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His photo and bio have been removed from the Tennessee General Assembly's website, but on his campaign site, Jones describes himself as a Nashville activist and community organizer.
Two Expelled Tennessee Democrats Win Back Their Seats - TIME
Two Expelled Tennessee Democrats Win Back Their Seats.
Posted: Thu, 03 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
How the House Voted on Foreign Aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan
It is "morally insane," Jones said, to prioritize punishing lawmakers over a procedural breach after a mass shooting at a school. Before the vote, Jones, Pearson and Johnson noted that if they were expelled, more than 200,000 Tennesseans would lose the representatives they lawfully elected last fall. 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. They did so, they said, to amplify the voices of protesters and their constituents.
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He later directed troopers to remove one woman, Lauren Shipman-Dorrance, from the ticketed gallery. Tennessee House Republicans on Tuesday passed legislation to allow some trained teachers and school staff to carry handguns despite pleas from Democrats, students and gun-reform advocates to defeat the bill. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with all representatives standing for election at the same time. This is consistent with the practice in all other states with the exceptions of Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, and Mississippi which allow representatives to serve four-year terms.
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"This is not about expelling us as individuals. This is your attempt to expel the voices of the people from the people's house. It will not be successful," Jones said before the vote to expel him. "Your overreaction, your flexing of false power has awakened a generation of people who will let you know that your time is up." The votes, held on Thursday, April 6, resulted in Justin Jones and Justin Pearson being expelled from the Tennessee State House of Representatives, while Gloria Johnson kept her seat by one vote. Under an unconventional plan from House Speaker Mike Johnson, the bill will be sent to the Senate as part of a package that includes aid for Ukraine and Taiwan and a third bill that forces a sale of TikTok and allows the United States to confiscate Russian assets.
"And I gotta be honest with you, I just realized they were talking about this desk and not the one up there," he said pointing to the speaker's desk. Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, center, Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, back left and Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, huddle on the floor of the House chamber Thursday, April 6, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Following the failed vote, Johnson was asked by reporters if she thought there was a reason she'd had a different outcome. 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. 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." "We have heard from thousands of people asking us to do something about gun violence," Pearson said.
Many protestors continued to chant and stomp down at lawmakers as the House floor fell into chaos over parliamentary issues. A day after two young Black lawmakers were expelled from the Tennessee legislature, momentum was building to reappoint them directly back to their seats. After delivering his speech to supporters and reporters outside the Capitol, Pearson walked into the House chamber as debate on bills was underway. He pumped his fists and silently mouthed, “This is our House.” Those in the gallery pumped their fists back and mouthed “Our House” as Pearson circled around the floor. 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.
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In addition to that, Seifter said, "politically motivated expulsions are likely to be unpopular and mobilize opponents." "The expulsion of six members from the Tennessee legislature in July 1866 was for 'the contempt of the authority of this House,' " Vanderbilt University's Russell, a principal senior lecturer in political science, told NPR. This is the first time multiple Tennessee legislators have been ousted in a single legislative session since 1866, when Tennessee was struggling to adopt citizenship rights for formerly enslaved people after the Civil War. "Weaponizing legislative discipline reveals a concerning level of democratic dysfunction," said Seifter, who is the co-director of the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School. She added, "it suggests that more attention should focus on state-level government."
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"Antidemocratic actions are far easier to pursue if state institutions receive limited scrutiny," Seifter said. “Our members literally didn’t look at the ethnicity of the members up for expulsion,” Majority Leader William Lamberth added. He alleged Jones and Pearson were trying to incite a riot last week, while Johnson was more subdued. “You have a lot to offer, but offer it in a vein where people are accepting of your ideas,” Kumar said.
As protesters flooded the Capitol again on Thursday, their chants of “Gun control now” and “Not one more” were deafening outside the House chamber. After the final vote, the crowds in the galleries burst into angry yells and cries of “Shame on you,” with fists held high above their heads. The unseating of the lawmakers threatened to further inflame partisan rancor in a state that is divided over issues like how to respond to a school shooting in Nashville.
