Free Republic

MEMPHIS — The fight over Ophelia Ford's removal from the state Senate isn't over, even though a majority of senators voted for it, a federal judge said Tuesday. In granting a request from Ford to block appointment of an interim replacement by the Shelby County Commission, Judge Bernice Donald said she must decide if the Senate's decision to remove Ford was proper. "There may be no vacancy for the county to fill," Donald said. Ford won a special election to the Senate by 13 votes last year, but senators decided in April to overturn those results, citing evidence of two...

Jurors likely won't all be from Memphis, and race, party affiliation, religion all play into the mix By Lawrence Buser June 12, 2005 While many critics and supporters alike believe a home-court jury will ultimately help John Ford, Kathryn Bowers and Roscoe Dixon waltz away from corruption charges, the chances of all-Memphis juries deciding their cases are slim at best. In federal court here, juries are drawn from pools of registered voters not only from Shelby, but also from four other counties in the Western Division of the federal court's Western District. Those are Dyer, Fayette, Lauderdale and Tipton. But...