Transgender lawmaker censured by Montana House Republicans

Table Of Content

• Tennessee House of Representatives
• MORE: 'Undemocratic': Tennessee legislature expels 2 lawmakers over gun violence protest
• Congressional Black Caucus welcomes reinstatement of Rep. Justin Jones
• Who were the Tennessee House Republicans who voted against expulsion?
• Warnings of a "concerning level of democratic dysfunction"

Democratic Reps. Justin Pearson of Memphis, Justin Jones of Nashville and Gloria Johnson of Knoxville face expulsion after they led a protest at the Capitol. A week ago Johnson, Jones and Pearson approached the House podium between bills during the session without being recognized, a breach of chamber rules. 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. The pair, later flanked by Johnson, grew frustrated as House leadership moved on to regular business just days after the mass shooting. The move marked a rare defeat on a GOP-backed proposal initially introduced nearly one year ago. It easily cleared the Republican-controlled Senate last April, but lawmakers eventually hit pause as the House became consumed with controversy over expelling two Black Democratic lawmakers for their participating in a pro-gun control protest from the House floor.

Tennessee House of Representatives

House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, said the Department of Safety issued a capacity limit for protesters allowed inside the House, likely in response to a larger crowd that was let into the Capitol halls last week. “We are going to get expelled, but the fight continues,” Rep. Pearson said as he addressed the crowd surging towards the gallery Thursday morning. Chamber and gallery were silent as Jones took the podium, but just outside the chamber doors, a crowd of protestors screamed cheers of support. Johnson brought two attorneys, former state Reps. John Mark Windle and Mike Stewart, to represent her. Windle spoke first on her behalf, pointing out specific accusations in the resolution of actions that Johnson specifically did not commit.

MORE: 'Undemocratic': Tennessee legislature expels 2 lawmakers over gun violence protest

After a brief spirited debate involving Pearson and Jones, Republicans used procedural rules to immediately halt discussion and force members to vote on the bill. The move exasperated Democrats, who immediately pointed out that cutting off debate and silencing dissenters was what led the so-called Tennessee three to break House rules after being cut off from previous debates. After delivering his speech to supporters and reporters outside the Capitol, Pearson walked into the House chamber as debate on bills was underway.

Congressional Black Caucus welcomes reinstatement of Rep. Justin Jones

Under the legislation, the identities of school staffers who sign up to carry guns is known only to those who approve participants. That means parents would not be told whether their school opted into the program, whether anyone at their child’s campus is armed or whether their own child’s teacher has a gun in the classroom, lawmakers said. Parents also would not know whether their child’s teacher might leave the classroom to respond to a shooting during an attack. The Republican-controlled Tennessee House of Representatives voted to expel two Black Democrats Thursday afternoon, while sparing a third white colleague of that fate, after the trio of lawmakers led a protest on the House floor last week.

Despite Democrats claiming that they were raising their voices on behalf of their constituents, Tennessee Republican Caucus Chair Jeremy Faison told CNN Thursday evening that Jones and Pearson had a history of disrupting House floor proceedings. “The Republican Party today made it clear as day that a peaceful Black man with a megaphone is more threatening to them than a thousand violent white men with deadly weapons,” Boykin tweeted. Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons of Nashville argued that the footage shot on the House floor was itself a violation of the chamber’s rules that prohibit House members from recording or live streaming ongoing proceedings.

After Republicans expelled him, campaign for Tennessee Democratic Rep. Pearson says he raised $860K - The Associated Press

After Republicans expelled him, campaign for Tennessee Democratic Rep. Pearson says he raised $860K.

Posted: Fri, 30 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Protests

On April 6, state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson were expelled for allegedly violating the chamber's rules of decorum by participating in a gun control protest at the state Capitol last week. The protest was in response to the mass school shooting in Nashville that left three children and three adults dead. 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. Jones, Pearson and Johnson joined in protesting last week as hundreds of demonstrators packed the Capitol to call for passage of gun-control measures. As the protesters filled galleries, the three approached the front of the House chamber with a bullhorn and participated in a chant.

Warnings of a "concerning level of democratic dysfunction"

Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, was not expelled after the resolution to oust her failed by one vote. “If after looking at his conduct, they vote he come back, we will recognize him as a representative,” Bulso said, referring to the floor protest as a "mutiny." Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, repeatedly stated Jones wanted to be expelled, but noted the Constitution would allow him to elected again after expulsion. Johnson this week decried the expulsion as a double-standard and politically motivated.

