For the lawyers in the house...Can the Feds stop this? It looks like blackmail & intimidation...

[Joinfortmill]

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-5-2023?utm_source=substack&utm_medium

Letters from an American: Heather Cox Richardson

'...Republican legislatures are singling out the youth vote to hamstring...That determination to silence younger Americans is playing out today in Tennessee, where a school shooting on March 28 in Nashville killed six people, including three 9-year-olds...The shooting has prompted protesters to demand that the legislature honor the will of the people by addressing gun safety, but instead, Republicans in the legislature have moved to expel three Democratic lawmakers who approached the podium without being recognized to speak—a breach of House rules—and led protesters in chants calling for gun reform. As Republicans decried the breach by Representatives Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson, protestors in the galleries called out, “Fascists!”

Republican efforts to gain control did not end there. On Twitter today, Johnson noted that she had “just had a visit from the head of HR and the House ethics lawyer,” who told her “that if I am expelled, I will lose my health benefits,” but the ethics lawyer went on to explain “that in one case, a member who was potentially up for expulsion decided to resign because if you resign, you maintain your health benefits.”...The echoes of Reconstruction in that conversation are deafening. In that era, when the positions of the parties were reversed, southern Democrats used similar “persuasion” to chase Republican legislators out of office...

On Saturday night, someone fired shots into the home of the man who founded and runs the Tennessee Holler, a progressive news site. Justin Kanew was covering the gun safety struggle in Tennessee. He wrote: “This violence has no place in a civilized society and we are thankful no one was physically hurt. The authorities have not completed their investigation and right now we do not know for sure the reason for this attack. We urge the Williamson County Sheriff’s office to continue to investigate this crime and help shed light on Saturday’s unfortunate events and bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice. In the meantime, our family remains focused on keeping our children healthy and safe.”

[2naSalit]

1. Wondering that myself.

[stopdiggin]

2. Feds probably don't have much role in the (potential)

expulsion of state legislators. That's being done under state rules - and fair or unfair, your rules are your rules.

With the house shooting? Not real sure - unless there was a determination of 'domestic terrorism?'

[Joinfortmill]

3. Thanks much. I hope there is some recourse for these elected officials if they are expelled

[stopdiggin]

4. the courts (in very general and broad terms)

have more or less allowed politics to be politics - fair or unfair, dirty, underhanded, hardball, what-have-you. In general, the prescription and 'correction' for perceived misdeeds - has traditionally been the court of public opinion, and the ballot box.

The expulsion of duly elected members - for something as seemingly innocuous as engaging in protest - will probably prove to be a (relatively?) unpopular stunt. And ultimately a mistake? But the courts will (traditionally) allow the voters to make that call.

[Joinfortmill]

7. Wow. Didn't know this.

[Marius25]

10. What happens when the ballot box and public opinion are no longer options?

[stopdiggin]

40. I don't know. What does happen?

Do you anticipate that the courts are going to jump in?

[barbtries]

12. some would say

the voters made their call when they elected these people.

[inthewind21]

24. Exactly

[NullTuples]

15. Yeah, the Roberts Court has made it clear they absolve themselves of any oversight

...even when how states run their elections affect federal races. Can's see them stepping in here to help.

[allegorical oracle]

5. If expelled, voters in their districts have been disenfranchised and should continue to make

their outrage known. Would hope TN laws/constitution more specifically define how and why legislator expulsions legally proceed. If they haven't, the trio needs to consult an attorney (ACLU?) who likely will take the case pro se.

[Joinfortmill]

6. Thanks so much.

[onenote]

20. Discussion with citations of relevant TN law

Don’t see where those expelled (if that’s what happens) would find much in the law to support a challenge.

https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-politics/heres-how-a-lawmaker-can-be-expelled-from-the-tn-house/amp/

[Marthe48]

26. I'm sure the tn fascists know chapter and verse

for expulsing Dems.

Too bad the U.S. Constitution is so vague on getting fascist traitors out of the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, Judiciary and Exectutive branches.

