Lawmakers expel colleagues and put Tennessee in the spotlight for the wrong reasons | Plazas

The Tennessee House of Representatives on Thursday conducted one of the longest, most robust and passionate debates in recent memory on the state Constitution, decorum and the role of a legislator.

The problem is that that lawmakers did not discuss or do anything of importance to better the lives of the community.

Instead, Republican lawmakers made national celebrities of the three Democratic lawmakers they sought to expel.

People from all over the world were watching hours of video on the House live stream or media outlets, and letters poured into The Tennessean from people nationwide decrying the proceeding as an affront to democracy.

The super majority GOP chamber successfully ousted Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Justin Pearson, D-Memphis. The attempt to oust Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, failed by one vote.

Editorial: Expelling these Tennessee lawmakers is an outrage; Cameron Sexton should show grace

They made the case that they were being persecuted

Their offense was breaking the House rules on decorum by, without being formally recognized by the House Speaker, going to the center of the House chamber (known as the well) and encouraging pro-gun reform protesters using a megaphone.

All three were adamant in their claims that they believe Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton and other leaders of the GOP super majority continuously silenced them by refusing to let them speak during debates and taking petty action such as putting Johnson’s office in a closet and, this week, cutting off their building access and throwing them off their committees.

The three who live in one of each of Tennessee’s three Grand Divisions asserted that they were representing their constituents who felt ignored by their lawmakers after the worst school shooting in Tennessee history at The Covenant School in Nashville on March 27.

The three activist-legislators successfully made the case in the court of public opinion that they were being persecuted in a proceeding that looked like a show trial.

Letters: What readers say about Tennessee lawmakers seeking to expel three colleagues

Critics decry the 'end of democracy'

The optics of the expulsion are bad for a number of reasons: Pearson and Jones are Black while Johnson is white.

This is relevant because the racial reckoning of 2020 was met by legislation in Tennessee over the last few years to quell uncomfortable discussions in public K-college classrooms about systemic racism under the guise of vanquishing “critical race theory.”

The crowd in the gallery yelled “Shame” after the final vote.

Critics have called the expulsion votes the end of democracy.

John Mark Windle, a former state representative and attorney for Johnson, put it well: "Democracy is too precious for a super majority to abuse it."

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'Circus'-like atmosphere pervades the legislature

Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, his party’s caucus chair, described the exercise as a “circus” in a pitch and volume akin to Jimmy Stewart’s filibuster in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”

Jones and Pearson’s defiance and religious fervor enraged many of their former GOP colleagues who kept wanting them to acknowledge wrongdoing and show contrition.

However, the approach by the majority came across as vindictive, angry and hyperbolic.

Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, for example, said they tried to “occupy” the well and that they were daring their colleagues to expel them.

Rep. Andrew Farmer, R-Sevierville, accused them of having a "temper tantrum."

Rep. David Hawk, R-Greeneville, seemed to justify the treatment of Democrats by explaining that he was once marginalized when the Democrats had control of the Tennessee House for nearly a century and a half.

“It’s not something that new,” Hawk said. “Two wrongs don’t make a right even though it did happen for 140 years.”

Two wrongs definitely do not make a right and yet the supermajority rolled over the voices of the minority.

The ruling legislators may be pleased by the result, but they put Tennessee in the international spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is an editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast and curates the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Expulsion votes put Tennessee in the spotlight for the wrong reasons