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      Justin Pearson celebrates return to Tennessee legislature after expulsion

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      The second of two Black Democrats who were kicked out of the Republican-led house of representatives in the Tennessee legislature followed his colleague back to work at the capitol on Thursday, a week after their expulsion for participating in a gun control protest propelled them into the national spotlight.State representative Justin Pearson, a lawmaker from Memphis, was sworn in on Thursday outside the statehouse in Nashville. The day before, Shelby county commissioners had unanimously voted to reinstate him after an expulsion he, his fellow expelled lawmaker Justin Jones and others have denounced as motivated by racism.“Yes indeed, happy resurrection day,” Pearson said on Thursday morning as he signed paperwork for his return.“There will be a new building of this building, with a foundation built on love,” Pearson said during a fiery speech outside the capitol after being sworn in and before returning to the house floor.He continued: “With pillars of justice rising up. With rafters of courage covering us. With doors that are open to everybody in the state of Tennessee. Not just rich somebodies, but everybody. Not just straight somebodies, but everybody. Not just Republican somebodies, but everybody.”Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had forcefully criticized the representatives’ expulsion.Before Pearson returned to the house floor, lawmakers cheered and applauded as the police officers who responded to the deadly 27 March mass shooting at a Nashville elementary school shooting – the event that prompted the gun control protest – were honored in the chamber.The Democratic state representative Bob Freeman praised the officers’ bravery but stressed to his fellow lawmakers that as a response to the tragedy “inaction is not an option”.Republicans banished Pearson and Jones last week for their role in the protest on the house floor over the shooting, which left three children and three adults dead.In his address outside the capitol, Pearson read the names of those killed and referenced another mass shooting on Monday at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, in which five people were killed and eight others were injured.“Our law enforcement, which many people praise, are being forced to go to war when they just are going to work,” Pearson said.“Kids are told to go to fortresses, instead of to go to school and places of learning. We’re told to go to church, carrying the status quo’s thoughts and prayers, while we must be in fear that somebody will walk in with an assault weapon.”The Nashville metropolitan council took only a few minutes on Monday to restore Jones to office. He was quickly reinstated to his house seat that day.The appointments are interim, though Jones and Pearson plan to run in special elections for the seats later this year.The house’s vote to remove Pearson and Jones but keep their white colleague Gloria Johnson, who also took part in the protest, drew accusations of racism.Banishment is a move the chamber has used only a handful of times since the civil war. The so-called Tennessee Three – participating from the front of the chamber – broke house rules because they did not have permission from the speaker.The expulsions last Thursday made Tennessee a new front in the battle for the future of American democracy. In the span of a few days, the two raised thousands of campaign dollars and the Tennessee Democratic party received a jolt of support from across the US.In Tennessee, Republican lawmakers have been supportive of the idea to strengthen school safety, but they have largely rejected calls for stricter gun controls with only weeks to go in the legislative session. More

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      ‘It’s a scary time’: Florida Democrat vows to keep fighting six-week abortion ban

