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tennessee three
'Vote Them Out': Tennessee GOP Ends Special Session Without Major Gun Reforms
"The biggest consequence from this whole session is the embarrassment of the General Assembly through offensive measures used to keep people out of the building, silence members of the House, and eject grieving moms from committees," said one Democratic lawmaker.
Aug 29, 2023
The Tennessee General Assembly's special session on public safety ended Tuesday with weeping parents and chants of "vote them out" after the Republican-controlled Legislature refused to pass significant gun violence prevention measures.
GOP Gov. Bill Lee
called the special session earlier this month amid mounting demands for stricter state gun laws in the wake of a shooter killing three children and three adults at the Covenant School, a Christian elementary school in Nashville, in March.
"We had high hopes that after the shooting at Covenant School, politicians would understand the urgent need to prevent another senseless tragedy. They had the opportunity to do the right thing and once again, they failed to act," said Zack Maaieh, head of the Students Demand Action Tennessee chapter and a student at Vanderbilt University, in a statement.
"Despite their inaction, we showed the power of our voices—refusing to back down even as mothers were being forcibly removed from hearings—and lawmakers were forced to reject a bill to arm teachers and put more guns in our schools," Maaieh continued. "But we aren't going anywhere—we'll be back in January, showing out in droves to demand that lawmakers advance gun safety laws that protect our right to live and if they refuse to listen, we'll come for their seats next November."
The Washington Post noted that "even before the session began, GOP leaders quashed Lee's proposal for an extreme-risk protection order law that would have prevented mentally unstable individuals from possessing guns for a limited period."
According to the Tennessee Lookout:
Ultimately, the Senate concurred with a House version of a weapons storage bill that will offer sales tax breaks on gun safes and gun locks, in addition to spending $1.1 million for a public service campaign to give away gun locks.
As part of an agreement to adjourn, the Senate also opted to pass the House's version of a spending bill that will put $30 million toward safety upgrades at state universities, $12 million toward behavioral health staff, and $4 million into behavioral health safety grants, in addition to $50 million for community mental health agencies, with the latter money coming from a TennCare fund. Another $10 million will be spent on school safety officers, mainly for charter schools.
The Senate also went along with House versions of a human trafficking bill and a measure to codify the governor's executive order on background checks.
"While we are encouraged by proposals meant to promote the secure storage of firearms, this session fell woefully short, so we're tracking votes, we're taking names, and we will show up to the ballot box to vote out lawmakers who refuse to take action to save lives," said Moms Demand Action volunteer Leeann Hewlett.
Sarah Shoop Neumann, a Covenant mother who sobbed outside the House chamber Tuesday morning, responded similarly, telling The Tennessean, "We held a special session following the extraordinary tragedy of a mass shooting that took place at the Covenant School, and we took no meaningful action."
"The divisiveness we have all witnessed makes us long for a unified community. We need legislators on both sides of the aisle to be able to have respectful, thoughtful debate regarding potential solutions to end gun violence," she said, adding that legislators who don't want to work together "do not deserve a seat in the House or the Senate."
"We will work towards ensuring every one of those seats is replaced by someone who has a true desire to listen to their constituents over firearm association lobbyists," she vowed. "We will be back in January."
Describing the special session as "a farce," State Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-21) said that "the biggest consequence from this whole session is the embarrassment of the General Assembly through offensive measures used to keep people out of the building, silence members of the House, and eject grieving moms from committees."
As Common Dreams previously reported, the Tennessee House's GOP supermajority on Monday barred state Rep. Jones (D-52) from speaking after House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-25) determined that he violated the chamber's rules—which came shortly after the Democratic lawmaker announced plans to call for a vote of no confidence targeting the Republican speaker.
A member of the "Tennessee Three," Jones was expelled from the House in April alongside Rep. Justin Pearson (D-86) over a gun control protest at the chamber; Republican lawmakers narrowly voted against also expelling Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-13).
Both Jones and Pearson were ultimately reelected to their seats. Carrying signs demanding action on gun violence, the pair attempted to approach as the special session ended Tuesday—and the speaker appeared to shoulder-check Pearson.
The Lookout reported that Pearson said Sexton "leaned his shoulder into me and then one of his minions pushed me toward the clerk," while the speaker claimed his security guard nudged him into Pearson and the lawmaker then pushed him.
"It looks like Justin Pearson could file charges for that assault the speaker committed as well as Jason Zachary," Johnson said on social media, referring to a Republican from District 14. "The speaker literally tucked his shoulder to go in on Rep Pearson."