[Marthe48]

32. Your post makes me feel more hopeless

Joan Baez: little victories, big defeats

[Marthe48]

37. Thanks

You, too

[marybourg]

27. You mean

pro bono

[allegorical oracle]

31. Right you are. Had their lack of potential representation on my brain.

[stopdiggin]

41. So you're expecting the US Supreme Court

will sail to the rescue here? On the grounds of .. ?

TN doesn't have the right to discipline (or expel) members of its legislative body? Or it just doesn't have the right to expel these particular legislators?

but it was a fine piece of speechifying ...

[Chin music]

43. You're the best.

I can always count on you.

No they won't bc they'e already back in.
Who would file suit anyway?
All those disinfranchised voters??

Voting is akin to a property right. And, your Rep IS your voice.

[stopdiggin]

44. so, again

there IS no such recourse available to legislative bodies - and our history on that has just been wrong all these years? Got it!
----- -----

[Chin music]

45. You'e wrong.

As per generally usual.

[stopdiggin]

46. well, but of course I am!

'As per generally usual'

[Chin music]

47. Find someplace/one

else to razz and stalk. I grow weary on your account. Do your own research.

[mopinko]

8. they're idiots if they do this. the special elections will be lit.

if i were them, i’d run in the special. which is expect them to.
we have rocked allllll the specials since 16. so, sure, give us a national spotlight for this bullshit.

[Joinfortmill]

13. Excellent. Thanks.

[onenote]

18. The special election won't occur for more than a year.

[yaesu]

9. The Federal governments power is weak as we have noticed since the fascists got and are

Getting away with so much. Not only crime families like the tRump crime family but fascist states are allowed to use the constitution and justice system like toilet paper without any consequences. This would have never happened under an FDR, or LBJ era Federal Government.

[Joinfortmill]

14. It's damn scary

[onenote]

42. Can you give an example of FDR or LBJ intervening in a state legislature's internal actions?

What Tennessee is doing is outrageous, but it isn't a violation of the US or Tennessee constitutions or US or TN law.

[ripcord]

11. I know I am in the minority but the expulsions don't bothering me

What they did was wrong and if republicans had done the same people here would be calling for their expulsion.

[onenote]

16. What they did was a breach of the rules but expulsion

is an extreme response. While I haven’t researched it, I would expect censure to be an option and one that would be more appropriate under these facts.

[ripcord]

21. They took over the floor of the House and led chants from the gallery with a bullhorn

They should have thought about the consequences before breaking multiple rules with penalties that include expulsion.

[aggiesal]

17. There is more to the story...

Representative Justin Pearson said on MSNBC yesterday (I believe either Nicolle Wallace's or Alex Wagner's show) that before the session starts, representative can use the podium for messages they want to convey, without being recognized and usually without repercussions.

He also mentioned that (R)'s had a representative that I believe he said was either a child sex offender or convicted pedifile (same thing?) & another representative that broke some sort of law and neither were expelled or faced any other sort of repercussion.

[allegorical oracle]

33. Likewise saw an interview with Gloria Johnson and she mentioned that one legislator had

PEED in the seat of an opposing legislator (didn't say whether it was over this matter or not). Sounds like the Capitol is an animal house.

[aggiesal]

39. Yes I heard that as well. The (R) clown car in all its glory. n/t

[Joinfortmill]

34. Thanks for this.

[Hotler]

19. I'm betting the Feds could find the people doing this. Every email, text, phone call goes through

the Utah Data Center. The patriot act is still alive and well and watching and listening to you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Data_Center

[niyad]

22. Let us not forget that the TN scum declined to expel a gqp sexual predator.

[plimsoll]

23. Thinking about the shooting I think I've determined the problem.

He starts out saying:

This violence has no place in a civilized society,

and the presumption that he lives in a civilized society is the mistake.

[Joinfortmill]

36. What a godawful mess this is.

[world wide wally]

28. Tennessee has always given me the creeps