Judge blocks Tennessee Legislature rule on protest signs

(CN) — In what was intended to be a weeklong special legislative session aimed at curbing gun crimes and strengthening its mental health network after three adults and three students were shot dead at Nashville’s Covenant School in March, the hyperpartisan Tennessee General Assembly — controlled by Republican supermajority — instead spent its first full day of lawmaking prioritizing an arguably less meaningful issue: political and public dissent.

In what was characterized by opponents as an attack on the First Amendment, the House passed a rule banning the display of signs in the gallery and another preventing spectators from holding signs while they attend proceedings of the Legislature.

On Wednesday, the Tennessee Highway Patrol forcibly removed three spectators displaying signs indicating the life of any single child is worth more than all the guns in the world. The American Civil Liberties Union of Foundation of Tennessee sued Wednesday afternoon, noting the new rule violates the constitutional right to speak freely, peaceably assemble and petition the government. Within hours, Davidson County Chancellor Anne Martin granted a temporary restraining order against the rule and set a hearing on the matter Sept. 5.

“We applaud the court for taking swift action to protect the free speech rights of Tennesseans,” ACLU of Tennessee executive director Kathryn Sinback said in a statement Wednesday. “Democracy depends on people’s ability to express their opinions to their elected representatives on issues they care about, and this unreasonable rule stood in the way of people fully participating in the democratic process.”

This past April, Republicans in Tennessee came under fire for voting to expel two young Black Democratic lawmakers after they were accused of minor rule violations on the House floor. State representatives Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis were later reinstated by local commissions.

Other new rules passed by the House on Tuesday prohibit members and staff from using recording devices in the chamber, as well as “voice and noise amplifications devices” like the megaphone Jones used during his disruption of the House earlier this year. As another consequence Tuesday, Republican leaders also revamped the punishments for “material disruptions.” New rules will prevent those who have disrupted proceedings from being recognized by the Speaker, while also restricting members from speaking off-topic.

Discussing the new rules on the House floor Tuesday, Republican State Representative William Lamberth of Gallatin argued they allow “for a multitude of different options if a member violates the rules, whereas now, literally the only thing available is censure or expulsion.”

In response, Democratic State Representative Jason Powell of Nashville called the new rules a “dangerous step.”

“We did not come up here for this special session to limit the speech of members of this body,” he said, increasingly raising his voice. “We came up here to tackle a problem with gun violence that is impacting this state. And instead we’re starting off amending the rules of this body to limit our democracy. It’s ridiculous, this is absurd. Shame on every single one of you who voted for these rules.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, no actual legislation had passed both chambers, but the state Senate unanimously passed four bills, one of which appropriates more money for mental health staffing, scholarships and security officers in schools. Others approve of an executive order signed by Governor Bill Lee in April “enhancing the protective procedures for the purchase of firearms.”

Another bill passed by a House committee Wednesday would give prosecutors and judges more discretion to try minors as adults in certain circumstances.

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