www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-03 14:12:00
(The Center Square) – The Tennessee Senate passed a bill that would limit the legal liability of pesticide makers as long as the labels meet federal standards.
Democrats said they were concerned that Senate Bill 527 would prevent consumers from suing chemical companies.
“It’s just amazing to me that we are taking away the rights of Tennesseans to defend themselves against harmful chemicals,” said Sen. Heidi Campbell, R-Nashville.
“The bill does not prevent anyone from suing,” said Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon. “It does limit the liability in the event that there is a claim related to the label.”
Farmers call the products “crop protection.” Smith County farmer George McDonald told the Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee in March that farmers are trained to use the products.
“If we keep chipping away at these tools that we have in our toolbox, we will not be able to use those tools and if we do not have these pesticides, taking them away from farmers will be like taking away tractors from farmers,” McDonald told the committee.
Passage was 21-7. The House version of the bill is on the calendar for next week’s meeting of the House Judiciary Committee.
A similar bill passed both chambers in Georgia and is now on Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk.
“Since litigation against glyphosate began, Bayer has paid out roughly $10 billion from an expensed & provisioned total of $16 billion to address these cases – funds that could be invested in R&D and used toward creating new technology for farmers, consumers and patients,” the company told the newspaper.
A Georgia jury awarded a man $2.1 billion in a lawsuit against Bayer. The man said the product caused his cancer.
SUMMARY: Smyrna, Tennessee, is implementing a new approach to funding by using population estimates instead of conducting costly special censuses. Town Manager David Sanucci proposed this idea to state officials, explaining that relying on estimates between federal censuses will help determine more accurate funding allocations. The town’s population grew from 40,589 in 2010 to 53,185 in 2020, but inaccurate census data resulted in lost funds. It’s estimated that Smyrna may have missed out on up to $750,000 annually, which over a decade could total millions of dollars for essential services to support the town’s growth.
The Town of Smyrna has used population estimates for funding.
by Ashley Murray and Jacob Fischler, Tennessee Lookout April 26, 2025
WASHINGTON — A handful of Democratic U.S. senators sounded the alarm Friday after federal agents arrested a Wisconsin judge on charges she obstructed immigration officials from detaining a man in her courtroom, saying the arrest marked a new low in President Donald Trump’s treatment of the law.
Some congressional Democrats framed the FBI’s Friday morning arrest of Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan as a grave threat to the U.S. system of government, saying it was part of Trump’s effort to expand his own power and undermine the judiciary, with which the administration has become increasingly noncompliant.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer decried the judge’s arrest on social media late Friday afternoon as a “dangerous escalation.”
“There are no kings in America. Trump and (Attorney General Pam) Bondi can’t just decide to arrest sitting judges at will and threaten judges into submission,” wrote Schumer, a New York Democrat.
Trump administration officials, including Bondi, defended the arrest as legitimate. The FBI had been investigating Dugan after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers sought to detain an immigrant without legal authority to be in the country who was in her courtroom on a misdemeanor charge.
Bondi wrote on social media just after noon Eastern, “I can confirm that our @FBI agents just arrested Hannah Dugan — a county judge in Milwaukee — for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid an arrest by @ICEgov. No one is above the law.”
Democrats object
Democrats in Washington who sounded their objections to the arrest Friday argued it subverted separation of powers.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, said Trump “continues to test the limits of our Constitution — this time by arresting a sitting judge for allegedly obstructing an immigration operation at the courthouse.”
In a statement, Durbin added that local courtrooms should be off limits to immigration enforcement agents.
“When immigration enforcement officials interfere with our criminal justice system, it undermines public safety, prevents victims and witnesses from coming forward, and often prevents those who committed crimes from facing justice in the United States,” Durbin wrote.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who represents Wisconsin, issued a statement shortly after news of the arrest, calling it “a gravely serious and drastic move.”
“In the United States we have a system of checks and balances and separation of powers for damn good reasons,” Baldwin said.
“The Trump Administration just arrested a sitting judge,” Arizona’s Ruben Gallego said in a social media post. “This is what happens in authoritarian countries. Stand up now — or lose the power to do so later. The administration must drop all charges and respect separation of powers.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who also sits on the Judiciary Committee, was more careful in his criticism but said Trump is “constantly challenging” separation of powers laid out in the Constitution.
“I don’t know what happened in Wisconsin, but amplifying this arrest as the Attorney General and FBI Director have done looks like part of a larger intimidation campaign against judges,” the Rhode Island Democrat said in a statement.
In a since-deleted post on Bluesky, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey accused Trump of “using immigrants to justify an all-out assault on our democracy and rule of law.
“After openly defying a Supreme Court order, calling for judges to be impeached, and bullying and belittling judges, today his FBI director took the extreme step of ordering a sitting judge arrested,” Booker wrote, referring to the high court’s order that the Trump administration “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is being held in El Salvador.
Spokespeople for Booker did not respond to a late Friday inquiry about why the post was taken down.
Trump officials back up arrest
Administration officials boasted online following the arrest.
FBI Director Kash Patel deleted a post on X in which he wrote Dugan “intentionally misdirected federal agents away” from Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a 30-year-old Mexican immigrant accused of misdemeanor battery.
Trump posted a screenshot on his social media site from the conservative activist account “Libs of TikTok” that featured a photo of Dugan and celebrated her arrest.
White House Border Czar Tom Homan said that Dugan crossed a line in her opposition to the administration’s agenda.
“People can choose to support illegal immigration and not assist ICE in removing criminal illegal aliens from our communities, BUT DON’T CROSS THAT LINE,” he wrote on X. “If you actively impede our enforcement efforts or if you knowingly harbor or conceal illegal aliens from ICE you will be prosecuted. These actions are felonies. More to come…”
Trump vs. courts
Trump and administration officials have publicly attacked judges online, including calling for the impeachment of District Judge James Boasberg for the District of Columbia after he ordered immigration officials to halt deportation flights to El Salvador.
The administration allowed the flights to reach Central America, and is now at risk of being held in criminal contempt of court as a legal fight plays out.
The president’s verbal attacks on Boasberg prompted a rare rebuke from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in mid-March.
And the administration has seemingly refused to do anything to facilitate the return of Maryland resident Abrego Garcia from a notorious El Salvador mega-prison, despite a Supreme Court order.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Left-Leaning
The content strongly presents viewpoints from Democratic U.S. senators and officials, focusing on criticism of President Trump’s administration, particularly in relation to actions involving the judiciary and immigration enforcement. The article highlights concerns about the Trump administration’s treatment of the courts, with Democrats framing actions like the arrest of a judge as an overreach of executive power, undermining separation of powers. The quotes from Democratic senators emphasize warnings of authoritarianism, which contrasts with the administration’s defense of the actions as legitimate. Overall, the tone is critical of Trump’s administration, with a clear focus on opposing viewpoints, leading to a Left-Leaning bias.
SUMMARY: The Dirty Guv’nahs, an East Tennessee band, is releasing their new album *Promises* today. The band, formed almost 20 years ago, almost split in 2015 but reunited after a couple of years. Their journey started as a joke, but they soon became known for their performances, including a sold-out show at the Bijou Theater. After taking a break from touring due to family commitments, they are back with a new album and an upcoming appearance at the Southern Skies Music and Whiskey Festival on May 10th, treating it as a celebration of their return to music.
The band’s first performance was in April 2006 — almost 20 years ago.
