Former Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones says he lost a seat, but voters lost their voice
The Tennessee House's decision to expel two Democratic lawmakers on Thursday has prompted widespread accusations of racism and concerns about democracy, including from the former representatives themselves.
The vote came a week after three lawmakers interrupted a floor session with a megaphone, leading protesters in calls for stronger gun laws in the wake of the Nashville school shooting that left six people dead.
They said they were representing their constituents, while Republicans said they were leading an insurrection.
The Republican-controlled House voted along party lines to expel Reps. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Justin Pearson, D-Memphis — both Black lawmakers under the age of 30. Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, held on to her seat by a single vote, and later suggested that's because she is white.
Jones agrees. Speaking to Morning Edition on Friday, he accused Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton of having "trafficked in racial rhetoric and racism."
"This is the consequence of a body that wants to suppress not just our vote, but the votes of our districts that are majority Black and brown," Jones said. "I represent one of the most diverse districts in Tennessee, and so now those 78,000 people have been silenced."
Sexton has not responded to NPR's request for comment on Jones' claims. But he told reporters after the vote that the decision was based on "the actions of those three that they did on the House floor on that day," and the body needing to follow the proper "process and procedures."
Jones says the lawmakers decided to bring the protest to the House floor on March 30 out of frustration with the legislature's inaction on gun control and hope that they would listen to the young people who were rallying at the Capitol. They were the largest protests Nashville has seen in the past decade, he says.
Jones represents a part of the city and says the community is still grieving and processing the trauma of the Covenant School shooting in late March.
"People are calling for action, and the first action we get from the Tennessee general assembly is to expel members for calling for common-sense gun laws," Jones adds.
So what happens next? Jones' and Pearson's districts will hold special elections to fill their newly vacant seats, and their county commissions can appoint an interim lawmaker to serve until then.
When asked whether he will run in the special election, Jones says "we are looking at all options right now."
Member station WPLN reports that the Metropolitan Council — the legislative body of the consolidated city-county government of Nashville and Davidson County — will hold a special meeting on Monday, where they may vote to reappoint Jones.
Jones says many members of the council have said they will do so.
"Now the question is: Will Speaker Cameron Sexton allow us to be seated, or will he once again try and subvert the will of the voters?" Jones adds.
Sexton told reporters that if the council does reappoint the expelled lawmakers, "we'll go through that process when the time comes." According to Tennessee's constitution, lawmakers can't be expelled more than once for the same offense.
And if the council does reappoint Jones, will he return and demand his seat?
"Most definitely," he says.
Jones spoke to Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep about the events leading up to his expulsion and what he hopes to see now.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Interview highlights
On whether expulsion is a fitting consequence for civil disobedience
This is not the natural consequence, this is the most extreme reaction that we saw that sets a very dangerous precedent for democracy. ... This is only the third time in Tennessee history that the House of Representatives has expelled its members, and the other times involved criminal or unethical activity. ... We were expelled for "breach of decorum," but in reality we were expelled for obedience to our oath of office to speak for our constituents and to make sure that our dissent and protest is marked for the journal when we see action that is injurious to the people.
On why lawmakers led the protest in the first place
Thousands of people — students, parents, teachers, grandparents, concerned community members — [were] here at the Tennessee Capitol, and the speaker refused to let them be heard. He refused to even let us talk about the issue of gun violence on the House floor that week. Any time we brought it up our microphones were cut off, we were ruled out of order, so we did not have even a venue to voice the grievances of our community. And so we had no other choice but to do something out of the ordinary and to try to stand in solidarity with disrupting business as normal, because business as normal was sticking our head in the sand when our children are dying.
On what House leadership did and didn't do after the protest
The next day the speaker already stripped my committees from me, he had my ID badge to the building turned off even though I was still a representative at the time, shut off my parking privileges to park at the legislature, and so that was the reaction that we saw.
But then because the speaker falsely mischaracterized our nonviolent peaceful protest and solidarity with the people as an insurrection, he escalated the situation not only against us but against those thousands of young people at the Capitol who were protesting, simply saying that they want to live, in the days following a mass shooting here in Nashville.
On whether he thinks lawmakers' youth, race and political leanings factored into their expulsion
That's absolutely correct. We're the two youngest Black lawmakers. I'm 27, Rep. Pearson is 28, and so we represent the voices of our generation. And race, most definitely. And I think Rep. Johnson said it, when she was not expelled and I was expelled — those were the first two cases heard — the news media asked and she said "I think it's because of skin color."
The audio interview was edited by Simone Popperl.
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Transcript
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Let's speak now to the other lawmaker who was expelled. Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones is on the line.
Good morning.
JUSTIN JONES: Hi, Good morning.
