Justin Pearson reappointed to Tennessee House of Representatives by Shelby County Commission

Shelby County Commissioners reappointed Justin Pearson to the Tennessee House of Representatives Wednesday to cries of applause and cheers of excitement.

“When we went to the well of the House myself, Rep. (Gloria) Johnson and Rep. (Justin) Jones, we said we have an allegiance to a people, people who are tired of business as usual," Pearson said. “We do not speak alone. We speak together. We fight together. So a message for all the people in Nashville who decided to expel us: You can’t expel hope. You can't expel our voice. You sure can’t expel our fight.”

The expected move from commissioners means Pearson could be back in the state House as early as Thursday, less than a week after he and Rep. Justin Jones, who represents Davidson County, were expelled from their seats.

"The status quo needs changing," Pearson told supporters earlier in the day. "And that status quo needs you."

Pearson and Jones, among the youngest Black lawmakers in Tennessee, were expelled from the House for having led gun-reform chants that briefly disrupted House proceedings three days after three 9-year-olds and three adults were shot and killed at The Covenant School in Nashville.

A third representative, Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, was also threatened with expulsion, but retained her seat by a single vote.

Both Jones and Johnson were present in Memphis to support Pearson Wednesday.

The vote to reappoint Pearson was unanimous with seven commissioners present, all Democrats. Seven votes were needed for his appointment.

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When a seat is vacated, members of the county’s legislative body can make an appointment on an interim basis. That interim representative will serve until one is selected in a special election, the dates of which have not been set.

Pearson has said he plans to run in the special election.

Jones was reappointed to his seat by the Metro Nashville Council Monday.

The actions of the Republican supermajority in expelling two young Black men have drawn nationwide attention, and put the spotlight on Pearson, who only arrived at the state House earlier this year.

Earlier Wednesday, Pearson met supporters at the National Civil Rights Museum, just over a mile from the county government building. From there, they marched to the Shelby County Commission meeting.

“The movement lives or dies in Memphis, and here at this hallowed place we are showing the United States of America…that the movement is still alive,” Pearson told the crowd, drawing on the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Pearson supporters at commission included U.S. Congressman Steve Cohen, state reps. Antonio Parkinson, Torrey Harris, G.A. Hardaway and Jesse Chism, Memphis City Council Vice Chair JB Smiley Jr. and numerous county officials

Torrey Harris said that once the commission voted and minutes were approved, he would take the resolution back to the House Clerk in Nashville.

Then, Pearson is expected to be sworn back in at 8:30 Thursday morning, allowing him to jump back into the business of the House by 9 a.m., just a week after his expulsion.

Commissioners Wednesday praised Pearson as a representative who is fighting against injustice.

“I just want to commend you for your effort," said Commissioner Shante Avant. "I want to commend you for your commitment. I want to commend you for standing up for the things that matter to the people of Shelby County and the state of Tennessee. You have done well by us in making sure our voices can be heard.

Commissioner Henri Brooks, a former state representative herself, said that she’s looked behind her and seen no one to carry on her fight.

Last week, she said, she looked back and saw “there were some babies behind me, someone for me to pass the torch to.”

Pearson, 28, first became widely known in Memphis when he co-founded the grassroots organization Memphis Community Against the Pipeline in response to a planned crude oil pipeline that would cut through backyards in South Memphis, particularly in the Boxtown neighborhood.

The work of MCAP, now called Memphis Community Against Pollution, has been credited with stopping the pipeline plans from Plains All American.

In January, he was elected by a significant margin to take the House District 86 seat in an election triggered by the death of educator and state Rep. Barbara Cooper, who died in October. The Shelby County Commission, after his primary win, appointed him to the interim position so he could start work early.

Upon his election, Pearson became one of the youngest lawmakers in Tennessee.

A native Memphian, Pearson is the fourth son of five boys. Their father is a preacher and mother a teacher. In Memphis, Pearson attended Mitchell High School, where he advocated for textbook access for students. He is also a graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine, where he majored in government and legal studies and education studies.

Pearson and Jones have both retained legal counsel, and their attorneys wrote House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, Monday saying they were reviewing “these unconstitutional actions” of the expulsions.

The attorneys also wrote that if Pearson and Jones are reappointed, “such reappointment must lead to the full and immediate restoration of their rights as members of the House.”

Sexton’s communications director told The Commercial Appeal Monday that Jones and Pearson, if reappointed, would “be seated as representatives as the constitution requires.”

Wednesday, Pearson told commissioners he plans to continue the fight for gun reform and other issues important to Shelby County residents.

“Nashville thought they could silence democracy, but they didn’t know the Shelby County Commission,” Pearson said. “Threats of not giving us resources wouldn’t stop them. They didn’t know that Justin J. Pearson was only standing with the moral courage of the people who he came from, only standing with moral courage built in Memphis, Tennessee, built in Shelby County.”

Sen. Raphael Warnock and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Merrick Garland urging the Department of Justice to investigate the expulsion of two Black lawmakers from the Tennessee General Assembly.

The letter, also signed by Sens. Chris Murphy, Alex Padilla, and Brian Schatz, asked Garland “to use all available legal authorities” to determine whether the expulsion of state Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones violated federal civil rights law or the Constitutional rights of the lawmakers or their constituents.

The letter notes that the state legislature has reportedly never expelled a member for procedural violation before and that Pearson and Jones, who are Black, were expelled while Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white and also part of the protest, was not.

“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,” the letter said. “Allowing such behavior sets a dangerous—and undemocratic—precedent.”

N'dea Yancey-Bragg of USA Today contributed to this report.

Katherine Burgess covers government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Justin Pearson reappointed to Tennessee House by Shelby commissioners