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'This Is the Authoritarianism We Are Fighting': Tennessee GOP Silences Justin Jones
"The Capitol is surrounded by troopers. This does not look like a democratic body."
Aug 29, 2023
Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones decried the "authoritarianism" of House Republicans on Monday after they voted to silence him for the remainder of the day's floor session, using newly enacted chamber rules aimed at shutting down members who are deemed out of order.
The Tennessee House's GOP supermajority barred Jones (D-52)—a member of the so-called "Tennessee Three"—from speaking for the rest of Monday's special session after House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-25) ruled that the Democratic lawmaker violated the new rules.
According to The Associated Press, "Jones had been criticizing legislation that would have allowed more law enforcement officers in schools and began listing other resources that the state should be providing."
"What our schools need are mental health professionals," Jones said. "We need funding for mental health, for counselors. We need to pay our teachers better. We don't need more police in our schools."
The GOP's vote to silence Jones sparked fury in the chamber, with Democrats arguing that Sexton is selectively wielding the new rules to target outspoken gun control proponents.
Republicans voted to expel Jones from the House in April after he took to the House floor with a bullhorn to demand action to curb gun violence. The Democrat was reinstated days later and easily won reelection earlier this month.
Jones' fellow Democrats walked off the floor with him following Monday's vote. The Tennessean reported that "Republican lawmakers attempted to get the House floor session back on track after the Democrats left, as members of the gallery above erupted in anger with yells of 'racists' and 'fascists.'"
"Chants only grew louder as state troopers began swarming the gallery to clear it," the newspaper continued. "Demonstrators stayed in their seats as troopers began asking them to leave, but slowly cleared out into the halls to continue chanting."
In a video posted to social media following the walkout, Jones said that "what's happening is not democratic, it is authoritarianism."
"The Capitol is surrounded by troopers," said Jones. "This does not look like a democratic body."
Earlier in the day, Jones announced plans to call for a no-confidence vote against Sexton, citing the Republican leader's alleged misuse of taxpayer funds and other abuses of authority.
Before he was silenced by the Republican supermajority, Jones had intended to introduce his proposal at the end of Monday's session, which marked the start of the second week of a special session aimed at responding to the deadly shooting at Covenant School in Nashville earlier this year.
"The House must perform its duty to hold the speaker to account and exercise an internal check on power," Jones wrote in a letter to his colleagues. "At a time of record low approval ratings for the Legislature, this is not just a vote of no confidence in the speaker but a vote to restore confidence in this body with the people of Tennessee."
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'The People Have Spoken': Both Expelled Tennessee Democrats Win Back Their Seats
"We will organize, mobilize, and activate to work tirelessly for the day when there are no more calls to respond to mass shootings and gun violence," said state Rep. Justin Pearson.
Aug 04, 2023
Two Tennessee Democrats who were expelled by the GOP-controlled state House earlier this year for taking part in a gun control demonstration on the chamber floor won special elections for their seats on Thursday, handily fending off Republican opponents.
State Rep. Justin Jones, who represents Nashville, defeated GOP challenger Laura Nelson with nearly 80% of the vote. State Rep. Justin Pearson of Memphis defeated his Republican opponent, Jeff Johnston, with more than 90% of the vote.
"The people have spoken," Jones wrote following his victory, directing his message at Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican who led the charge to expel Jones and Pearson.
"See you August 21st for special session," Jones added, referring to an upcoming session called by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to address gun violence.
The Tennessee House voted to expel Jones and Pearson in April after the pair and fellow state Rep. Gloria Johnson—who was not expelled—took to the chamber floor with a bullhorn to demand gun control legislation in the wake of a deadly mass shooting in Nashville.
Republicans decried the floor action as a breach of decorum rules and swiftly voted for Jones and Pearson's expulsion. A vote to expel Johnson, who is planning to challenge U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) next year, fell just short of the two-thirds majority needed.
The expulsion of Jones and Pearson sparked national outrage, with hundreds of state lawmakers and rights groups across the U.S. condemning Republicans' move as an anti-democratic effort to silence gun control supporters. Tennessee has the 12th-highest gun death rate in the U.S., according to the advocacy group Everytown.
Within days of the expulsion vote, county officials reappointed Jones and Pearson on an interim basis, setting the stage for Thursday's special election.
In a statement late Thursday, Pearson said that "this is only the beginning for this movement."
