As a sign of the eroding tenants of democracy in Tennessee, the GOP-dominant state legislature voted to silence Rep. Justin Jones once again.
Jones, D-Nashville, expressed skepticism of the Republican-sponsored bill to install armed officers in the role of school resource officers [SROs] in every public school in the state, CNN reports. This GOP proposal comes in the wake of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Nashville in March that left six people dead, including three children.
“SROs have not been shown to reduce instances of mass shootings,” Jones protested inside the statehouse. “We need to pay our teachers better, we don’t need more police in our schools.”
House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) immediately interrupted Jones by barking, “Representative Jones, you are off the bill again.”
Sexton accused Jones of violating newly constructed rules that the Republican-dominated Tennessee legislature implemented. It states that a member can lose the right to speak in legislative debates if he or she speaks out of turn. Repeat offenders can be silenced for up to the rest of the House’s annual session.
The opposition to Jones’ outspokenness automatically triggered a vote to silence Jones for the remainder of the day, 70-20, along party lines.
Democrats reportedly walked out in protest and Jones sounded off on the statehouse steps.
“What is happening is not democratic. It is authoritarianism,” Jones said in a video uploaded to X, formerly known as Twitter.
Just left the House Chamber after Speaker Sexton forced a vote to silence me for the remainder of the legislative day (for speaking “off topic”) and ordered the public cleared out of the gallery.
This is the authoritarianism we are fighting against. pic.twitter.com/xfDAh9DpmI
— Rep. Justin Jones (@brotherjones_) August 28, 2023
Both Rep. Karen D. Camper, D-Memphis, and Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, clapped back at the censuring of Jones, with Camper conveying dismay that Sexton has the sole discretion to call for a representative to be silenced. Pearson pointed out that Sexton called out a fellow Republican (Rep. Gino Bulso of Brentwood) for being out of order twice without calling for a vote to silence, leading to charges of hypocrisy by Dems.
Also, on this occasion, there were members of the electorate in attendance who also opposed the GOP-backed proposal for SROs in schools. Some of the public were also reportedly indignant that Republicans refused to put the issue of gun control on the floor. Republicans ordered the state police to remove the public from the chambers.
