New York Times

Table Of Content

• Second expelled Black Democrat reinstated to Tennessee House
• Warnings of a "concerning level of democratic dysfunction"
• U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen calls on Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton to seek lesser consequences for "Tennessee three"
• Tennessee House advances bill to ban reappointing lawmakers booted for behavior
• Who were the Tennessee House Republicans who voted against expulsion?
• Former Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones says he lost a seat, but voters lost their voice

They did so, they said, to amplify the voices of protesters and their constituents. Earlier in the proceedings, Rep. Johnny Garrett, the House majority whip, played a seven-minute video of events from that day, over objections of Democrats including Rep. Joe Towns, Jr., D-Memphis, who spoke out against what he called a "stacked deal" and an "ambush." Johnson also spoke about her experience as a teacher during a school shooting at a Knoxville high school in 2008. Although she's now retired, Johnson said that she still spends a lot of time on school campuses and that whenever she hears the cry of police siren or an ambulance, she jumps. "I represent 78,000 people and when I came to the well that day I was not standing for myself," Jones said.

Second expelled Black Democrat reinstated to Tennessee House

The Tennessee state House used its power to expel only three other times in its long history, according to a 2019 report from the former state attorney general's office. The Republican-controlled Tennessee state House of Representatives has expelled two Democratic lawmakers in what marks the first partisan expulsion in the state's modern history. "What is happening here today is a farce of democracy," Jones said at the beginning of his 20-minute defense on Thursday. "What is happening here today is a situation in which the jury has already publicly announced the verdict. What we see today is just a spectacle. What we see today is a lynch mob assembled to not lynch me, but our democratic process." Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, were both expelled after a vote from the Republican supermajority House in a move that put the nation's eyes on Tennessee and its politics. Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, was also on the proverbial chopping block, but the House failed by one vote to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to kick Johnson out of the chamber.

Warnings of a "concerning level of democratic dysfunction"

Both Pearson and Jones easily won special elections months after they were reappointed. Hundreds of people came to the Tennessee State Capitol on Thursday to protest the vote and call for gun control, as WPLN's Lexi Marshall reports. The expulsions have elevated Jones and Pearson's political profiles, with little long-term gains for Republican leadership as the two lawmakers could be reappointed to their seats within days or weeks. House Republicans accused the trio of violating decorum rules when they led a raucous gun-control protest from the House floor with a bullhorn on March 30, as thousands of demonstrators descended on the state Capitol calling to restrict access to guns. Jones, Pearson and Johnson, dubbed the "Tennessee three," faced expulsion for protesting over gun reform after three students and three staff members of The Covenant School were killed in a shooting in the school on March 27. The council decided to send the ousted lawmaker back to occupy the House District 52 seat as an interim representative on Monday after he was expelled from his seat last week.

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen calls on Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton to seek lesser consequences for "Tennessee three"

Jones and Pearson were both reinstated this week after council and commission votes at the local level. Johnson, who is white, was spared from expulsion by a single vote after her legal team argued her role was lesser, noting she didn’t use a bullhorn. The Democrats were dubbed the “Tennessee Three” and drew national attention and fundraising. 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.

Lee has since called on the General Assembly to pass legislation aimed at keeping dangerous people from acquiring weapons. It’s unclear how successful he will be at drumming up support from lawmakers within his party at the tail end of the legislative session. The arrival of high-profile Republican candidates and their potential donors comes just over a week after Tennessee Republicans took the unprecedented step of removing Reps. Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson for having led protests against gun violence on the chamber floor.

A Missouri Republican introduced a bill that would ban any state or local government entity from spending on reparations based on race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation or economic class. Sloan, who works in a second-grade classroom as part of her studies, said she would be reluctant to continue her career path if school staffers were armed. Bailey, the Senate sponsor, said bearing the liability would help ensure that only staff members who are prepared for that responsibility would apply. “The legislation serves as another line of defense that would possibly ward off school intruders,” Bailey said in an interview before the House bill passed. Lawmakers in both parties expect Gov. Bill Lee (R) to sign the bill, they told The Washington Post.

Tennessee House advances bill to ban reappointing lawmakers booted for behavior

Republicans removed two of the youngest Black lawmakers from the General Assembly, further reducing an already small minority caucus. A graduate of New York University's Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News' TODAY Digital. In a statement shared on social media, Tennessee House Republicans said it was a "sad day" for the state — but they defended the vote as "the only path forward" in response to the trio's "disrespectful" actions.

Who were the Tennessee House Republicans who voted against expulsion?

Chart: What does silencing mean? • Tennessee Lookout - Tennessee Lookout

Chart: What does silencing mean? • Tennessee Lookout.