"We will organize, mobilize, and activate to work tirelessly for the day when there are no more calls to respond to mass shootings and gun violence," said Pearson. "I look forward to heading back to the Tennessee state capitol August 21 for the special session on gun legislation. We, the people, will march, rally and work to pass legislation."
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'Run, Gloria, Run!' Tennessee Three Democrat Urged to Challenge Sen. Blackburn in 2024
"Honestly, Tennesseans deserve someone who will stand up to corrupt special interests, fight for lower costs so that every family can build a good life, and that's not Marsha Blackburn," said state Rep. Gloria Johnson.
Jul 23, 2023
Politico's Friday reporting that one of the "Tennessee Three"—Democratic state Rep. Gloria Johnson—is considering a run next year for the seat held by GOP U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn generated excitement across the Volunteer State and throughout the country.
Welcoming the "amazing news" that the Democrat may try to challenge the first-term Republican, Victor Shi, the youngest elected delegate for President Joe Biden in 2020, tweeted that "Tennessee deserves so much better than Marsha."
Johnson, who represents District 90, "is a friend, she has fought time and time again for Gen Z and young people (as both a teacher and state rep.)," Shi added. "She is the perfect person to be the next U.S. senator from Tennessee."
Kyle Tharp of the newsletter FWIW simply said, "Run, Gloria, Run!"
"I'm taking a serious look at the race and having conversations with folks that are hungry for better leadership in Washington," Johnson told Politico. "Honestly, Tennesseans deserve someone who will stand up to corrupt special interests, fight for lower costs so that every family can build a good life, and that's not Marsha Blackburn."
Johnson is expected to make a decision about whether to run by the end of the summer. Politico noted that she would not "have the primary field to herself. Marquita Bradshaw, an environmental activist and her party's 2020 Senate nominee, has filed to run again. Three years ago, she bested James Mackler, the candidate preferred by national Democrats, and then lost to incumbent Bill Hagerty by 27 points."
The former teacher has previously confirmed she is weighing a Senate run, telling the Chattanooga Times Free Press in late May that "there have been a whole lot of people, very serious people, asking me to do it. And so I told them I would seriously consider doing it."
"It needs to be done. People want somebody who will stand up for Tennessee families, and they just don't feel Marsha's doing the job. There's a lot of issues with Marsha, I believe. Mainly, what I hear is she's not voting for Tennessee families," Johnson added.
In April, Johnson and two of her Democratic colleagues in the Tennessee House of Representatives faced a GOP-led expulsion effort over the trio's protest for gun control legislation on the chamber floor in the wake of the Covenant School shooting.
Tennessee Republicans ultimately declined to oust Johnson, a white woman in her 60s, but they expelled Reps. Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson —though local councils swiftly voted to send both younger Black men back to the chamber.
The multiday battle garnered intense media attention and elevated the Tennessee Three to national platforms. Asked by reporters at the time why she was spared expulsion, Johnson said: "I'll answer your question; it might have to do with the color of our skin."
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GOP State Rep Who Voted to Expel 'Tennessee Three' Resigns Over Sexual Harassment of Intern
"He needed to be expelled," said one critic.
Apr 20, 2023
Tennessee Rep. Scotty Campbell, the vice chair of the state House Republican Caucus and a leader behind the effort last month to expel three Democrats who joined a gun control protest, resigned on Thursday weeks after a state House investigation found that he had sexually harassed at least one intern.
Campbell's resignation was met with frustration from supporters of the "Tennessee Three"—state Reps. Justin Jones (D-52), Justin Pearson (D-86), and Gloria Johnson (D-90)—who said the District 3 representative should have been expelled last month for his conduct instead of being permitted to stay in the House and vote to remove the three gun control supporters from the Legislature.
Until deciding to resign after being confronted by a local media outlet on Thursday, "Rep. Scotty Campbell saw no consequences as a result of his actions," said HuffPost editor Philip Lewis.
The state House Workplace Discrimination and Harassment Subcommittee alerted Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-25) on March 29 that it had determined Campbell violated House policy by harassing a legislative intern, telling the Republican leader that "discrimination in any form will not be tolerated."
Instead of removing Campbell from his committee assignments, censuring him, or taking other actions to hold him accountable, Sexton did not respond to the panel's findings and moved ahead days later with an effort to expel the three Democrats, after which only Jones and Pearson were ousted. The two lawmakers were quickly reappointed by municipal councils in their districts.
