Enough is Enough March

The coalition of organizers of the faith based "Enough Is Enough" March on the afternoon of Sunday the 14th of November promised at least 1,000 people. That was quickly realized as the march made its way down Swan Avenue into Hohenwald around the Court House for a prayer meeting in the town's parking lot. There were 1200 to 1500 marchers who showed up.

The marchers stopped at various locations along Swan Avenue for prayers outside of known or suspected drug houses and buildings. One onlooker said "If you can count close to a thousand people actually walking in the march, imagine what it would have been like had some of the people who were unable to walk would have been there, there could easily have been 1,500 people."

But the people that did attend one of the largest marches of its kind in Lewis County certainly made a point to our City and County leaders. We are tired of not seeing action that would take some of these people off our streets for good. Some of the marchers would be quick to point out that in many cases these pushers and users have been known for a number of years, so they ask "Why is this allowed to happen, if the law knows about these people and places, why are they not arrested, charged and put away for a number of years".

For the answer to that question you have to be in possession of things both the Police and the Sheriff's Department know.

There is another side of this story and certainly one that should be considered that is the side of the law, both the City and Sheriff's Department. I, for one, am in favor of what the Police are doing. I know for a fact that since Kip Kelsey has taken office as Chief, he and his department have made arrests. During that time the records will show that the Hohenwald Police Department has made 443 drug cases and 288 paraphernalia cases that have been worked in the city limits. The same applies to Sheriff Kilpatrick who will tell you the same story. Arrests are being made, but let's focus on the people who have been arrested. They have rights! That is the law. And the law also has to abide by the peoples rights.

They are not just being arrested and being plea bargained out and released. Many can post bail. That is their right. If they can post bail, they can be out the same day. If they have just one or two convictions, they can probably plea bargain with the DA or the Judge and be out with eight months probation. This of course doesn't help the Police or the Sheriff's Department who have probably spent months watching a place, gathering information, watching people (both users and sellers), then risking their own lives arresting the suspected person. They then have to watch as the person uses his rights to get himself out of jail the next day. This mess, if you want to call it that, is mainly because of a system that has been in place in the County for over thirty years.

Lewis County is part of District 21 that is, for want of a better word, looked over, especially in the case of the law and the District Attorney's office by Williamson County, who also take care of Perry County and Hickman. With the population growth as it has been in the past ten years or so, not just in Lewis County but in others counties, especially Williamson, things had to change from a four county judicial system to a three county system, otherwise disaster was heading our way very fast.

This was very quickly realized by the State a number of years ago who enacted a new law that would break up the four tier system to a three tier system with the new District, being 32. This would enable Lewis, Perry and Hickman to have a vote in 2022 to elect their own District Attorney and Public Defender. This could not happen in just a few weeks. Many years of planning have gone into this, especially with our own Circuit Judge, Mike Spitzer. The end result being that Mike Spitzer could still, hopefully, retain his seat, but also include at his side a new local District Attorney, and Public Defender, not one from Franklin and Williamson County. We will, after over thirty years, have our own representation.

So in answer to the amazing "Enough is Enough" March that awakened people to a problem that was actually happening within the City, change is coming, it's been in the works for at least three years. But don't expect it overnight. Make yourself aware of District 21 and the new District 32 and the amazing changes that will take place after September 2022.

Make yourselves aware of who actually is running for the office of District Attorney and Public Defender. And then when the time comes, go out and vote.

The Sunday afternoon march, named Enough is Enough here in Hohenwald, from Blondy Church, down Swan Avenue across the 48 junction around the Court House to the City Parking lot was a great success for all concerned, especially the coalition of local Churches who actually made it happen.

Co-Founder of the Recovery through Christ meeting Tim Cotham said of the march, "I'm so excited to see the coalition, the church and law enforcement come together in unity! We've been praying to God to help this community and I think our prayers are being heard!"

Another Co-Founder of the Recovery Through Christ meeting Kim Warren King added, "The March of Hope was a huge success. It represented the unity of what God has brought together to fight this terrible problem in our community."

Two large banners in the march brought the story home. On one banner were pictures of twenty known local people who had died of overdoses in the past eighteen months. On the other banner were pictures of a further seventeen people who had died of drug related overdoses. That's thirty seven people that got hooked on drugs and paid the ultimate price, leaving grieving parents, grandparents, wives, children and many more. These people were not old. Many were in their late teens, others were around thirty years of age, both men and women.

It's an even sadder fact when you realize that 41 people, possibly 42 after this past weekend, have died of Covid, 19 in the past eighteen months and close to 50 men and women have died through drug overdoses over the same period of time. But is this all the fault of the Police, with drugs being so available on the streets of this small town and drug dealers not spending time in jail.

Sheriff Kilpatrick summed it up in these words when he said, "How can we compete when these drug pushers can order the drugs online and have them delivered to their front door to sell to everyone of all ages." He is of course referring to pills, not heroin or pot.

This is a major worldwide problem, and if we don't confront it face to face as they did in the march, we, and your children, will have a major problem in years to come. Most of these people are good people who have just got hooked. They need your help just as the hundred or so former users at the head of the Enough is Enough March, who now head up their own coalition to help people kick the habit.