Posted: Mon, 22 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Republican Rep. Bryan Richey told CNN in an interview Friday that their expulsion "had nothing to do with race." "They killed democracy in Tennessee...Their action was meant to intimidate. It was meant to humiliate, but what it did was put the state of Tennessee on trial for the world to see," he continued. "There are crimes against democracy happening in Tennessee being led by House Speaker Cameron Sexton," Jones said. Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.

Former Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones says he lost a seat, but voters lost their voice

On Tuesday, protesters chanted “Blood is on your hands” and “Vote them out” as lawmakers voted, creating a chaotic scene before state troopers asked them to leave the gallery. Rep. Justin Jones (D), one of the lawmakers who was expelled last year, was held out of order by his colleagues for filming with his phone on the floor. The subcommittee meeting convened at a fraught time in the Tennessee House, just two days after the deadly Covenant School shooting that sparked days of highly charged gun reform protests on the Capitol. Days later, House Republicans moved to expel three Democratic lawmakers who broke House rules to briefly lead a gun reform protest on the House floor. No Democrat voted in favor of doing so, and the two Black representatives, Jones and Pearson, were ousted by votes of and 69-26, respectively, while Johnson, who is white, held on to her seat when a majority of lawmakers (65-30) voted to let her remain.

One of the most contentious moments during Thursday’s six-hour House session came when Republican Rep. Johnny Garrett of Goodlettsville chastised the three Democratic lawmakers and moved to play a seven-minute video of the previous week’s protest. According to House rules, a two-thirds majority vote of members is required in order to expel a lawmaker. Given that 75 of the seats in the chamber are currently held by Republicans and 23 are held by Democrats, the GOP had a healthy head start on that goal. In the first expulsion vote levied at former Nashville Rep. Jones, only Republican Charlie Baum voted against ejecting the Democrat.

"What they did was try to hold up the people's business on the House floor instead of doing it the way that they should have done it, which they have the means to do," Sexton said. "They actually thought that they would be arrested, and so they decided that them being a victim was more important than focusing on the six victims from Monday. And that's appalling." Jones took several pointed pauses while sipping water during his floor speeches, allowing the chants of "whose house, our house," to flow into the chamber from the crowd gathered outside. After hours of fiery debate, the House expelled Reps. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, on a vote, and Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, by 69-26, in a move that put the nation's eyes on Tennessee and its politics. The forced expulsion of lawmakers from any state legislative body in the United States is a rare event. Before the votes, she defended her colleagues Pearson and Jones, saying the legislature has to "welcome this younger generation, who might do it a little bit differently, but they are fighting for their constituency."

Teachers who wish to do so would be required to have gun permits, undergo a background check and mental health evaluation, and take 40 hours of training annually. Those opponents objected not only to the idea of arming teachers, which they said introduced risk into classrooms and created a situation ripe for accidents or misuse, but also to the specifics of the measure. In a state with some of the most lax gun-control measures and highest gun violence rates, they say the most effective way to prevent more shootings is to limit the number of guns on campuses, not increase them. The House voted 68-28, after striking down various amendments proposed by Democrats and repeatedly warning spectators in the gallery to quiet down. As the story broke inside the House chamber on Thursday right before lawmakers took a lunch break, Campbell sat at his desk with his head down.

According to the Tennessee state Constitution, because there are less than 12 months before the next election, the successor is to be elected by the legislative body of the replaced legislator's county of residence. Six of those were Confederates who were expelled in the 19th century for refusing to affirm the citizenship of formerly enslaved Black people. In the 20th century, a legislator was expelled after being convicted of bribery, and in 2016, a member was expelled for sexual misconduct.

An ethics committee was convened to investigate Robinson's case before it was brought to a vote, which Bruce Oppenheimer, a professor of political science at Vanderbilt University, said is typical procedure. The Senate expelled a member for the first time last year following the conviction of Sen. Katrina Robinson, D-Memphis, on federal wire fraud charges. Garrett said the protest, by shutting down the work of the House, “silenced 7 million” Tennesseans.

House Republican Leader William Lamberth began expulsion proceedings by outlining the timeframe. Each member facing expulsion will have 20 minutes to speak, and may have their attorney speak on their behalf during that same 20 minutes. The chamber opted to view the video on a party line vote, despite objections to its authenticity. Several Democrats spoke in stringent objection to viewing the video, including Rep. Joe Towns, D-Memphis.

All three lawmakers have at times publicly clashed with Republican leadership prior to The Covenant School shooting. Six lawmakers were ousted during an 1866 special session after they tried to prevent Tennessee from ratifying an amendment to the U.S. In General Assembly history, a partisan expulsion vote like Thursday's is unusual, and an expulsion push over a decorum breach is unprecedented.