, go back to what’s our purpose? Our purpose is to provide a safe environment. If we can come up with rules to make that happen, then that’s what we’re for. Our goal is not to remove people from the Plaza. Never has been, never will be. Period. Our goal is to provide a safe environment. That’s not just our goal. That’s our legal responsibility.
Q: Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense just to provide a little security and cleanup rather than arresting 55 people over two nights with 75 troopers?
Haslam: Well again, there will be a time because there’s a lawsuit right now I can’t comment on everything. But put yourself in the position of a state trooper. You can’t go in and say, well this is somebody who’s with this group, this is somebody that’s not. And the group has said they would like to stay there indefinitely 24 hours a day, and at some point in time, as the state, you know, we have 6 million citizens.
Q: Did you talk about having two or three troopers there for their protection?
Haslam: We talked about a lot of things. Remember this, this group has said we would like to stay here indefinitely. Let’s say they are there for a year, 24 hours a day. We have limited resources as a state.
Comments (28)
Showing 1-28 of 28
Providing porta-sans would have been a lot cheaper and a lot more legal--if that's what they care about.
like
dislike
Oh for God's sake! How can he say with a straight face that the goal was not to remove people from the plaza? If that wasn't the goal, why did THP remove people from the plaza, and the very people who had been asking for help at that. Puh-leeze! And the troopers went in and said, "oh, this person is with the TPAC gala ignoring the curfew and this person isn't" without any trouble. What a crock!
The only think THE ONLY THING about putting a port-a-potty ABOUT PUTTING A PORT-A-POTTY on Legislative Plaza ON LEGISLATIVE PLAZA is that IS THAT it will make the entire area IT WILL MAKE THE ENTIRE AREA smell like SMELL LIKE crap CRAP and chemicals AND CHEMICALS (wiggle fingers)
This is such victim-blaming bullshit. People are being robbed and harassed, so you arrest them? For their own safety?
And he's not embarrassed to give that explanation? Good lord.
As for limited resources, the THP has been escorting every famous person who calls for an escort for free for years. So... just how limited are these resources? Or does he mean our resources are limited to rich people?
The morning after the state attorney general’s office declined to resist Occupy Nashville's federal lawsuit, Gov. Bill Haslam again defended his crackdown as necessary to protect public safety and refused to acknowledge any mistakes.
“For us, this isn’t about winning a legal argument, OK?” the governor told reporters during a brief availability after he spoke to higher education officials in Franklin.
Haslam insisted public safety was at stake, citing thefts and public indecency on the Plaza during the occupation, and he complained that state workers had to clean up “human waste.”
“Actually, it was just a common sense issue,” he said. “People are camping out. There are no public restrooms.”
Governor Haslam's problem here is that he cannot pinpoint the individual of indviduals who have allegedly deposited their "human waste" upon the grounds of the Tennessee Capitol grounds, nor can he precisely identify whether or not such deposits of bodily waste originated from homeless people, the Occupy Nashville protesters, or even members of the Tennessee General Assembly itself...
And how about providing a cost comparsion between the providing the THP arrest surge force on the Tennessee Legislative Plaza versus the cost to the state of providing a reasonable number of porta-potties?
I think that this protest speaks to the need of the Tennessee state government to construct permanent outdoor "Free Speech & Assembly" public restroom facilities at the Tennessee Legislative Plaza.
Thank goodness that we Tennesseans have the Occupy Nashville protesters to stand up against Governor Bill Haslam and his fascist bully-boys!
What an asshole; defiant and defensive to the end. Man up and apologize, you jerk! Clearly Governor Haslam has never been to Centennial Park. There are, in fact, public restrooms (maybe not 24 hours, but still...).
Haslam says, "We have limited resources as a state." Really?
I give you exhibit A:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/…
"The biggest raise, 32 percent more than his predecessor, goes to Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons..."
People who choose public service MAKE THE CHOICE to earn less than they would in the private sector. If Haslam thinks they should earn more because they left the private sector, he is in the WRONG BUSINESS.
I hope Occupy Nashville wins every red penny of Bill Gibbons's 32 percent raise (and then some).
