Brenda Simpson insists law be made to work to void her criminal prosecution and May 22 trial in Hardin County, Tenn. (Contributed photo)
A 76 year-old woman jailed and convicted on three criminal counts in a traffic case is appealing to decriminalize traffic stops in Tennessee, arguing that criminal prosecution under traffic law is “invidious class discrimination” in the state’s administration of privileges.
A Henderson County jury convicted Brenda Simpson of Savannah on three counts under the driver license, registration and seatbelt laws.
She argues that the circuit court in which she was convicted lacked jurisdiction because privilege disputes are first handled administratively by licensing boards and commissions.
“There’s a very important legal doctrine called the exhaustion of administrative remedies. It operates in every privilege when the state alleges that somebody did something wrong,” Simpson says. “The plumber, the accountant, the mortician, the lawyer – all the trades and healing arts. All professions and occupations have their boards. And if there is an allegation about wrongdoing under a license, it’s the board that hears the case. Then it can go to court.”
In an April 22 filing in the Tennessee Court of Appeals in Jackson, Simpson says motor vehicle enforcement using criminal police power is a holdover from pre-slavery days in which blacks could not travel without a pass from their white masters.
“I’m a free woman; I’m not subject to Jim Crow,” says Simpson, who works as a caregiver for the elderly and gives health and wellness talks to groups and at her church.
“I have a right to use the roads in the exercise of my God-given liberty and in service to the Almighty, and if I’m to be called to account by the state regarding a license, it has to be administratively in the Department of Safety.”
“Everything I do is motivated by love of God,” Simpson says. “We all know that driving and operating motor vehicle is a privilege. I use the public right of way under my rights. I’m not involved in privilege taxable activity in using my car.”
Police in Henderson and Hardin counties have filed four criminal cases against her. She faces trial May 22 in Savannah on five counts, including driver license, registration, and insurance charges.
Hardin County Circuit Court Judge Brent Bradberry gagged her April 20 with an order forbidding her from using the defense that the Department of Safety had suspended her without notice. Simpson is defending herself without an attorney.
Before she went on trial in Henderson County, she was jailed two months and four days on allegations she violated her bond by using her car. Simpson testified her license expired in 2019. The department assigned her a driver license in 2024 and suspended it after she failed to make a court appearance.
