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He said he hopes this sends a message to Republican leadership and state House Speaker Cameron Sexton that “the people will not let his crimes against democracy happen without challenge." He called for Sexton to resign as the speaker. The chairman of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners has called a special meeting for Wednesday to consider reappointing Pearson to his former seat. Jones said being expelled and reinstated made him understand that "we need more representatives who are willing to risk a title to be with the people, to stand with the people. We need bold leadership." "As a former 25-year state Senator and current Member of Congress, I understand the need for compliance with rules in a legislative body. The three Democratic Members did violate the rules of decorum, however I believe expulsion to be too extreme a consequence," Cohen wrote. "Heightened emotions prompted by the horrific Covenant School shootings that resulted in the death of six Tennesseans, including three nine-year-olds, should be a mitigating factor in any disciplinary response." Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, briefly left the House floor during session on Thursday to greet supporters in the gallery.
What are the 3 lawmakers saying?
A third Democrat — Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white — survived her expulsion vote, sparking accusations of racism that focused national attention on the GOP-led House. He was ruled out of order twice and lawmakers voted to cut his comments short during two other proposals Monday. In an extraordinary move, Tennessee's Republican-led House voted Thursday to expel two of three Democratic lawmakers who recently led a raucous protest from the House floor calling for gun law reforms.
minutes until protest
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.
What did the 'Tennessee three' lawmakers do?
Tennessee Democrats expelled by GOP over protests win back their seats - NBC News
Tennessee Democrats expelled by GOP over protests win back their seats.
Posted: Thu, 03 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Lawmakers have approved measures to make gun manufacturers mostly immune from liability in crimes involving their guns and require the state to track firearm deaths and injuries. The House approved the measure as protesters shouted objections, nearly drowning out the proceedings with chants of “Not one more kid! ” At least one person was kicked out of the gallery by House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R). NASHVILLE, Tenn. – As lawmakers filed into the House chamber after a lunch break on Thursday, the desk of former state Rep. Scotty Campbell sat empty, the characteristic lawmaker name plate missing from its front. And while Jones and Pearson appear poised to win back their seats in the Tennessee House, the move to expel them in the first place may have longer-lasting implications.
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.
New Tennessee House rules seek to discourage more uproar after highly publicized expulsions - The Associated Press
New Tennessee House rules seek to discourage more uproar after highly publicized expulsions.
Posted: Wed, 10 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
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.
In its history, it has expelled 20 legislators -- five in the House and 15 in the Senate. Seventeen of these expulsions occurred around 1861 in the wake of secession of the Confederate States, according to the attorney general's office. The votes temporarily removed representation for nearly 150,000 Tennesseans who overwhelmingly elected Jones and Pearson. It also marks just the fourth time since the end of the Civil War in which the House ousted sitting lawmakers. Jones and another Democratic lawmaker Rep. Justin Pearson were expelled from the state House last week over a demonstration for gun control. During a chaotic session Monday, Tennessee House Republicans introduced resolutions to expel the three.
Protesters get riled up as House members take up expulsion resolutions
Despite the high-profile expulsions, the three could technically return to the House within days. Johnson was first elected to her Knoxville district in 2012 after retiring from teaching. After losing a reelection campaign twice to a Republican opponent, she won the seat back in 2018 and last year won election in a new district after redistricting. She's long been an outspoken Democrat, particularly decrying Tennessee's no-exceptions abortion ban in recent months.
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.
Jana Morgan, a professor of political science at the University of Tennessee, believes that the expulsion of the two Democrats could prove politically damaging for Republicans in the long term. At least one of 13 county commissioners in Shelby County have already pledged to reappoint Pearson. It remains unclear if or when a special meeting would be called on behalf of this appointment. A recent Senate win for Republicans in Wisconsin this week gives them a supermajority as they now control 22 of 33 senate seats, giving them enough power to impeach officials, including the Democratic governor. In North Carolina, a woman who won a House seat as a Democrat by 20 in the last election, switched to Republican, giving the GOP a supermajority in the House.
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."
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