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      Last week, Lauren Book, the top Democrat in the Florida senate – was placed in handcuffs, arrested and charged with trespassing, after refusing to leave an abortion rights demonstration near the state capitol building in Tallahassee.Hours before, Republican lawmakers in the state senate advanced the legislation, which would dramatically restrict the state’s current ban on abortion from 15 weeks of pregnancy to six weeks – before many women even realize they’re pregnant. Critics say the narrow window would amount to a “near-total” ban on abortions in the state.The bill would have far-reaching implications across the south. After the supreme court’s decision to eliminate a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion, Florida became a haven for women seeking reproductive care from states where access was prohibited or severely restricted, including Louisiana and Alabama.“It’s a scary time,” Book told the Guardian ahead of the vote. “Women are being put in very, very dangerous situations to get the healthcare they need and deserve.”Republican dominance in the state legislature means the bill’s fate is “all but sealed”, she acknowledged. The Republican-controlled house is expected to give the bill final approval as soon as this week. It will then be sent to Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is widely expected to run for president and who has signaled his support.But Book, who has led the opposition to this bill in the state senate, vowed to keep fighting – as a political leader and, she said, as a mother furious that her twins – a boy and a girl – no longer have the same rights to bodily autonomy.“In the course of just two generations, we’ve seen our rights won and lost,” she said in a floor speech last week. “It is up to us to get them back. No one is going to save us but ourselves.”Book became senate minority leader in 2021, having served in the chamber since 2017. The following year, DeSantis signed into law a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, without exceptions for rape or incest.A sharp backlash to last summer’s supreme court decision overturning Roe v Wade fueled a string of ballot-box successes for abortion rights and powered Democrats to victory in states across the country in the 2022 midterm elections. But not in Florida.In November, DeSantis won re-election by nearly 20 points in a state that was once a presidential battleground, while Republicans claimed a supermajority in both chambers of the state legislature.Emboldened, Republican lawmakers have advanced a dizzying array of legislative proposals that have thrilled conservatives, alarmed liberals and offered a policy platform from which the governor could launch a presidential bid.As minority leader, Book believes it is her role to rally the opposition – and help Democrats claw back power in 2024. “We are going to do the work to get the numbers out in ’24,” she said, “because the alternative is not acceptable. It’s dangerous and it is killing women.”In addition to the abortion bill, the state’s Republican lawmakers are pressing forward with legislation that would impose new controls on trans youth, limit drag performances, ease media defamation suits, expand the state’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law, ban diversity and equity programs at public universities and colleges, place new restrictions on public-sector unions, and allow a divided jury to impose a death sentence. Already this session, DeSantis signed a law expanding Florida’s school voucher system, and another allowing Floridians to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.But while DeSantis’s conservative crusade may excite his base, Book said she expects it will backfire on him.“We’re not doing the things that matter to Floridians. We’re not doing the things that make life here better,” she said, arguing that the legislature should be focused on tackling the rising cost of property insurance. “Instead, we’re attacking small groups of people, we’re taking away women’s rights, all under the banner of freedom and allowing this guy to run for president.”The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.With the abortion bill barrelling toward the governor’s desk, Book said she and her Democratic colleagues are using every legislative tool at their disposal to draw attention to the “dangerous consequences” of the legislation.They offered numerous amendments, including one that would allow women seeking abortions to cite religious exemption. Another put forward by Book would have renamed the so-called “Heartbeat Protection Act” to the “Electrical activity that can be manipulated to sound like a heartbeat through ultrasound protection at the expense of pregnant people’s health and well being act.” All were rejected.When the bill came before the senate health policy committee for debate, Democrats extended the session so medical providers and opponents would have more than the allotted “30 seconds” to testify, Book said. In speeches, she shared the stories of women, including a constituent, who faced life-threatening complications after the loss of desired pregnancies because their states new abortion restrictions prevented doctors from administering miscarriage care.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionAnd last week, senate Democrats engaged in an emotional floor debate ahead of the senate vote on the six-week ban. From the public gallery overlooking the chamber, protesters repeatedly disrupted the proceedings, shouting down lawmakers who spoke supportively of the legislation. Several were removed before the senate president ordered the gallery cleared.The displays of opposition have had little effect.State senator Erin Grall, a Republican sponsor of the bill, said during the debate that “bodily autonomy should not give a person the permission to kill an innocent human being”. Republicans have sought to emphasize that the measure allows for exceptions in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking until 15 weeks of pregnancy – additions DeSantis has called “sensible”.Critics counter that the exceptions are narrow, noting that the proposal will require victims to “provide a copy of a restraining order, police report, medical record, or other court order” before they can receive an abortion.Book, a sexual assault survivor, says the paperwork requirement will keep women from seeking care. “Show your documents to prove that you were raped?” Book said. “You don’t even need to do that now to carry a gun.”The bill’s proponents also tout provisions that would expand funding for anti-abortion pregnancy centers and provide families car seats, cribs and diapers. Book called the initiatives “insulting”.“You’re going to give them car seats or a crib? What about healthcare? What about child care? Those are things that people need,” Book said. “They’re not pro life. They’re pro-birth.”Book sees a backlash brewing in Florida, though it won’t come in time to stop Republicans from passing the ban.According to a recent survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, nearly two-thirds of Floridians believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases. Another poll published last month found that roughly three in four Florida voters, including 61% of Republican respondents, say they oppose a six-week abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. (Notably, the measure that passed the Florida senate does allow for exceptions, which was not asked as part of the polling question.)Activists on both sides of the abortion debate are, meanwhile, waiting on a decision by the Florida supreme court, which is weighing a challenge to the state’s current 15-week ban. The six-week proposal would only go into effect if the 15-week ban is upheld.Book said she would like to see the matter settled by Florida voters in the form of a ballot initiative, like it was in Michigan and other states. In the meantime, she is urging women in Florida and around the country “not to take matters into your own hands”.Protesters have once again gathered in Tallahassee, as the Republican-controlled house charges ahead with a debate on the measure scheduled for Thursday. Among them will be Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic party, who was arrested alongside Book last week. For Book, the women’s resistance is proof that however bleak it may appear now, the fight for abortion rights in Florida is only just beginning.“​I’m heartened by the women who are now occupying Tallahassee and not going quietly into the night,” she said. “I think that is emblematic that this is not over.” More