Pearson told supporters that having a voice and a vision in the state House matters. Now that he's back in office, Jones was told he can file 15 bills – as he's now technically a new member – which he said he plans to do by the end of the week. "Today was a powerful day and a testament to people power," reinstated Rep. Justin Jones said Monday. From the floor, they roused cheers from the crowd in the galleries before the chamber gaveled in for business. Her husband said "honoring Katherine compels us to remember a 7th family, a 7th family equally wounded in the loss of someone dear to them," and he called on the community to support them as well.

“The movement lives,” ousted lawmaker Justin Pearson says from steps of Capitol following Jones’ reinstatement

JC Bowman, executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, said his statewide professional association viewed the legislation as poorly thought out. He planned to encourage its members not to carry guns because of the liability concerns. The Tennessee bill would allow school staffers to carry only handguns, and only in schools whose top administrators have agreed.

Members of the Legislature are not allowed to fundraise during a legislative session, but within hours of his expulsion, Jones had reactivated his campaign fundraising website. Early indications point to both Jones and Pearson receiving the temporary appointments. At least 27 members of Nashville’s 40-seat Metropolitan Council, in Jones’s district, pledged their support online. With the precedent set to expel members from Thursday’s Tennessee House session, some critics question whether having Republicans or Democrats wield an overwhelming majority in legislatures elsewhere will have lopsided effects in the future. Keith Boykin, a national political commentator and author, invoked the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Lee, meanwhile, has avoided commenting on the lawmakers’ expulsions, saying the controversy is a House issue.

Most state legislatures have the power to expel members, but it is generally reserved as a punishment for lawmakers accused of serious misconduct, not used as a weapon against political opponents. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republicans in the Tennessee House voted Monday to advance a bill that would prevent local governments from reappointing state lawmakers who were expelled due to behavior. Before Durham, the last expelled representative was Rep. Robert Fisher, who was voted out of the chamber in 1980 after being convicted of seeking a bribe in exchange for scuttling a piece of legislation. Jones and Pearson used a bullhorn to lead chants on the House floor, briefly disrupting legislative business. Gloria Johnson, a fellow Democrat who also faced expulsion on Thursday for protesting but was not seen using the bullhorn, was spared from expulsion by one vote.

The scene unfolded days after the shooting at the Covenant School, a private Christian school where six people were killed, including three children. "On Monday, 7,000 Tennesseans, many of them students, marched to their state capitol to call on their lawmakers to take action and keep them safe," Biden said. Before the expulsion votes, House members debated more than 20 bills, including a school safety proposal requiring public and private schools to submit building safety plans to the state. The bill did not address gun control, sparking criticism from some Democrats that it only addresses a symptom and not the cause of school shootings. Protesters call for gun reform laws and show support for three Democratic representatives who are facing expulsion as legislators start the morning session Thursday at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville.

Shelby County Commissioner Mickell Lowery also called a special meeting over Pearson's expulsion. The Metro Council of Nashville called a special meeting for Monday, April 10, to fill Jones' seat and unanimously voted to reinstate him. Prior to the vote, Nashville mayor John Cooper said he was "proud" that the council was meeting and would "send (Jones) right back to continue serving his constituents." Johnson, 60, is a retired teacher who spoke of her experience surviving a school shooting before her vote. She represents the state's 90th district, part of Knox County, and is currently serving her fourth term in the legislature. Lee initially asked lawmakers to keep guns away from people deemed a danger to themselves or others in response to the shooting, the Republican supermajority ignored that request.

Toughening restrictions on expelled lawmakers likely will face more scrutiny in the Senate, where Speaker Randy McNally says his chamber will await the House’s action before considering any of the proposals. 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. Jones, Pearson and Johnson called out Republican leaders for not responding to the push for gun restrictions in response to the mass-shooting crisis in the U.S.

Following the vote, Johnson said she couldn't feel good about her survival due to the expulsion of her colleagues. Johnson, a white woman, believed Pearson and Jones were treated differently due to their race. "What is happening here today is a farce of democracy," Jones said at the beginning of his 20-minute defense.

The investigation would have led to a report, which would have been provided to the four-member House Ethics Subcommittee. Thomas Goodman, an assistant professor in the Department of Politics and Law at Rhodes College in Memphis, believes that while expulsions could deter “voicing of dissident opinions” in some states, with rules in check, there shouldn’t be major issues. “This is a part of what I think is a symptomatic problem of not addressing root causes,” Pearson said. “The root cause that each of us have to address is this gun violence epidemic due to the proliferation of guns."