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"I was standing for those young people ... many of whom can't even vote yet. Many of whom are disenfranchised. But all of whom are terrified by the continued trend of mass shooting plaguing our state and plaguing this nation." Jeremy Durham, a Republican, was expelled after reports detailed allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct with several women over the course of his time in office, according to reporting by ABC affiliate WTVC. After hours of fiery debate in Tennessee's House of Representatives on Thursday, two Democratic lawmakers were expelled.
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"We had just had this mass shooting, and he only wanted to elevate the voices of those people. For a simple rule violation, we have elevated this to the highest level of admonishment. That’s not democracy." "Your extreme measure is an attempt to subvert the will of voters who democratically elected us as representatives to speak and to passionately fight for them," Jones said. Gloria Johnson was the only member of the "Tennessee Three" to not be expelled from the legislature on Thursday, retaining her seat by a single vote. She has been stripped of her committee assignments and it's unclear if those will be restored. Justin Pearson, 28, was the second member of the group to be expelled from the House and another of its youngest members.
Tennessee House votes to expel 2 of 3 Democratic members over gun protest
At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone. Faison said the three Democrats had “worked up” a crowd of protestors earlier in the day. "Today is a very dangerous day for America," Jones added in a hallway interview after the vote. Michael Myers, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, after he was indicted on bribery charges. The state Senate has never exercised its power to expel a member, according to the AG report.
President Joe Biden slams expulsion vote
Zephyr told ABC News that she has been stonewalled from debate or comment on the Montana House floor for over a week by Republican leaders, who say her comments broke the rules of "decorum." The Montana House voted on Wednesday to censure the state's first openly transgender legislator Zooey Zephyr, who called for her colleagues to vote against a gender-affirming care ban for transgender youth. As the TSU fallout increased, House members appeared hesitant to hold a potentially explosive debate over reparations. The bill was briefly debated on the House floor last week but support remained unclear.
First, he argued that as a freshman representative, he has not been made aware of all of the House rules and to what and when they apply. He called the majority Republican membership, many of whom have said they would vote to expel the members, a "lynch mob" that is eager to enact the "ultimate punishment" against himself, Johnson and Pearson. "I will proudly walk back into that chamber if I'm if I'm given the opportunity either through a special appointment, or through running through a special election to fight for my constituents because that's what I took an oath to do," Jones said. Shulman said the Nashville Metro Council will move swiftly on Monday to suspend rules in order to vote Jones back to his House seat. "I believe that this whole process has been unconstitutional," Jones said, calling the GOP lawmakers out by name for what he believes was a racially motivated political attack. “There’s actually you know, 71 I think, or 70 of the members who, after looking at what took place today, they voted to expel one of them,” Faison continued.
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"We've had skirmishes on the floor that have taken this long to resolve, and there were never any consequences." Pearson also disputed the fact that he and the others disrupted the day's proceedings with their protest. "I absolutely never yelled," she said, adding that she "did not speak in voice louder than any other member on this floor."
The push to arm school staffers is one of the most expansive pro-gun steps taken by the state since the shooting at the Covenant School in March 2023, when a former student killed three students and three adults. Lawmakers have not passed substantial restrictions on gun use since the killings; they have passed other measures, including one that requires resource officers, that they say will bolster school safety. The Tennessee legislature passed a bill Tuesday that would allow teachers and school staffers to carry concealed handguns in schools, one of the most divisive steps taken by Republican leaders in the year since six people were killed by a shooter at a Nashville school.
As protesters filled the galleries, the lawmakers approached the front of the House chamber with a bullhorn and participated in a chant. The scene unfolded days after the shooting at the Covenant School, a private Christian school. Their participation from the front of the chamber broke House rules because the three did not have permission from the House speaker. Faison appeared on the network Thursday after the state House expelled two Democrats — Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, both Black — and allowed Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white, to keep her seat. All three participated in a protest on the House floor in the wake of the Covenant School shooting that killed six people, including three children, in Nashville last month. The GOP-dominated House voted to expel the state representative last week after he and two other Democrats called for gun reform on the chamber floor.