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      Ousted Tennessee Democrat Justin Pearson reinstated by local commission

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      Local government officials in Memphis, Tennessee, voted on Wednesday to return the second of two Democratic state lawmakers expelled from the statehouse last week by Republicans over a gun safety protest following another school shooting.The Shelby county commission voted to nominate Justin Pearson, 29, as interim state representative to fill the vacancy created when he and fellow Democrat Justin Jones were ousted for taking part in a gun reform protest in the chamber following the murders of six people last month at a Nashville school.The two Black men had recently joined the legislature and condemned their expulsion as a racist action. Joe Biden had criticized the expulsion as unprecedented and Kamala Harris railed against the action on a hastily-arranged trip to Nashville last Friday less than 24 hours after the two lawmakers were ousted.Jones, 27, was returned to his seat on Monday in a unanimous vote by the Nashville council.On Wednesday afternoon, the Shelby county board of commissioners, where Democrats hold a supermajority, voted in favor of doing the same for Pearson at a special meeting in Memphis, where Pearson’s district is located.In announcing the meeting, Mickell Lowery, the board’s chairman and a Democrat, had called the expulsions “unfortunate”.The commission meeting was preceded by a protest rally at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis in support of Pearson, who said in a powerful New York Times opinion essay on Wednesday that he “wasn’t elected to be pushed to the back of the room and silenced”.A community organizer before entering politics, Pearson condemned what he saw as hypocrisy from Republican lawmakers.“There is something amiss in the decorum of the state house when GOP leaders like Representative Paul Sherrell, who proposed death from ‘hanging by a tree’ as an acceptable form of state execution (Mr Sherrell later apologized for his comment), feel comfortable berating Mr Jones and me for our peaceful act of civil disobedience.“This, in Tennessee, the birthplace of the Klan, a land stained with the blood of lynchings of my people.”The Republican majority opted not to expel a third member of the so-called Tennessee Three, Democrat Gloria Johnson, 60, who is white.In his op-ed, Pearson also called out Republicans, in Tennessee and elsewhere, for promoting a swath of pro-gun legislation he said left the US “a nation in pain and peril”. Thousands were drawn to the statehouse in Nashville to protest the Covenant school shooting, he said, but were ignored by his Republican colleagues.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“Some have averted their eyes and hurried into the chamber, walking through hundreds of mourning protesters to discuss a bill to further expand gun rights by allowing teachers to carry weapons on campus,” he said.“But many of us did not. We stopped and embraced traumatized children, parents and elders. We prayed. We protested.”On Tuesday, Bill Lee, Tennessee’s Republican governor, said he would sign an executive order to strengthen background checks for weapons purchases in the state, and called on lawmakers to pass a red flag law to keep guns away from those who pose a danger to themselves or others.“We should set aside politics and pride and accomplish something that the people of Tennessee want to see get accomplished,” Lee said. The governor and his wife, Maria, were friends with two teachers killed at the Covenant school.Pearson acknowledged Lee’s action in his essay as “a small victory for our people clamoring for change”. More

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      Nashville council votes to reinstate expelled Democrat Justin Jones