The ACLU THE ACLU has assurred our right HAS ASSURRED OUR RIGHT to camp out on Legslative PlazaTO CAMP OUT ON LEGISLATIVE PLAZA so forget Haslam SO FORGET HASLAM.(wiggle fingers!!!!) Let's concentrate LET'S CONCENTRATE on getting rich people's money ON GETTING RICH PEOPLE'S MONEY out of politics OUT OF POLITICS (wiggle fingers!!!!!!!!!) Except for George Soros EXCEPT FOR GEORGE SOROS his money is cool HIS MONEY IS COOL (wiggle fingers!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
"Q: If you’re going to arrest people, don’t you also have a responsibility to do it legally? Do you think you’ve been doing this legally?
Haslam: Again, there will be a time for a legal hearing on these issues and that’ll be the proper time to address this. Again, we acted on a situation where we felt like safety was threatened, and we had multiple requests from legislators and by the way from other people who work in the area saying something needs to happen here."
There needs to be a more precise release of information and records from Governor Haslam's office that specifically identifies which members of the Tennessee General Assembly --- whether by personal request, telephonic request, email, etc. --- requested that the Tennessee Highway Patrol and/or other law enforcement agencies would crack down on the Occupy Nashville protesters gathered at the Tennessee Legislative Plaza.
@ Ingleweird: The State of Tennessee already provides many 24 hour public restroom facilities at taxpayer expense across the state --- it is just that there just isn't any type of Tennessee Welcome Center at the state capitol where the elected TNGA members have the reasonable expectation of being on the receiving end of public protest at the capitol building:
Tennessee Department of Transportation
Maintenance Division - Rest Area Maintenance
http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/maintenance/RestAreas.htm
"All rest areas and welcome centers are open and staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (except for the Shelby County Welcome Center at Riverside Drive, which closes each evening).
Public restrooms and vending machines are available at all times.
No [recreational vehicle] dump stations are located at any of these locations.
No overnight parking is allowed. There is a two-hour parking limit.
Tami Giles
Tennessee Department of Tourist Development
Phone: 615.741.9012
Fax: 615.532.0479
For more information on any Welcome Center or Rest Area:
Rest Areas: Tennessee Department of Transportation – 615.741.2027
Welcome Centers: Tennessee Department of Tourist Development – 615.741.9035"
The Governor will be building a case for the next legal hearing and it will be based on public safety. He will document how many times cops, ambulances, firetrucks have had to come to the Plaza. He'll take pictures of any crap his workers have to pick up. He'll have agents monitoring activities to determine how much political stuff is going on v just hanging out. These guys, like Haslam, don't give up
Give him a break. He's not smart, obviously. Because even a decent opportunist could've used this for political gain. Instead, someone spooked him on an even bigger lawsuit, which is if something bad happened (think death or rape) then he'd pay an even bigger price for that. He took the easy way out and still got damned. The smart thing to do would've been install honey pots nearby and a couple of THP officers at night. Then you get to be the good guy without getting any Soros on you. Instead, you made us hit the national news cycle looking like idiots again, and you lost your political capital on the make up kiss. Lose-lose if you ask me.
“For us, this isn’t about winning a legal argument, OK?” the governor told reporters.
Translation: I'm screwed. All I've got is this "Public Safety" card.
As an example: "I totally support the 2nd Amendment. It just seems like it would be a bad idea to have guns in bars."
He did say that didn't he?
"Instead, you made us hit the national news cycle looking like idiots again..." - Barry Trotz
Sorry, Barry, but they made THEMSELVES look like idiots. Did it not dawn upon them to talk to a state attorney? Do they need to hire BETTER counsel?
I realize Haslam doesn't do irony. Still, it's funny to hear the chief executive of Tennessee State government complaining about "human waste."
Apparently the governor is opposed to regulation except when he feels the need to institute regulations no governor prior to him has.
Elmer, your 11:33 comment:
Is that kind of information available through Freedom of Info act, or subpoena?
Actually their goal is to subvert the constitution of the state of tennessee and the United States of America past the extent allowed by law!
I have tried to keep up with the OWS thing, going so far as to listen to NPR who claims rapes have been a problem. If we could ever get some bad weather, that should help.
Meanwhile apparently rapes have been a problem (NPR, so it must be true). These will not be reported to the police. One "sex fiend" was driven from the NYC site. Anyway, it was not hard to find a link to the NY Post.
