The governor of Tennessee quietly signed a bill that would make it a felony for protesters to camp out at the state capital in Nashville.
The bill signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee makes it a Class E felony to camp out on state property. However, Lee did so without making the customary announcement to the media after the passage of an important bill, according to The Hill. The bill would order a 45-day mandatory minimum sentence for aggravated rioting. It would also raise fines for blocking highway access for emergency vehicles, and increases the punishment for aggravated assault against a first responder to a Class C felony.
Furthermore, those who are convicted of any felony in the state of Tennessee are automatically denied the right to vote.
Lee’s bill is in response to the months of mass demonstrations that took place to protestthe violent, on-camera death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day 2020.
“We are very disappointed in Governor Lee’s decision to sign this bill, which chills free speech, undermines criminal justice reform and fails to address the very issues of racial justice and police violence raised by the protesters who are being targeted,” American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee executive director Hedy Weinberg told The Hill publication. “While the governor often speaks about sentencing reform, this bill contradicts those words and wastes valuable taxpayer funds to severely criminalize dissent.”
Even though he said publicly that there are parts of the bill that he would “would have done differently,” Lee signed the bill into law anyhow.
