Table Of Content
- Protests
- Warnings of a "concerning level of democratic dysfunction"
- Tennessee House kills bill that would have banned local officials from studying, funding reparations
- What's next for Justin Jones and Justin Pearson in Tennessee?
- Columbia Threatens To Expel Student Protesters Who Occupied Building
- ‘The world is watching Tennessee’: Rep. Justin Jones speaks in his own defense
One of the Legislature’s staff attorneys expressed concerns about the bill last week, telling House lawmakers during a committee hearing that it raises constitutional questions and suggesting proposing the change to voters in a constitutional amendment instead. Still, Krishnakumar notes that in highly polarized times, elected officials are hunting for ways to score points with their supporters and one-up the opposing party. In addition to that, Seifter said, "politically motivated expulsions are likely to be unpopular and mobilize opponents." "Weaponizing legislative discipline reveals a concerning level of democratic dysfunction," said Seifter, who is the co-director of the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School. She added, "it suggests that more attention should focus on state-level government." Other administration officials have previously demonstrated support for the trio.
Protests
At the University of Texas at Austin, 79 people involved in the Monday protest were jailed, according to the Travis County sheriff’s department, most charged with criminal trespass. Republicans are also proposing constitutional amendments for voters that would ban lawmakers from returning to office after they were expelled. Both Pearson and Jones easily won special elections months after they were reappointed. Before this week, the two most recent expulsions in Tennessee's House came via overwhelmingly bipartisan votes to excise members on criminal or ethical grounds, rather than a supermajority imposing its will. It's rare for any legislative body in the U.S. to expel a member — most states have reportedly never done so. Even in that context, the circumstances in Tennessee — where the Republican-led House expelled two Black lawmakers — stand out.
Warnings of a "concerning level of democratic dysfunction"
Days earlier, a 28-year-old assailant shot and killed six people at an elementary school in Nashville, prompting crowds of students and parents to visit the legislature, urging new controls. Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones spoke about a school safety bill on Thursday, before he and Rep. Justin Pearson (far left) faced an expulsion vote along with Rep. Gloria Johnson. Johnson also spoke about her experience as a teacher during a school shooting at a Knoxville high school in 2008.
Tennessee House kills bill that would have banned local officials from studying, funding reparations
"Rather than debating the merits of the issue, these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence, and expel duly elected representatives of the people of Tennessee." At California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, where protesters have occupied two buildings, dozens of police officers in helmets and carrying batons marched onto campus early Tuesday and cleared both halls. The sweep was broadcast on the Facebook page of KAEF-TV, a satellite of KRCR-TV, until police detained the reporter. Dozens of protesters took over a building at Columbia University in New York early Tuesday, barricading entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag from a window in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses nationwide.
What to know about the "Tennessee Three": Why were two of the Democratic lawmakers expelled, and what happens now?
Before Pearson returned to the chamber, lawmakers cheered and applauded as the police officers who responded to the deadly March 27 mass shooting at a Nashville elementary school shooting — the event that prompted the gun control protest — were honored in the chamber. Democratic state Rep. Bob Freeman praised the officers’ bravery but also stressed to his fellow lawmakers that “inaction is not an option” on how to respond to the tragedy. A week ago Johnson, Jones and Pearson approached the House podium between bills during the session without being recognized, a breach of chamber rules. They led protesters in the galleries in several chants calling for gun reform. A week ago Reps. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis approached the podium between bills during the session without being recognized, a breach of chamber rules.
Republicans declined to take action, pointing out that he was reelected as the allegations surfaced. Jones vowed that even if expelled, he would continue pressing for action on guns. “We called for you all to ban assault weapons, and you respond with an assault on democracy,” he said. GOP leaders said Thursday’s actions were necessary to avoid setting a precedent that lawmakers’ disruptions of House proceedings through protest would be tolerated.
Formerly expelled Tennessee House lawmaker says he’s been stripped of committee assignment - The Hill
Formerly expelled Tennessee House lawmaker says he’s been stripped of committee assignment.
Posted: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
“All of the people in the gallery, I love that you’re here, I hope that you stay quiet so that you can witness this process,” Johnson said. During welcoming and honoring remarks, Johnson welcomed buses of protestors who traveled from Knoxville. "I don't think I'd have the courage and the forgiveness to honor the seventh person, but Katherine did," Freeman said. "It reminds us that we all need to be forgiving and not be distracted by everything that's going on around us. Remember that seven people died last week. Congressman Steve Cohen, (D-Memphis), wrote a letter to Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, asking him to consider alternative reprimands for Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson who face expulsion. Companion legislation is up in the Senate Finance Committee next week, and a separate proposal for the state to fund SROs, agents and other safety measures is included in the Governor’s budget amendment which both chambers are still considering.