Noting the intense political polarization and divisiveness of the post-Civil War years, Krishnakumar said, "I don't think it's an accident that we have to reach back to that era to see similar behavior by a legislature." The shooting and aftermath have pushed some, including Republican Gov. Bill Lee, to support some changes. “Yes indeed, happy resurrection day,” Pearson said as he signed paperwork for his return. As the three shared the bullhorn and cheered on the crowd, Sexton, a Republican, quickly called for a recess.
In November, all but 12 of them voted against a bill that would have paired Israel aid with cuts to the Internal Revenue Service, a non-starter for Democrats. And in February, just 46 Democrats voted for an Israel aid bill that didn't include those cuts, with Democrats largely taking the position that they wanted to see Ukraine aid paired with Israel aid. The House of Representatives on Saturday passed a bill that includes more than $14 billion in military aid to Israel and more than $9 billion in humanitarian aid, much of which will go to Gaza. Meanwhile, other states have willingly moved to study reparations, including California, New Jersey and Vermont. "This vote to silence me just formalized what has been a pattern all sesson, silencing any voice of dissent as they push harmful bills that the majority of Tennesseans do not want," Jones said.
With lawmakers looking to wrap up session as soon as possible, Jones could be effectively silenced for the rest of the 2024 session. Shipman-Dorrance, a Davidson County teacher and parent, has worked to advocate for gun reform for the last year. She said she grew frustrated watching lawmakers chat, scroll on their phones and eat their lunch on the House floor while the bill was debated, leading her to yell out from the public gallery. By Monday, Sexton confirmed that the three lawmakers had been stripped of their committee assignments and said more punishments could be on the way.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s Republican-dominant House on Wednesday spiked legislation that would have banned local governments from paying to either study or dispense money for reparations for slavery. "We worked with the Senate and representative sponsors of this bill to make it even a little bit safer — anything, really — and I'm utterly disappointed that that was not taken into consideration," she said. "We’re being blamed for putting guns in schools, but the purpose of it is to protect our children and that is often forgotten," said Rep. Sabi Kumar, R-Springfield. "If they did say that, they would be telling their entire community that the deterrent doesn’t exist there,” Williams said, later saying "gun-free" schools are zones where "people know they can go there and take advantage of folks." Four Republicans ultimately crossed the aisle to join Democrats in voting against the bill, with another three abstaining from the vote. Still, the measure easily sailed through the House on a vote and is all but guaranteed to become law within weeks, as Gov. Bill Lee can either sign it into law or allow it to become law without his signature.
They could not advocate for their constituents in Nashville and Memphis, take to the floor again to push for gun control legislation or even access the building after hours. 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.
"Today's expulsion of lawmakers who engaged in peaceful protest is shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent," Mr. Biden said. "Rather than debating the merits of the issue, these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence, and expel duly elected representatives of the people of Tennessee." The bill, HB 1202/SB 1321, sparked vocal protests in the Senate earlier this month as parents of school shooting survivors, gun reform advocates and students have heavily lobbied against the bill. A Covenant School mom delivered a letter to the House on Monday with more than 5,300 signatures asking lawmakers to defeat the bill.
TN House Democrats call on DOJ to investigate passage of original school voucher bill - WSMV 4
TN House Democrats call on DOJ to investigate passage of original school voucher bill.
Posted: Wed, 06 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Before that, state lawmakers last ousted a House member in 2016 when the chamber voted 70-2 to remove Republican Rep. Jeremy Durham over allegations of improper sexual contact with at least 22 women during his four years in office. GOP leaders said Thursday’s actions were necessary to avoid setting a precedent that lawmakers’ disruptions of House proceedings through protest would be tolerated. 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. "I represent 78,000 people and when I came to the well that day I was not standing for myself," Jones said. "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."
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