"If you were in court and behaved like those three did, you would have been found in contempt of court," Campbell argued during a debate over the expulsion motion.
NewsChannel 5 in Nashville revealed the committee's findings on Thursday and confronted Campbell about them.
According to the investigation, Campbell made comments to a legislative intern about her and another 19-year-old intern about "imagining they were performing sexual acts on one another." The Legislature has also spent "potentially thousands of dollars" in taxpayer money to move one of the interns out of her apartment building, where Campbell also lived, and to place her "in a downtown hotel for the remainder of her internship."
Campbell told NewsChannel 5 that had only had "consensual, adult conversations."
Hours after the outlet reported on the harassment, however, Campbell announced his resignation.
"He needed to be expelled," said Bryan Langan, a gun control advocate and former Democratic Tennessee Senate candidate.
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Tennessee GOP Tried to Stem Tide of Progress—Instead, They Unleashed a Tsunami
Nothing could be more revealing of the fragility of the Republican Party than the recent expulsion of two Black Democratic lawmakers.
Apr 12, 2023
Across the country, the illogical priorities of the right have become more and more glaring. And nowhere is this worse than in Tennessee, where conservatives have banned books and drag shows but have done nothing to protect kids from what is now their most likely cause of death: gun violence. Instead of addressing this crisis, after the mass shooting at a private elementary school in Nashville on March 27, the Republican-led legislature expelled from its chamber two Black freshman Democrats in their twenties—Representatives Justin Pearson and Justin Jones—for daring to demand common-sense gun control.
That this was a partisan act, a racist act and an antidemocratic act is undeniable. But it was also a desperate and ultimately futile act, one that could lead to positive change in the future.
Nothing could be more revealing of the fragility of the GOP than these expulsions. Republican legislators could have engaged with Pearson and Jones on the issues, but instead they chose to deploy the one weapon at their disposal: a House supermajority that would do their bidding. It was a battle they won in a contest they’re increasingly losing with the wider public.
The Republican Party, today, is swimming against the current on climate change, voting rights, racial equity, reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ rights and, of course, gun safety. It’s infuriating that Tennessee’s legislature has refused to curtail access to firearms, even in light of the state’s high rate of gun violence, agony over the Covenant School shooting and recent polls that show state residents want more safety measures. The unpopularity of this position couldn’t be more clear—hundreds of protestors have flooded the Capitol building to demand action.
The young lawmakers will be back, and behind them will be an entire cohort of passionate young progressives.
But Tennessee is not alone. The same motive driving the state’s conservative lawmakers to resist change is also driving gerrymandering in Wisconsin, Republican efforts to pack the courts, voter suppression laws from Idaho to Georgia and a stubborn adherence to the Big Lie. That motive is fear, because the conservative power structure that held sway for so long knows its days are numbered.
Unlike past generations, millennials are not becoming more conservative as they age. Why? We millennials and Gen Zers have watched our elders invade Iraq, crash the economy, deny climate change and elect Donald Trump as president of the United States. Now, we’re living with the aftermath of Roe v. Wade’s repeal and are demanding an alternative path and different leaders.
There is now an international spotlight on Jones and Pearson and their courage. Civil rights organizations are rallying at their side. While Jones has already been reinstated by county officials (and it’s likely that Pearson will soon be readmitted as well), both will need to run in special elections later this year to fully regain their seats.
Their ouster is a classic Pyrrhic victory for Tennessee Republicans. The short-term “win” of expelling Reps. Jones and Pearson is overshadowed by the scorn they’ve brought on their conservative clique. The young lawmakers will be back, and behind them will be an entire cohort of passionate young progressives that are now fired up and galvanized.
And that’s why we have so much hope today. Our call now, whether we are young or not, is to do all we can to hold the line on our democracy until this rising generation fully takes the reins. Represenatative Gloria Johnson, the white lawmaker who stood with Pearson and Jones in their protest of gun violence but was not expelled, is a model for this solidarity. We commend her.
The Tennessee legislature thought it could stem the tide of change. Instead, it may have turned that tide into a tsunami.
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The United States Now Has a Fascist Political Party
It goes go by the name: Republican Party.
Apr 11, 2023
I hate to say this, but America no longer has two parties devoted to a democratic system of self-government. We have a Democratic Party, which — notwithstanding a few glaring counter-examples such as what the Democratic National Committee did to Bernie in 2016 — is still largely committed to democracy. And we have a Republican Party, which is careening at high-velocity toward authoritarianism. Okay, fascism.
