Justin Jones, a Black man from Tennessee who was serving in the Tennessee legislature until the state House recently approved his expulsion, is now back in office after a local governmental body in Nashville voted unanimously in favor of his return.
Although Jones was expelled, there were no binding rules against the Metro Council in Nashville, which was tasked with selecting his interim successor, sending him back. That same body had also approved a suspension of its own relevant rules to allow a quicker vote instead of a weeks-long process allowing for various possible replacements.
The GOP’s effort to go after Jones and fellow Democratic members of the same legislative chamber Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson took place after the three of them joined in support of protests for gun control — a show of support they carried out with a megaphone at the front of the House chamber itself. Recently, demonstrators in Tennessee have also gathered inside Tennessee’s Capitol building, which is situated in Nashville, which saw the recent mass shooting at a private Christian school in which three children and three adults were killed. That incident has led to a surge of activism not just in Tennessee but around the country, with students across age ranges holding walkouts recently to demand action to stop gun violence, which continues to threaten many Americans. There has already been another mass shooting, which this time took place in a Louisville, Kentucky, bank.
Like Jones, Pearson and Johnson were also up for votes on their possible expulsions, and the state House expelled Pearson, who is also Black, but kept Johnson, who is a white woman, making for a pretty clear distinction in the legislative chamber’s handling of the situation. Elsewhere, a county government body in Shelby County, Tennessee, will be meeting later this week to vote on potentially sending Pearson back to his seat as well, although both would still have to participate in special elections in coming months because of Republicans’ actions. It’s probably safe to assume both will get additional terms, considering what’s likely the Democratic lean of their areas and the fact that it would seem unlikely somebody is going to try launching a serious primary campaign now. Who would want to run against these guys?
“I want to welcome democracy back to the people’s house,” Jones said in a speech to fellow legislators on the occasion of his return. “I want to thank you all, not for what you did, but for awakening the people of this state, particularly the young people. Thank you for reminding us that the struggle for justice is fought and won in every generation.”
Image: Gage Skidmore/ Creative Commons
