In a rare and shocking move, the Tennessee state legislature voted to expel Democratic Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, both Black men, for protesting for gun control. They declined to expel Rep. Gloria Johnson, a white woman, who had engaged in a similar action, however.
By a 72-25 vote, the Republican-dominant legislature voted to remove Jones from office, and by a 69-26 vote, they moved to do the same with Pearson. The vote to expel Johnson failed 65-30. The effort — which needed a two-thirds majority to pass, or a 66-vote threshold — is unprecedented.
It’s also undemocratic. Jones and Pearson were expelled not for breaking the law, but after leading student activists in gun control chants from the House floor. In the process, tens of thousands of voters who they represent in Nashville and Memphis, respectively, were disenfranchised.
House Republicans justified their actions by saying that Jones and Pearson — along with Johnson — “knowingly and intentionally [brought] disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives” and that their chants broke chamber rules. The Democratic lawmakers acknowledged that they did violate certain rules around decorum, but argued they did so to speak out on behalf of their constituents who are frustrated by the lack of action on gun control.
Last week, Johnson, Pearson, and Jones joined thousands of students and parents who marched to the Capitol to call for gun reforms after three children and three adults were killed in a mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville. At one point, Jones and Pearson spoke on the House floor using bullhorns while accompanied by Johnson. Because they hadn’t been recognized to speak, the move was deemed a breach of the chamber’s rules.
The legislature’s decision to expel Jones and Pearson, but not Johnson, was said to be tied to the specifics of her role in the protest, and also seems to be the latest example of white Republican lawmakers in Tennessee…
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