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      The city of Nashville’s governing council on Monday afternoon voted unanimously to return expelled Black lawmaker Justin Jones to the Tennessee state legislature.The body’s Republican majority state lawmakers had expelled Jones and fellow house member Justin Pearson late last week because they led protests in the chamber demanding gun control after yet another mass shooting in an American school, this one at an elementary school in the city days before.Moments later, Jones marched to the Capitol several blocks away. He took the oath of office on the steps and entered the building while supporters sang This Little Light of Mine.A loud round of applause erupted as Jones walked into the chamber with Democratic representative Gloria Johnson, who was also targeted for expulsion, but spared by one vote.“To the people of Tennessee, I stand with you,” Jones said in his first statement on the house floor. “We will continue to be your voice here. And no expulsion, no attempt to silence us will stop us, but it will only galvanize and strengthen our movement. And we will continue to show up in the people’s house.“Power to the people,” he shouted, to cheers.The other lawmaker, Justin Pearson, could be reappointed Wednesday at a meeting of the Shelby county commission.There was uproar last week and the act was condemned by many as an extraordinary act of political retaliation. Thousands of protesters flocked to the Tennessee state capitol to support the three Democratic members and their expulsion was slammed as racist. Joe Biden had called the move “shocking, undemocratic and without precedent” in a statement.And US vice-president Kamala Harris rushed to Nashville on Friday evening and praised the lawmakers, whom she said “chose to show courage in the face of extreme tragedy”.Jones’ appointment is on an interim basis. Special elections for the seats will take place in the coming months. Jones and Pearson have said they plan to run in the special election.Before the special council session was to begin, a couple of hundred people gathered in front of the Nashville courthouse, and more were pouring in. Some held signs reading, “No Justin, No Peace.” Inside the courthouse, a line of people waited outside the council chambers for the doors to open.Rosalyn Daniel arrived early and waited in line to get a seat in the council chambers. She said she is not in Jones’ district but is a Nashville resident and concerned citizen.“I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, during the civil rights movement, so I understand why this is so important,” she said.Republican house speaker Cameron Sexton’s spokesperson, Doug Kufner, indicated that whoever is appointed to the vacancies by the Nashville and Shelby county governments “will be seated as representatives as the constitution requires”.House majority leader William Lamberth and Republican Caucus chairman Jeremy Faison said they will welcome back the expelled lawmakers if they are reinstated.“Tennessee’s constitution provides a pathway back for expulsion,” they said in a statement. “Should any expelled member be reappointed, we will welcome them. Like everyone else, they are expected to follow the rules of the house as well as state law.”“The world is watching Tennessee,” attorneys for Jones and Pearson wrote to Sexton in a letter Monday. “Any partisan retributive action, such as the discriminatory treatment of elected officials, or threats or actions to withhold funding for government programs, would constitute further unconstitutional action that would require redress.”Johnson, the third Democrat targeted for expulsion, also attracted national attention.She had suggested race was likely a factor in why Jones and Pearson were ousted but not her. Johnson told reporters it “might have to do with the color of our skin”.GOP leaders have said the expulsions – a mechanism used only a handful times since the civil war – had nothing to do with race and instead were necessary to avoid setting a precedent that lawmakers’ disruptions of house proceedings through protest would be tolerated. More

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      Senate Democrats urge supreme court investigation of Clarence Thomas

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      The US Senate judiciary committee’s Democratic members on Monday unanimously urged the supreme court chief justice, John Roberts, to investigate luxury trips taken by associate justice Clarence Thomas that were paid for by a hugely wealthy Republican party donor.The senators deemed the justice’s conduct inconsistent with ethical standards for “any person in a position of public trust”, they said.The committee will hold a hearing in the coming days on the matter, chairman Richard Durbin, the senior senator from Illinois, and the panel’s 10 other Democratic members wrote in a letter to Roberts.The hearing, they said, would focus on “the need to restore confidence in the supreme court’s ethical standards”.“And if the court does not resolve this issue on its own, the committee will consider legislation to resolve it,” they told Roberts. “But you do not need to wait for Congress to act to undertake your own investigation into the reported conduct and to ensure that it cannot happen again. We urge you to do so.”ProPublica reported last Thursday that Thomas accepted expensive trips from Republican donor and real estate magnate Harlan Crow over decades without disclosing them.Thomas defended the trips on Friday, saying he had been advised he was not required to report that type of “personal hospitality”. But the conservative justice said he would abide by new, tighter rules that recently took effect.Crow told ProPublica he had “never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue”.The senators in the letter told Roberts: “You have a role to play as well, both in investigating how such conduct could take place at the Court under your watch, and in ensuring that such conduct does not happen again.”The report by ProPublica found that Thomas had repeatedly vacationed with Crow, including on his private jet and superyacht in the US and around the globe. The news outlet said the frequency of the gifts has “no known precedent in the modern history of the US supreme court”.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“The report describes conduct by a sitting justice that he did not disclose to the public and that is plainly inconsistent with the ethical standards the American people expect of any person in a position of public trust,” the senators wrote.Democratic US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on Sunday she wants Thomas impeached over his trips.“It is the House’s responsibility to pursue that investigation in the form of impeachment,” she told CNN in an interview.Ocasio-Cortez acknowledged, however, it was unlikely the Republican majority in the House of Representatives would want to take action against the conservative justice. More