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NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - A state lawmaker with a history of impassioned speeches was at it again at the Capitol. This time, Sen. Ophelia Ford, D-Memphis, wanted to talk about nurses and her experiences in the hospital. Sen. Ford reacted during a senate committee meeting Tuesday night over a proposal that would increase penalties for assaults on healthcare workers. The Memphis lawmaker talked about her own experience during two separate hospitalizations in recent years. "I cannot tell you the horrific experience that I had, and it was nurses who were mainly doing these things to me," she said. The bill...

Former state Sen. John Ford’s federal TennCare fraud and corruption convictions were tossed Thursday morning by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court specifically found that Ford’s failure to disclose that he was working as a consultant for a TennCare contractor while he was a state senator voting on policies governing TennCare wasn’t a matter for the federal courts. It was instead a matter for state government, the court ruled. A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the use of the “honest services” federal statute also figured prominently in a ruling that could mean Ford will be released...

WASHINGTON — Former Memphis Congressman Harold Ford Jr. is taking exception to MSNBC host Chris Matthews’ suggestion that Ford’s views on torture after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks were “veering into Cheney territory.” Ford sent an e-mail message to the Washington bureau of The Commercial Appeal today to clarify that he is “adamantly opposed to torture,” but that, “given the environment that our intelligence officials were operating in after 9/11, it is not surprising that ‘enhanced methods’ were executed in an effort to gain valuable and, in some cases, actionable, intelligence…” Any effort to link me to former Vice President...

And, of course, Chris Matthews goes apoplectic, while Chris Cillizza wisely stays on the sidelines — and, one presumes, jots down notes quickly for a Fix update. Matthews starts spluttering about “Cheney talk” and completely misses Ford’s point, which should shock no one (via Instapundit):

Connie Mathews has been fired from her job at the Memphis Public Library, city officials said today. Mathews, mother of two children by former state senator John Ford, falsified information on her application, according to an official statement from city spokesman Toni Holmon-Turner. “It has come to the attention of the City of Memphis administration that Ms. Connie Mathews falsified information contained in her employment application for the Memphis Public Library. Therefore, Ms. Mathews’ employment with the City of Memphis will cease immediately.” Mathews was hired as an assistant library cataloger at the Memphis Public Library and Information Center. She...

The girlfriend of former State Senator and convicted felon John Ford is working for the city. Connie Mathews, who has two children by Ford, is an assistant library cataloger at the Memphis Public Library and Information Center. Mathews, who began her job Nov. 10, works at the Central Library on Poplar and has an annual salary of $28,580. Mathews, who has a background in banking and finance, is known locally for her run-ins with Ford’s ex-wife, Tamara Mitchell Ford. In 2001, Mitchell-Ford drove her silver Jaguar into the Collierville home Mathews shared with Ford. Ford was the marquee defendant in...

State told to take care of legal fees from suit NASHVILLE -- A federal judge in Memphis has ordered the state to pay $117,263 in attorneys fees to the lawyers who represented state Sen. Ophelia Ford when the Senate voided her 2005 special election. That was $12,575 less than the attorneys sought. U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice Donald ordered the reduction on the grounds the state was not responsible for costs incurred by Ford in the early days of the proceeding, before the state Senate began its own proceedings to vacate the election. Prior to that, Ford was fighting an effort...

Excerpt - NASHVILLE — Former Tennessee state Sen. John Ford has been sentenced to 14 years in prison on federal charges of wire fraud and failing to report more than $800,000 in payments from state contractors. ~ snip ~

NASHVILLE -- State Sen. Ophelia Ford -- already a YouTube star for her snarling "what you're saying ain't hittin' on nothin' with me" speech last year -- was back at it last week, berating regulators about new state fees on the funeral industry. Acknowledging that she's a licensed funeral director, Ford complained in a legislative hearing Aug. 13 that fees are going to "eat us up and put us out of business." She demanded regulators disclose who imposed a new $150 biannual registration fee on preneed funeral sales agents and what it's for. Turns out that Ford and her legislative...

NASHVILLE -- A federal court jury convicted former state senator John Ford of all six charges in connection with his $850,000 in consulting work for two major TennCare contractors. Ford, 66, is already serving a 5 1/2 year sentence for a separate conviction on federal bribery charges in Memphis. He faces up to 20 years in the Nashville case but sentencing will not occur for several weeks, possibly months. The middle Tennessee jury deliberated a total of eight hours -- six on Thursday -- before returning to the courtroom where it sat since the trial began on July 1. The...