What occurred in Nashville last week is a frightening reminder of the fragility of American democracy when Republicans obtain supermajorities and no longer need to work with Democratic lawmakers.
The two Tennessee Democrats expelled from the Tennessee House were not accused of criminal wrongdoing or even immoral conduct. Their putative offense was to protest Tennessee’s failure to enact stronger gun controls after a shooting at a Christian school in Nashville left three 9-year-old students and three adults dead.
They were technically in violation of House rules, but the state legislature has never before imposed so severe a penalty for rules violations. In fact, over the past few years, a number of Tennessee legislators have kept their posts even after being charged with serious sexual misconduct. And the two who were expelled last week are Black people, while a third legislator who demonstrated in the same manner but was not expelled is white.
***
We are witnessing the logical culmination of win-at-any-cost Trump Republican politics — scorched-earth tactics used by Republicans to entrench their power, with no justification other than that they can.
Democracy is about means. Under it, citizens don’t have to agree on ends (abortion, health care, guns, or whatever else we disagree about) as long as we agree on democratic means for handling our disagreements.
But for Trump Republicans, the ends justify whatever means they choose —including expelling lawmakers, rigging elections through gerrymandering, refusing to raise the debt ceiling, and denying the outcome of a legitimate presidential election.
My friends, the Republican Party is no longer committed to democracy. It is rapidly becoming the American fascist party.
***
Wisconsin may soon offer an even more chilling example. While liberals celebrated the election on Tuesday of Janet Protasiewicz to the Wisconsin Supreme Court because she’ll tip the court against the state’s extreme gerrymandering (the most extreme in the nation) and its fierce laws against abortion (among the most stringent in America), something else occurred in Wisconsin on election day that may well negate Protasiewicz’s victory. Voters in Wisconsin’s 8th senatorial district decided (by a small margin) to send Republican Dan Knodl to the state Senate.
This gives the Wisconsin Republican Party a supermajority — and with it, the power to remove key state officials, including judges, through impeachment. Several weeks ago, Knodl said he would “certainly consider” impeaching Protasiewicz. Although he was then talking about her role as a county judge, his interest in impeaching her presumably has increased now that she’s able to tip the state’s highest court.
As in Tennessee, this could be done without any necessity for a public justification. Under Republican authoritarianism, power is its own justification. Recall that in 2018, after Wisconsin voters elected a Democratic governor and attorney general, the Republican legislature and the lame duck Republican governor responded by significantly cutting back the power of both offices.
North Carolina is another state where a supermajority of GOP legislators has cut deeply into the power of the executive branch, after Democrats won those posts. The GOP now has veto-proof majorities in both of the state’s legislative chambers, which enable Republicans to enact conservative policies over the opposition of Gov. Roy Cooper, including even more extreme gerrymandered districts. Although North Carolina’s constitution bans mid-decade legislative redistricting absent a court order, Republicans just announced they plan to do it anyway.
Meanwhile, a newly installed Republican supermajority in Florida has given Ron DeSantis unbridled control over the state — granting him total authority of the board governing Disney, the theme park giant he has fought over his anti-LGBTQ+ “don’t say gay” law; permission to fly migrants from anywhere in the U.S. to destinations of his own choosing, for political purposes, and then send the bill to Florida’s taxpayers; and unprecedented prosecutorial power in the form of his newly created, hand-picked office of election “integrity,” pursuing supposed cases of voter fraud.
Florida has now effectively silenced even Florida residents from speaking out in opposition to Republican proposals. A new rule prohibits rallies at the state house. Those testifying against Republican bills are often allowed to speak for no more than 30 seconds.***
Without two parties committed to democratic means to resolve differences in ends, the one remaining (small-d) democratic party is at a disadvantage in seeking ends it deems worthy. The inevitable result: Eventually it, too, sacrifices democratic means to its own ends.
When a political party sacrifices democratic means to its own ends, partisanship turns to enmity, and political divisions morph into hatred. In warfare there are no principles, only wins and losses. One hundred sixty years ago, our system of self-government fell apart because Southern states refused to recognize the inherent equality of Black people. What occurred in Tennessee last week is a throwback to that shameful era.
I don’t believe Trump alone is responsible for the birth of modern Republican fascism, but he has legitimized and encouraged the vicious rancor that has led much of the GOP into election-denying authoritarianism.Keep ReadingShow Less
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