Justin Pearson Reappointed To Tennessee House After Controversial Expulsion
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Posted By: S. Moore on April 13, 2023 Justin Pearson is headed back to the Tennessee state House after Shelby County Commissioners reappointed him Wednesday (April 12) to the seat that Republicans expelled him from less than a week ago. The GOP-dominated House accused Pearson and fellow Democrats Reps. Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson, dubbed “the Tennessee Three,” of leading an inappropriate protest in the chamber with anti-gun violence demonstrators. They voted to oust Pearson and Jones, who was reinstated to his seat April 11. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that Pearson, 28, is expected to be sworn back into office at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday (April 13) and rejoin the House. County commissioners have the authority to make an interim appointment to the House when a seat is vacated. The appointee then serves until voters choose a permanent representative in a special election. Pearson has said he plans to run in that election. Before the commissioners voted on Pearson’s appointment, the expelled lawmaker marched with his supporters over a mile from the National Civil Rights Museum to the county commission meeting. “The movement lives or dies in Memphis, and here at this hallowed place we are showing the United States of America…that the movement is still alive,” Pearson told the crowd, echoing the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., according to The Commercial Appeal. What happened April 7 was an extraordinary move by the Republican supermajority. Forced expulsions are rare in the Tennessee House, according to The Tennessean. Only eight lawmakers in the state’s history were removed from office, including six following the Civil War. The Tennessee Three's offense was joining a public protest for meaningful gun control legislation. The three lawmakers led gun reform chants with a bullhorn, briefly disrupting House proceedings three days after shooter Audrey Hale, armed with assault-style rifles, fatally shot three 9-year-old children and three staff members at The Covenant School, a private Christian school, in Nashville. In a divisive partisan vote, the GOP supermajority expelled Jones and Pearson in a political act that garnered national attention and criticism as anti-democratic and racist move. Johnson, a white 60-year-old retired teacher from Knoxville, survived the expulsion vote. Pearson is a native Memphian who came to politics as a community activist. He was known for leading a campaign that opposed plans to lay an oil pipeline over an aquifer that provides drinking water to 1 million people, according to The Associated Press. He won his House seat in a special election earlier this year by a large margin. SOURCE BET If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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