NASHVILLE -- Then-state senator John Ford filed state-required financial interest disclosure forms yearly for 2001 through 2004 without listing any consulting work or income -- and then sought to amend them in 2005 after media reports began surfacing about his consulting income and a formal ethics complaint had been lodged against him, according to testimony today in his federal court trial here. Earlier testimony has indicated that the consulting firm in which Ford was a 40 percent partner received about $1.2 million from a TennCare dental services provider during that time. But under questioning by prosecutors, Senate Chief Clerk Russell...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- This month's trial of former state Sen. John Ford on corruption charges could last up to a month. Ford is accused of taking $800,000 in consultant payments from TennCare contractors to promote those private companies' interests with the state's expanded Medicaid program. Ford was known for his flashy attire when he was a lawmaker. On Monday he was led into court in a dark green jumpsuit with his hands cuffed behind his back. He was convicted earlier this year of taking $55,000 in bribes during the unrelated federal Tennessee Waltz investigation and is serving a 5 1/2...

News Channel 3 has confirmed the Internal Revenue Service is after former Senator and current prisoner, John Ford. The IRS says Ford owes more than 220,000 in unpaid federal income taxes. The IRS would not comment on specifics but did say the taxes are from 2003, 2004 and 2005. Ford is currently in a federal prison on bribery charges prosecuted under Operation Tennessee Waltz. Ford is serving 5 years in prison. A June 24 trial is set for Ford in Nashville on allegations he took $800,000 in illegal payments.

A psychologist raised in Frayser and trained in South America, Morgan had been rejected twice by the state's psychology licensing board because of his academic record. But Morgan found a powerful ally in then-state Sen. John Ford, who pushed through legislation that forced regulators to hand Morgan a license to practice, according to an examination by The Commercial Appeal. That carefully tailored 1998 law has privately troubled psychology professionals for years yet remained unknown to the larger public. The newspaper uncovered the matter following Morgan's indictment last month. Federal prosecutors contend Morgan offered Ford money in 2005 for legislation that...

A federal court jury this afternoon acquitted former Memphis City Council member Edmund Ford Jr. on charges of taking bribes in 2006 in return for his vote and influence on a development and billboard project. The jury of seven women and five men returned its verdict at about 4 p.m. after deliberating the better portion of two days. As a smiling Ford walked out of the federal court room, he said in a loud voice, “My Lord, the Savior is awesome. He is awesome. I just love my Lord.” Ford, 52, a mortician, was indicted on three counts of extortion...

A federal court jury is scheduled to begin deliberations this afternoon in the extortion and bribery trial of former Memphis City Council member Edmund Ford Sr. Federal prosecutors say the 52-year-old mortician accepted $8,900 in bribes from a political consultant in 2006 for his votes and influence in a development project, removal of a city billboard moratorium and the replacement of the chairman of the Board of Adjustment. “Each of these payments was made for official acts,” federal prosecutor Tom Colthurst told jurors as he showed secretly recorded videos of consultant Joe Cooper giving cash to Ford. “You also see...

Wearing a button-sized hidden camera in his shirt and a recorder taped to his waist, political consultant Joe Cooper passed $100 bills to then-city councilman Edmund Ford Sr. in 2006 while seeking approval for a development project. On the tapes presented Wednesday to a federal court jury, Cooper refers to Ford as "the Godfather" and "the master" and encourages him to "work your magic and just make sure it happens." Testifying as the government's key witness in Ford's extortion and bribery trial, Cooper explained how he regularly got such issues approved by the council for well-heeled developers who employed him....

The FBI called it Operation Main Street Sweeper, a relatively short undercover investigation that yielded several indictments, three guilty pleas to date and one memorable quote. After allegedly accepting a $1,900 bribe in 2006 to line up votes to repeal a billboard moratorium, then-City Councilman Edmund Ford Sr. pocketed the money and confidently declared on a secretly recorded videotape: "I'll drum up seven or make somebody walk out." The strength of the government's case against Ford will be tested this week in a trial before U.S. Dist. Court Judge Samuel Mays Jr. Jury selection from a pool of 105 citizens...

. . .See no evil -- House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh has found the perfect solution to the legislature’s sleazy ethics. He’s covering his eyes.On the day former Sen. John Ford entered federal prison for taking bribes in the “Tennessee Waltz” scandal, House Democrats killed a bill to revoke state health insurance benefits for lawmakers convicted of felonies involving their office.Sen. Charles Curtiss, the bill’s sponsor, said, “In my mind, we ought to be held to a higher standard.” But apparently not in Naifeh’s mind.Later, the mighty speaker dismissed the possibility that killing the bill hurts Democrats’ public image. He didn’t...

Former state senator John Ford was assigned to maintenance duty today at the federal prison in Louisiana where he is serving a 5-year prison sentence for bribery. “He will be temporarily assigned to assist the dorm orderlies with sanitation in the dorms,” said Karen Million, spokesman for the Federal Prison Camp at Pollock, La. “After we have a chance to assess his skills, we may assign him to a different job assignment.” Ford, 65, who reported to the camp Monday afternoon, was convicted last year of taking $55,000 in bribes from undercover FBI agents in the Tennessee Waltz investigation into...