The Left’s press to paint the expulsions of two disorderly Democratic lawmakers from the Tennessee House of Representatives as an assault on civil rights is moving into overdrive, but constitutional law experts predict the effort will go nowhere — even for President Joe Biden’s politically weaponized Justice Department.
A group of U.S. Senate Democrats led by Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is calling on the DOJ to investigate the Republican-controlled Tennessee House’s removal of State Representatives Justin Jones (D-Nashville) and Justin Pearson (D-Memphis).
In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Left’s political hit man, the senators demanded the DOJ use “all available legal authorities” to investigate the expulsions and whether the House’s discipline violated the constitution or federal civil rights.
“In light of this serious threat to our democracy,” the Democrats urged Garland to “prioritize all investigations into any violations of rights under federal law or the U.S. Constitution posed by the expulsions of the Tennessee legislators.”
The letter is more “ridiculous political grandstanding” from Democrats peddling a false narrative, constitutional law expert Hans von Spakovsky told The Tennessee Star.
“[Jones and Pearson] were expelled for violating the parliamentary rules of the chamber that provide orderly and civil debate. Staging a protest and using a bullhorn in a legislative chamber is the type of disruptive behavior that leads to anarchy,” said von Spakovsky, manager at the Heritage Foundation’s Election Law Reform Initiative and Senior Legal Fellow at the think tank’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies.
Jones and Pearson, who were expelled last week from the Republican-led House of Representatives, are back in their seats after each was swiftly reinstated — Jones on Monday, Pearson on Wednesday. The representatives were removed from their positions after being accused of inciting a riot on the House floor amid a chaotic protest demanding passage of sweeping gun control legislation. State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), who helped lead the protest, survived expulsion by one vote.
In the letter penned by Warnock, the liberal senators insisted Jones and Pearson, who are black, are victims of “undemocratic” reprisals by Tennessee House Republicans simply for expressing their First Amendment rights.
“Silencing legislators on the basis of their views or their participation in protected speech or protest is antithetical to American democracy and values,” asserts the letter, signed by Schumer and fellow Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Brian Schatz (D-HI). “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.”
But the conduct of Jones, Pearson and Johnson was more than a “minor” procedural violation, critics said. They led a throng of protesters, organized by national-left wing groups, in storming the House floor, shutting down legislative business. The so-called “Tennessee 3”, as media outlets have taken to calling the lawmakers, created what appeared to many as a riot. Some have likened it to the January 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol that Democrats breathlessly describe as an insurrection.
Jones, Pearson, and Johnson exercised their “protected speech” at the expense of the protected speech of every other House member, silencing orderly governance through their disorderly demonstration.
Tennessee House Assistant Majority Leader Mark Cochran (R-Englewood), told ABC News that he stands by his vote to expel the rowdy lawmakers, noting they violated the rules of decorum that ensure all voices are heard.
“When you have one or just a few representatives hijack the floor for their own purposes, that silences the rest of Tennessee because that’s where the business of the people is conducted,” the lawmaker said. “…[T]hat’s an insult to the institution and really an insult to the people of Tennessee.”
Von Spakovsky said the protesters’ antics were “undemocratic.”
“Such behavior is banned in the U.S. Senate, too, and would be grounds for expulsion there,” the legal expert said. “No legislature — no matter which party is in control — can allow such misbehavior if it wants to remain as a functioning body.”
The senators’ call for a Justice Department investigation is the latest left-wing power play in Democrats’ pursuit of punishing Republicans for having the audacity to punish lawlessness.
As The Tennessee Star reported, a team of attorneys led by Eric Holder, attorney general under former President Barack Obama, has threatened legal action against House Speaker Cam Sexton (R-Crossville) in demanding the far-left lawmakers be returned to their seats. Despite the fact that Jones and Pearson have been reinstated, sources told The Star that Holder will likely sue the state of Tennessee, the Tennessee House of Representatives, and Speaker Sexton anyway.
What’s next on that legal front remains to be seen. Holder has not returned a request for comment. Neither have Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, Sexton, and several Republican House members.
While Garland has not been shy about weaponizing the Department of Justice against the Left’s political enemies, the attorney general would tread on constitutionally dangerous ground should he decide to comply with Warnock’s wishes. A DOJ probe into the Tennessee Legislature would infringe on the basic tenements of federalism, particularly should the federal government’s top law enforcement official try to tell a state legislature how to conduct its business.
Aziz Huq, a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago, told The Washington Post that any DOJ investigation into the matter would be difficult.
“I can imagine a scenario in which the two legislators bring cases citing constitutional claims, but I think that those claims turn upon these really difficult questions of fact about the reasons for the expulsion,” Huq said.
“I think those cases would be challenging to win, and I don’t see any immediate payoff from those cases for these legislators given one’s been reinstated and the other one is likely to be reinstated,” he added.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Chuck Schumer” by Senate Democrats. CC BY 2.0. Background Photo “Tennessee House Floor” by Tennessee General Assembly.