Columbia Threatens To Expel Student Protesters Who Occupied Building
New York Republican George Santos expelled by U.S. House in bipartisan vote • Tennessee Lookout - Tennessee Lookout
New York Republican George Santos expelled by U.S. House in bipartisan vote • Tennessee Lookout.
Posted: Fri, 01 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
"This is not about expelling us as individuals. This is your attempt to expel the voices of the people from the people's house. It will not be successful," Jones said before the vote to expel him. "Your overreaction, your flexing of false power has awakened a generation of people who will let you know that your time is up." Here's what to know about the "Tennessee Three," the events that led up to Thursday's vote, and what happens next. Just two other House members have ever been ousted from the chamber since the Civil War. As the three shared the bullhorn and cheered on the crowd, Sexton, a Republican, quickly called for a recess.
Representatives who are expelled can return to their office — by being appointed by the commission and/or by running again. The state constitution also says a lawmaker can't be expelled a second time for the same offense. State Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, listens to remarks on the floor of the House chamber, Thursday, April 6, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Windle argued that contrary to the motion submitted for her removal of the House, Johnson never shouted or pounded the podium or displayed a sign containing a political statement while she was in the well last week — all of which would be in violation of the House rules.
Also Tuesday, police cleared an encampment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and detained about 30 people. At the University of Connecticut, police made arrests after protesters refused to remove tents. A small group of students at Portland State University in Oregon broke into the university’s library late Monday, drawing a sharp rebuke from city officials and the district attorney. The downtown campus, where protesters had been demonstrating mostly peacefully, was closed Tuesday. Dozens of people were arrested Monday during protests at universities in Texas, Utah, Virginia and New Jersey, while Columbia said hours before the takeover of Hamilton Hall that it had started suspending students.
Pearson also disputed the fact that he and the others disrupted the day's proceedings with their protest. "I was told that we were crowding around the clerk's desk," he said, referring to the language in the motion against him and his colleagues. "And I gotta be honest with you, I just realized they were talking about this desk and not the one up there," he said pointing to the speaker's desk.
Protesters on Columbia’s Manhattan campus locked arms in front of Hamilton Hall early Tuesday and carried furniture and metal barricades to the building, among several that were occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest. Posts on an Instagram page for protest organizers shortly after midnight urged people to protect the encampment and join them at Hamilton Hall. That sparked more outrage among critics who contend that Tennessee’s white GOP state leaders have long refused to trust Black local leaders. USC officials banned the valedictorian, who has publicly supported Palestinians, from making a commencement speech, scrapped the keynote speech and declined to award honorary degrees. Protesters on Columbia’s Manhattan campus locked arms in front of Hamilton Hall early Tuesday and carried furniture and metal barricades to the building, among several that were occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest.
“It also shows Mr. Lafferty videotaping on this house floor,” Rep. Bo Mitchell said. Democrats argued that the member who recorded video on the House floor was in violation of the chamber’s rules, and should face consequences. Meanwhile, protest leaders were keeping tabs on the proceedings inside, periodically updating others on what was happening. Several in the crowd also had phones held close as they watched the livestream of the session. Jones said he acted in representation of the 78,000 people in his district, many of whom are young people who cannot vote.
House Bill 322, the first bill taken up by the chamber, passed in a vote of 95 to 4 after lengthy debate. House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, objected as the 7-minute video could not reflect the entirety of the circumstances including the shooting, protests, and subsequent demonstration by members on the floor. He argued that the caucus had no notice of intent to show the video, and the three members facing expulsion did not have opportunity to review the video before proceedings.
The trio held hands as they walked onto the floor and Pearson raised a fist during the Pledge of Allegiance.
Jones, of Nashville, was not called on to speak about the bill before Republicans cut off debate and voted on it. "The expulsion of six members from the Tennessee legislature in July 1866 was for 'the contempt of the authority of this House,' " Vanderbilt University's Russell, a principal senior lecturer in political science, told NPR. This is the first time multiple Tennessee legislators have been ousted in a single legislative session since 1866, when Tennessee was struggling to adopt citizenship rights for formerly enslaved people after the Civil War. "Most expulsions have involved criminal conduct or abusive behavior, not suppression of dissent or targeting of political opponents," state constitutional law expert Miriam Seifter told NPR in an email.