INSKEEP: I guess I misidentified you just now. I should say former Tennessee state representative. Is that right?
JONES: That is correct, because of the actions of the Republican supermajority here in Tennessee.
INSKEEP: Well, let's put this right on the line. You did break the rules. There doesn't seem to be any doubt about that. And I guess we could characterize this as an act of civil disobedience. Part of civil disobedience is taking the consequences of it. Is this not the natural consequence of what you did?
JONES: This is not the natural consequence. This is the most extreme reaction that we saw that sets a very dangerous precedent for democracy. For a rule, a breach of decorum, our colleagues expelled us. This is only the third time in Tennessee history that the House of Representatives has expelled its members, and the other times involve criminal or unethical activity. But we were expelled for a breach of decorum. But in reality, we were expelled for obedience to our oath of office, to speak for our constituents and to make sure that our dissent and protest is marked for the journal when we see an action that is injurious to the people.
INSKEEP: What did you hope and expect to happen when you went up to the podium at the front of the House chamber and spoke?
JONES: So, well, the next day the speaker already stripped my committees from me. He turned off - you know, had my ID badge to the building, turned off, even though I was still a representative at the time, shut off my parking privileges to park at the legislature. And so that was the reaction that we saw. But then because the speaker falsely mischaracterized our nonviolent peaceful protest in solidarity with the people as an insurrection, he escalated the situation not only against us, but against those thousands of young people at the Capitol who were protesting, simply saying that they want to live in the days following a mass shooting here in Nashville.
And I represent a part of Nashville. So our community is grieving. There's trauma here. People are calling for action. And the first action we get from the Tennessee General Assembly is to expel members for calling for common-sense gun laws.
INSKEEP: I guess we should remind people that the context here is a mass shooting in Nashville that left three students and three adults dead. But what was it that you were hoping the Tennessee legislature would do in response to your protest?
JONES: We hoped that they would listen to the young people who were gathered there. We've had the largest protest in Nashville in the past 10 years in Nashville going on right now - thousands of people, students, parents, teachers, grandparents and concerned community members here at the Tennessee Capitol. And the speaker refused to let them be heard. He refused to let us even talk about the issue of gun violence on the House floor that week. Any time we brought it up, our microphones were cut off. We were ruled out of order. And so we did not have even a venue to voice the grievances of our community. And so we had no other choice but to do something out of the ordinary and to try and stand in solidarity with disrupting business as normal, because business as normal was sticking our head in the sand when our children are dying.
INSKEEP: We've already heard the allegation that race played a role in this because two Black lawmakers, including you, were expelled, and a white lawmaker who was also involved in the protest gets to stay. Our correspondent Blaise Gainey in Nashville adds another dimension to this, saying that these are two you are two Black lawmakers under 30 who were outspoken. And he says you'd been outspoken on a number of issues. Did your youth and the rest of your tenure in office have something to do with this?
JONES: I mean, that's absolutely correct. Were the two youngest Black lawmakers. I'm 27. Representative Pearson's 28. And so we represent, you know, the voices of our generation and race, most definitely. And I think Representative Johnson said it, you know, when she was not expelled and I was expelled - you know, that was the first two cases heard - the news media laughs, and she said, I think it's because of skin color.
Representative Cameron Sexton has has trafficked in racial rhetoric and racism. And so we know that this is the consequence of a body that wants to suppress not just our votes, but the votes of our districts, which are majority Black and brown. I represent one of the most diverse districts in Tennessee. And so now those 78,000 people have been silenced. Rather shameful.
INSKEEP: You accused the speaker there of racism. We'll certainly reach out to him to get his perspective on that. But I want to ask you, in the moment we have left - I've studied legislatures. I've studied the history of Congress a little bit. And there have been many occasions where a lawmaker gets in trouble with their colleagues. And one thing that they may do is go home and run in the next election, the special election to replace them, even. And sometimes the people will send them right back again, and they demand their seat back. Do you intend to do that?
JONES: We are looking at all options right now. I know the city council gets to make a special appointment to this seat. And the council has called a special meeting. And I know that a lot of the council members here are saying that they're going to reappoint me. Now the question will be, will Speaker Cameron Sexton allow me to be seated, allow us to be seated, or will he once again try and subvert the will of the voters?
INSKEEP: If the city council, which gets to make the choice in this case, sends you back, will you go back and demand your seat?
JONES: Most definitely. I will demand the voice from the 78,000 people who I represented.
INSKEEP: Justin Jones, state representative - former state representative - from Tennessee who was expelled by the Republican led House of Representatives yesterday. Thanks very much for your insights. Really appreciate it.
JONES: Thank you. Take care. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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