Listening to NPR, I learned rapes at OWS outings are being handled "internally" and police need not be called.
http://www.politicalhotwire.com/current-ne…
We've got the United Steel Workers WE'VE GOT THE UNITED STEEL WORKERS doing security DOING SECURITY (wiggle fingers) to keep TO KEEP the meth heads THE METH HEADS and bums AND BUMS out of camp OUT OF CAMP (wiggle fingers).
We'll put the porta-potties WE'LL PUT THE PORTA-POTTIES (wiggle fingers) next to NEXT TO the Korean War Memorial lTHE KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL (wiggle fingers !!!!) . Thanks to THANKS TO Tennesse Alliance for Progressives TENNESSEE ALLIANCE FOR PROGRESSIVES and SEIU AND SEIU (Wiggle fingers!!!!!!!!!) for the free blankets and tents FOR THE FREE BLANKETS AND TENTS (Wiggle fingers!)
And don't take AND DON'T TAKE the brown acid THE BROWN ACID. (wiggle fingers)
I thought the GOP had rediscovered the importance of "the freedoms" and the constitution.
I still can`t believe over 78% voted for Haslem. The politician that keeps on taking.
"Q: Governor, did the two speakers ask you to remove the protesters?
Haslam: I had multiple requests, not just from the speakers. I don’t want to blame the speakers. We made the decision. But I had multiple requests, not only from the speakers, but also from legislators, Republican and Democrat."
So, Governor Haslam dropped a dime on both Tennessee Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey and TNGA House Speaker Beth Harwell...
The representatives of the Tennessee news media should be filing public record requests with the Office of the Governor as to specifically identify which other members of the Tennessee General Assembly requested that Governor Haslam would insert a Tennessee Highway Patrol arrest force at the Tennessee Legislative Plaza (and thereby violating the constitutional rights of the Occupy Nashville protesters and journalists to peacefully assemble on the plaza).
"Elmer, your 11:33 comment:
Is that kind of information available through Freedom of Info act, or subpoena?
Posted by Ingleweird on November 1, 2011 at 2:31 PM"
@ Ingleweird: The Freedom of Information Act generally refers to certain records of the federal government that are considered to be public records that are to reproduced (or allow inspection of), upon demand...the State of Tennessee does have some similar laws:
Tennessee Coalition for Open Government
http://www.tcog.info/law/law.htm
"The Tennessee Public Records Act is found in Tennessee Code Annotated 10-7-101 and the sections that follow it. For purposes of access to public records, the operative provision is found in TCA 10-7-503, which says: “All state county and municipal records ... shall at all times, during business hours, be open for public inspection by any citizen of Tennessee, and those in charge of such records shall not refuse such right of inspection to any citizen, unless provided by state law.”
Click here to read the full text of the law.
“Records” are defined in TCA 10-7-301 as “all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, microfilms, electronic data processing files and output, films, sound recordings, or other material, regardless of physical form or characteristics made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business of any governmental agency."
The Tennessee Supreme Court in 1994 held that the purpose of the Act is “to apprise the public about the goings-on of its governmental bodies.”
In summary, documents that come into possession of a governmental agency either by virtue of receipt of the documents by the agency, or creation of the documents by the agency, are public records that must be made available for public inspection unless they are exempt from the disclosure by state law. TCA 10-7-505(d) says the law “shall be broadly construed so as to give the fullest possible public access to public records."
Section 10-7-504 lists several records and categories of records that are exempt from disclosure. In addition, this same provision lists cross-references to many statutes that exempt certain records from disclosure.
If a request for public records is denied by a governmental agency, the requesting party may file a petition for access in Chancery Court. Section 10-7-505 spells out the procedure for enforcing the Public Records Act. Upon request by the petitioning party, the court will set a show cause hearing. The statute dispenses with the requirement that an answer to the petition be filed, and the court’s ruling constitutes the final judgment. The governmental agency in possession of the records has the burden of proof for justification of non-disclosure of the records, and if the court finds that the records were “knowingly and willfully” withheld, attorneys’ fees and costs may awarded to the petitioning party..."
Search LexisNexis (online version of the Tennessee Code Anontated:
http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/tncode/
