Kangaroo Court

 Apparently, Tennessee was tired of losing their share of the bad choices spotlight to Florida. I am currently of the belief that if Ron DeSantis wants to keep his state in the front of the fear and hate pack, he's going to have to really dig in and make some really ugly stuff happen. Strike that. Uglier stuff. 

Last week, the supermajority of Republicans in the Tennessee state legislature voted to expel two of its members. There were three members on the docket, but they didn't expel the white woman. They voted out the two young black men. And what brought on this extreme reaction? The three had been accused by Republicans of “knowingly and intentionally” bringing “disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives” after they led a gun control protest on the House floor last month without being recognized. This is a pretty high bar, considering the work this body has churned out over the past few months. Most notably perhaps is the anti-drag bill that was signed into law just a month ago. Back in 2021, they passed a bill that allows all its state citizens to carry a handgun without a permit. That should give you a sense of where their collective head is, and maybe why they didn't take kindly to a few members of that body supporting and encouraging the protest that was brought to the state capital in the wake of the mass murder just a couple weeks ago. 

Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were given the boot because they believed, like the crowd that assembled outside the chamber, that it was past time for lawmakers to do something about the death of their constituents. Justin Jones was elected to serve the residents of District 52 by winning all votes cast there. All of them. Justin Pearson won his race with ninety-eight percent of the vote in District 86. To look at these districts and not see a racial component to all this "disorder and dishonor" would be ridiculous in the extreme. The expulsion of two of Tennessee's black lawmakers further limits the tiny percentage of seats held by anyone who wasn't white. 

It also further limits the number of lawmakers willing to fight against the status quo of Republicans boosted by the National Rifle Association. Rather than fine or censure these young men, the powers that be in Nashville chose to do something they had only done twice before in one hundred fifty-seven years. in 1980, a representative was found guilty of accepting a bribe while in office, and the most recent before the Justins came in 2016 when another member was expelled over allegations of sexual harassment. Mister Jones and Mister Pearson didn't take a bribe, nor were they accused of sexual harassment. They were guilty of speaking up for a marginalized group while being part of a marginalized group. 

We have not heard the last of these two young men. They will keep fighting. We all will.