A group of Senate Democrats — including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) — sent a letter to the Justice Department on Wednesday demanding they investigate the recent expulsions of two Black Democratic Tennessee legislators, Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, who protested gun violence on the floor of their state House.
“We write to urge the U.S. Department of Justice to use all available legal authorities to investigate the expulsions of Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson from the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of Tennessee, to determine whether any violations of the United States Constitution or federal civil rights laws have occurred, and to take all steps necessary to uphold the democratic integrity of our nation’s legislative bodies,” the letter read.
The letter — signed by Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) — comes almost a week after Pearson and Jones were expelled by the Republican-led House for participating in a peaceful gun protest from the floor of the chamber in the wake of the Nashville school shooting that left six people — three children and three school personnel — dead.
During the Thursday protest, Jones, Pearson and Rep. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville — an older white woman, who survived the GOP’s attempt to oust the trio — joined a group of demonstrators who packed the Capitol building and the House gallery and chanted, calling for gun restrictions. Jones, Johnson and Pearson cheered on the protestors from the front of the House chamber, with some of them using a bullhorn.
Both of the ousted lawmakers were appointed back to their seats as interim House members this week. A special election will be held to fill Pearson and Jones’ seats permanently as their assignments to their own seats are currently temporary. Both are eligible to run for reelection but they will once again need to win an election to formally return to their seats for the rest of their two-year term.
In the letter, Democrats emphasized that Jones and Pearson did not engage in any violent or illegal conduct, adding “silencing legislators on the basis of their views or their participation in protected speech or protest is antithetical to American democracy and values.”
The senators also said the decision appears to have been made “at least partially on the basis of race.”
“We cannot allow states to cite minor procedural violations as pretextual excuses to remove democratically-elected representatives, especially when these expulsions may have been at least partially on the basis of race,” lawmakers wrote. “Allowing such behavior sets a dangerous—and undemocratic—precedent.”
“We are deeply concerned that without immediate action by the U.S. Department of Justice, antidemocratic actors will only be emboldened, and we will see more troubling and more frequent incidents meant to unravel our democratic fabric,” the letter read.
Read the letter here:
I am fully on board with the notion that expelling these members for exercising their right to free speech violates the Constitution, and am at least somewhat on board with the notion that the expulsion violates federal civil rights laws (which, everyone should be reminded, are the supreme law of the country, even over whatever state constitutional issues may govern the expulsion of state House members).
BUT . . .
Arizona just yesterday expelled a crazy representative for calling a witness to spout a bunch of crazy bullshit about election conspiracy nonsense. Crazypants election conspiracy nonsense is protected free speech. I can draw a principled First Amendment distinction between the two cases, but I’d really not rather have to do so.
The GOP is certainly keeping the DOJ busy these days.
Give the GOP fascists an inch, and they’ll try to take a mile. It’s a good idea to keep them honest. If the GOP has done nothing against the law, they have nothing to worry about. This sort of oversight also discourages copycat problems which may emerge if TN doesn’t have to explain themselves. It is good to get ahead of it. States that may be tempted to try to pull sh!t might think twice. Especially if they have other issues to hide.
This is not a get some fancy lawyers together kind of issue.
This is an Article 4, Section 4 issue that should be responded to with fixed bayonets.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
If Tennessee is a territory rather than a state when all is said and done, we should be able to live with that.
Apparently the Arizona GOP canned one of its own because she, that’s right a woman, brought in a witness accusing both Ds and Rs of taking bribes from Mexican drug cartels. Not sure if she was popped because of the crazy witness or because she invaded craziness normally reserved to the boys club.
ETA. Oops, forgot, in Arizona Kari Lake sets the example. Must be the crazy witness.