The Knoxville News-Sentinel from Knoxville, Tennessee • 16

B8 mondaai(i 1st 22004 ELECTION 2004: CONGRESS harged in meth case For GOP Hart damage control ruled not competent for trial 001T103 111 form of ballot nvntoto BV AMBER MCDOWELL Associated Press NASHVILLE Republican congressional candidate James Hart says his support of eugenics makes him an "intellectual outlaw" Local GOP leaders blind-sided and embarrassed by Hart's 8th District race are more blunt They call him a racist Hart whose Web site expounds on "favored races" and "less favored races" is the only Re BY BILL POOVEY Associated Press CHATTANOOGA A woman who took her daughter to a river instead of a doctor for burns from caustic fluids used to make methamphetamine is not competent for trial a federal judge said Disagreeing with a government psychologist who said Tammy Prince 30 of Cleveland was possibly trying to fake incompetence US Magistrate Bill Carter said the mother should get treatment that might improve her mental condition Federal court records show Tammy Prince who is charged with making methamphetamine took her 12-year-old daughter to the Ocoee River when the girl complained about the acid-like burns and warned that if she told anyone about the illegal drug making "her father would kill her" Prince's attorney Chris Ste-ger said Friday that his client is a longtime victim of an abusive controlling husband and should not be prosecuted for making the addictive stimulant at their house He described Prince as "borderline mentally retarded which is not going to be repaired by some period of hospitalizatioa" School officials who talked to the girl about burns on a foot notified investigators who raided the lab and arrested her parents in October The daughter and a younger brother are living with grandparents Both Prince and her husband that were very infected When asked how it happened she explained that she knocked over some jars that her parents had and a dear liquid spilled on her" An August 2003 report by the Tennessee Department of Children's Services showed children were being removed from the custody of meth-making parents at a rate of more than one a day Federal Drug Enforcement Administration records for 2003 show 1253 meth labs cleaned up in Tennessee topping all states for the third straight year William Ryan a US Bureau of Prisons forensic psychologist at Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York said his evaluation of Tammy Prince showed her competent to stand trial David A Solovey a clinical psychologist in Chattanooga testified at a June 30 competency hearing his evaluation showed she was not competent for trial "I conclude that a fair reading of the record before me reflects only the marginal ability to either maintain work or succeed in her task of raising a family" Carter's report said 'Trankly it appears to the undersigned that the more complex testing was performed by Dr Solovey which compels me to give greater weight to his opinion He is clear in his assessment that this defendant cannot give any meaningful input into the process of making decisions about the defense of her case" of 16 years Robert Tracy Prince 33 have since been in custody Prince's husband has pleaded guilty to making meth His sentencing is set for Aug 20 Carter recommended the mental treatment for Tammy Prince in a report to US District Judge Curtis Collier Assistant US Attorney Paul Laymon said he would review the report before making a decision about the case against the girl's mother "Over the years I have become very skeptical whenever a wife or a girlfriend says 'He made me do it' Laymon said "I am just inherently skeptical of that kind of defense The broader question here is whether she is capable of assisting her lawyer or able to know the difference between right and wrong" Investigators who arrested the parents of the burned child reported a "strong chemical odor in the residence emanating from a large methamphetamine lab" Records show officers seized a small quantity of the drug along with a "jar of matchbook striker plates empty pseu-doephedrine packets bottles of iodine hydrogen- peroxide HEET in-line antifreeze red Devil lye muriatic acid Coleman fuel coffee filters alcohol and a book on how to manufacture methamphetamine" An investigator who went to the girl's school in October wrote in a statement that she showed him "acid-like burns Hart tics for years "It had nothing to do with the beliefs I have or of any Republican I know or any Democrat or Independent for that matter" Galvanized Bertrand phoned state Republican Party officials who told him nothing could be done to get Hart out of the race and the deadline to get on the ballot had passed He launched a write-in campaign because "I felt like I needed to do something" Bertrand immediately was endorsed by the statewide grassroots group TeamGOP which called for Republicans to "unite against the politics of hate" But he won't be getting any help from the state Republican Party Its mission does not include "managing or funding" congressional races state chairwoman Beth Harwell said While Harwell acknowledges Hart's views do not represent Republican ideals she isn't worried his candidacy will bring embarrassment to the party "Republicans are independent thinkers and look at the candidates themselves" she said "It won't have any impact on (other) candidates in that area" In the meantime Hart and Bertrand actively campaign for the Republican nominatioa Bertrand visits local party gatherings in the rural northwest Tennessee district Hart goes door-to-door with a bulletproof vest and gun passing out campaign literature "Every person who opens the door as long as they're white I'll say 'I'm James Hart I'm running for Congress My name will be on the ballot in the Aug 5 Republican primary I think white children deserve the same rights as everyone else' fy programs that sterilized and killed minions Hart a 60-year-old real estate agent from Buchanan knows his views on eugenics are far from mainstream "Obviously these ideas would be described as racist by anybody in 2004 America" he says He insists his beliefs have nothing to do with racism and everything to do with "favored races" from Europe and Asia and "less-favored races" from Africa To achieve his goal of a country populated by "favored races" Hart proposes eliminating both welfare and immigratioa "If an individual demonstrates the ability to produce and contribute to society he or she would be encouraged to have more children People on welfare would not" Hart said in a phone interview with The Associated Press Hart also supports repealing the North American Free Trade Agreement and opposes making tax cuts while the federal government is running up debt "My ideas other than the controversial ideas about race are far more Democratic than Republican" said Hart who also ran as an Independent in 2002 garnering just 26 percent of the vote He figures that as the only Republican on the ballot he'll do better this year because voters tend to cast ballots along party lines and don't investigate the candidates Bertrand says he found out about Hart's views after returning from active duty with the National Guard and going online to learn more about the 8th District race "I was just appalled by what I'd seen there" said Bertrand who's been active in local poli publican on the ballot in the Aug 5 primary While the odds of a Republican taking the seat are slim incumbent Democratic US Rep John Tanner has held it 15 years local party officials are pursuing damage control by fielding a write-in candidate to oppose Hart Dennis Bertrand a financial analyst and former military officer from Newbern says he's running to make sure voters know the Republican Party doesn't share Hart's views "I would characterize him as a racist an elitist" Bertrand said "His idea of genetically altering the human race in order to build a super race with super in- telligence is appalling" Eugenics arose in the early 20th century as a pseudoscien-tific movement to solve social problems by preventing the "unfit" from having children It inspired 33 states to pass laws that allowed the sterilization of some 65000 people and Nazi Germany used the US examples to justi For your test results loser find the answers ELECTION 2004: STATE HOUSE Eleven state House seats will be decided in this week's primary Associated Press NASHVILLE Eleven seats in the Tennessee House of Representatives will be filled in Thursday's primary election while the field will be winnowed down in races to fill eight open seats The eleven seats to be decided pit an incumbent against a primary challenger of the same party with no one registered in the other party or as an independent for the November general election The eight vacant seats all had been held by Republicans two of whom are running for the state Senate and six of whom are retiring There are contested primaries in only four Senate districts one of which is open because of the retirement of longtime Knoxville Republican Ben Atchley There Rep Jamie Ha-good and former state commissioner and Knox County GOP chairman Billy Stokes are seeking the Republican nomination to face Democrat Cindy McGill in the fall The incumbent senators facing primary challengers are Bill Clabough R-Maryville Ward Crutchfield D-Chat-tanooga and Joe Haynes D-Goodlettsville Seven Republicans are vying to succeed Diane Black of Hendersonville who is leav ing the House to challenge incumbent Democratic Sen JoAnn Graves There are also two Democrats and an independent in that race Six Republicans are battling it out in the primary to succeed Jim Vincent in Chattanooga as are two Democrats There is also an independent in that race Six candidates are in the Republican primary to succeed Rep Joe Kent in Memphis as is one Democrat Four Republicans are in the primary field attempting to succeed Hagood Whoever emerges will face a Democrat in November Three Republicans are in the primary to succeed Steven But-try in Knoxville along with one Democrat Two Republicans are vying for the Knoxville seat being vacated by HE Bittle as are two independents and a Democrat There are two Republicans and two Democrats each in the primaries to succeed retiring Raymond Walker of Crossville In the House the incumbents who face primary challenges but no general election opponent are: 24th District where Republican Dewayne Bunch of Cleveland faces challenger Andrew Morgan 28th District where in cumbent Democrat Tommie Brown of Chattanooga faces challenger Isaac Robinson III 32nd District where incumbent Democrat Dennis Ferguson of Kingston faces challenger Duie Swicegood 38th District where incumbent Democrat Les Win-ningham of Huntsville faces challenger Champ Langford 54th District where incumbent Democrat Edith Langster of Nashville faces challenger Melvin Gill 55th District where incumbent Democrat Gary Odom of Nashville is challenged by Tom Cash 57th District where incumbent Republican Susan Lynn of Mount Juliet is challenged by Tom Wood 59th District where incumbent Democrat Sherry Jones of Nashville is challenged by Miles Brooks and Toni Hall 80th District where incumbent Democrat Johnny Shaw of Bolivar is challenged by James A Baxter 85th District where incumbent Democrat Larry Turner of Memphis is challenged by Paul Lewis and Er-rol Harmon 95th District where incumbent Republican Curry Todd of Collierville is challenged by Dan Dickerson Fort Sanders West Diagnostic Center is led by a team of on-site board-certified radiologists and offers the latest technologies and individual service for fast and accurate diagnostic results GE TwinSpeed MRI system is quieter and faster than traditional or open models spacious diameter accommodates larger patients and the claustrophobic Other tests include X-ray CT mammography bone density ultrasound and nuclear medicine Same-day next-day scheduling and results Be sure to ask your doctor about Fort Sanders West Diagnostic Center Fort Sanders West Diagnostic 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