Capitol Hill Press Corp veteran and former Memphian Sam Stockard writes an excellent piece in today’s Tennessee Lookout about the dust-up between Senate Judiciary Chairman Todd Gardenhire and Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton. Give it a read for a more in-depth accounting.

Gardenhire, as close to a maverick as can be found in the GOP supermajority, played the main role in killing House Bill 2504 sponsored by the Speaker himself. The bill would have created a three-strikes-and-you’re-out law for violent offenders, requiring judges to sentence them to life in prison.

Apparently, Gardenhire’s objection stemmed from the fiscal note, which indicated that eventually the state must construct a new $400 million prison with a $60 million annual operating budget to accommodate the increase in inmates. Sexton’s bill did not include funding for the new prison.

As an aside, the bill sponsored in the Senate by Dawn White did not consider decades of research revealing that the deterrent and crime-reduction effects expected were not generally realized from the policy. Moreover, three strikes led to overcrowding in some prisons and poor conditions.

Gardenhire suggested that Sexton should have made provisions for funding the bill before sending it to the Senate. Following its defeat in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sexton said it was common knowledge that Gardenhire was the softest on crime legislator. In an interview with the Tennessee Holler, Sexton declared progressive Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, two of the Tennessee Three, were tougher on criminals than Gardenhire.

Voting against the bill in committee were senators Gardenhire, Rose, Roberts, Kyle, and Lamar. Voting for the bill were White, Taylor, Harshbarger, and Stevens.