The "Youth Health Protection Act" would restrict the use of hormone therapy, puberty blockers and surgeries on people under age 18 for the purposes of gender transitioning. Meanwhile, other states have willingly moved to study reparations, including California, New Jersey and Vermont. A Florida Republican lawmaker proposed a constitutional amendment this year that would have banned state or local governments from paying reparations, but the measure didn’t pass.
Pearson, who proposed multiple amendments that were voted down, said the proposal amounted to a government overreach that strips constitutional power from local officials. In 2016, state Rep. Jeremy Durham was expelled after being found to have shown "disorderly behavior" — in that case, Durham was facing numerous allegations of sexual misconduct. The Tennessee Constitution's Article II, Section 12 empowers the House to "punish its members for disorderly behavior," and to expel members with a two-thirds majority vote. The video was a compilation of footage from that day and afterward — and because it included video shot on the House floor, Democrats said whichever member had taken the footage had likely violated House rules.
Leaked audio from part of a recent meeting of Republican state representatives included several legislators angrily complaining about how Democrats had portrayed their actions as racist. Jones has sued over his expulsion and a temporary special session House rule that Republicans applied to silence Jones for part of one day in August. Jones, of Nashville, was not called on to speak about the bill before Republicans cut off debate and voted on it. It is "morally insane," Jones said, to prioritize punishing lawmakers over a procedural breach after a mass shooting at a school. 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. Lawmakers began to take up the question of expelling three of their colleagues shortly after 1 p.m.
“The only reason that I had to use a megaphone is because House Speaker Cameron Sexton cut my voice and the voice of 70,000 people I represent from the microphone,” Jones responded. Several Republicans asked cross-examining questions of Jones after his defense speech. Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, asked Jones how the bullhorn (an item prohibited by House rules) got onto the House floor. After gathering his personal items from his legislative desk, he exited the House chamber and took some questions from the media. Before the vote, House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, argued that there was not sufficient evidence to prove claims in the expulsion resolution. Pearson, Jones and Johnson joined protesters gathered at the top of the Capitol steps shortly after.
The shooting and aftermath have pushed some, including Republican Gov. Bill Lee, to support some changes. The Nashville Metropolitan Council took only a few minutes Monday to restore Jones to office. Last year, the state Senate expelled Democrat Katrina Robinson after she was convicted of using about $3,400 in federal grant money on wedding expenses instead of her nursing school. However, House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican who voted to expel all three, denied that race was at play and said Johnson’s arguments might have swayed other members.
As Thursday’s proceedings showed, that includes sanctioning, reprimanding and expelling colleagues for a wide array of reasons. County commissions in their districts get to pick replacements to serve until a special election can be scheduled and they could opt to choose Jones and Pearson. Johnson, a retired teacher, said her concern about school shootings was personal, recalling a day in 2008 when students came running toward her out of a cafeteria because a student had just been shot and killed. Banishment is a move the chamber has used only a handful times since the Civil War.
The Tennessee legislature couldn’t keep out Rep. Justin Jones. But it’s still trying - CNN
The Tennessee legislature couldn’t keep out Rep. Justin Jones. But it’s still trying.
Posted: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
An expulsion does not disqualify a former representative from running for office, which could mean one of the expelled lawmakers could be appointed interim, run for reelection and be reseated in the General Assembly within months. After Pearson was expelled in the final vote of the night, the chamber exploded in a cacophony of yells and chants, drowning out the ceremonial reading of his expulsion result. Two protestors unfurled a handmade banner reading, "Rural TN Against Fascist GOP," which was ripped down by a staff member. Rather than empty the galleries of screaming protesters, House leadership adjourned and lawmakers streamed out after the seven-hour session. As the idea of arming teachers began to gain support inside the General Assembly, gun control advocates and families began swarming to the Capitol to show their opposition. During the final vote, protesters chanted “Blood on your hands” and many members of the public who oppose the bill harangued Republican lawmakers after the vote, leading House Speaker Cameron Sexton to order the galleries cleared.
The expulsion vote took place one week after Reps. Johnson, Jones and Pearson used a megaphone to lead chants of demonstrators in the House gallery. 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. The expelled lawmakers conceded they didn't follow decorum by walking on the floor — what is called the well — and speaking without being formally recognized.
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