Ousted Black lawmaker could soon return to Tennessee House
JONATHAN MATTISE
Mon, April 10, 2023 at 6:28 AM GMT+2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — One of the two Black Democrats who were thrown out of the Tennessee House last week appeared likely to get his seat back Monday, just days after the GOP exacted retribution against the lawmakers who protested for more gun control.
Nashville's Metro Council could return Justin Jones to the Legislature immediately when it votes to fill the vacant position on an interim basis.
Jones and another Black lawmaker were expelled by the Republican supermajority for their role in a gun-control protest on the House floor in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting in Nashville.
The other expelled representative, Justin Pearson, could be reappointed Wednesday at a meeting of the Shelby County Commission in his district.
The expulsions on Thursday made Tennessee a new front in the battle for the future of American democracy and propelled the ousted lawmakers into the national spotlight.
Members of the Nashville council have said publicly that they want to send Jones back to the Capitol. The vote will happen as state lawmakers hold their first floor sessions since the expulsion votes.
Special elections for the seats will take place in the coming months. Jones and Pearson have said they want to be reappointed and plan to run in the special elections.
Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton's spokesperson, Doug Kufner, indicated that whoever is appointed to the vacancies by the Nashville and Shelby County governments “will be seated as representatives as the constitution requires.”
Chilidog wrote: ↑Mon Apr 10, 2023 6:03 pm
Justin Jones is back in.
Shelby County meets WED, 3 men and 4 women on the committee are black, there are 13 members....
Republicans behaving badly
Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 6:10 pm
by pipistrelle
I'm guessing this is a state issue and the Feds can't do much about it but it seems like a bigger issue of disenfranchisement. Or something. If the supermajority wanted to make a point, couldn't they have censured them or whatever it is that's a wrist slap?
Republicans behaving badly
Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 6:24 pm
by Dave from down under
The Republicans could have
But disproportionate abuse of power is who and what they have embraced
Republicans behaving badly
Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 6:55 pm
by dan1100
Can it be time for a Writ of Quo Warranto? We can dream...
Republicans behaving badly
Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 7:09 pm
by Kendra
I was so happy to see one of the two Justins back in the House. What a stupid, stupid thing for the Rs to do, just gave the two young men a national platform. I can't recall ever seeing a cable news show interrupted the panel to show a council meeting/vote live on air.
Republicans behaving badly
Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 7:15 pm
by sad-cafe
I hate each and every repuke
Republicans behaving badly
Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 7:40 pm
by Kendra
What a powerful photo. Reps. Gloria Johnson and Justin Jones enter the Tennessee State House together — essentially giving a middle finger to every House Republican there. And later this week, Justin Pearson will join them. Republicans are about to go through some things.
I truly believe it will be the younger generation that saves us. Vote. Vote. Vote.
Republicans behaving badly
Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:12 pm
by Kendra
Let's take a moment and thank Rep. Justin Jones for showing the entire nation what courage & bravery look like. Rep. Jones showed the entire nation the power of young people & how to respond to bullies. Rep. Jones is a hero & inspiration for all of us. Thank you.
Republicans behaving badly
Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2023 10:28 am
by Foggy
That's how I see it.
Republicans behaving badly
Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2023 7:50 pm
by Kendra
Mike Huckabee says the conduct of the two expelled TN legislators is the same as J6 defendants: “They disrupted the flow of government business. That’s was the people on J6 were accused of - that’s what their big crime was.”
PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona House of Representatives on Wednesday expelled a Republican lawmaker who organized a presentation making unsubstantiated accusations that a wide range of politicians, judges and public officials of both parties took bribes from a Mexican drug cartel.
Rep. Liz Harris, a prominent supporter of discredited election conspiracies, was kicked out of the Legislature in a bipartisan vote after the presentation by an Arizona insurance agent. The lawmaker’s ouster came a day after the House Ethics Committee determined Harris had engaged in “disorderly behavior” in violation of the chamber’s rules.
The committee’s report said Harris knew the person she invited to a legislative hearing in February would accuse her colleagues of criminal activity, that she took steps to hide it from House leaders ahead of time and then misled the committee investigating her actions.
Mike Huckabee says the conduct of the two expelled TN legislators is the same as J6 defendants: “They disrupted the flow of government business. That’s was the people on J6 were accused of - that’s what their big crime was.”
I do not remember that any of the J6 visitors had been elected to participate in official business on Capitol Hill
Republicans behaving badly
Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2023 11:19 pm
by RTH10260
Joel Koskan, who ran for SD Senate, pleads guilty to 2 counts of felony incest
Annie Todd, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
Wed, April 12, 2023 at 4:23 PM GMT+2
PIERRE — Joel Koskan, who ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2022 and days before the election was arrested on charges relating to child abuse, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony incest Tuesday morning.
He was sentenced in a Hughes County court room to 10 years in the South Dakota State Penitentiary.
"This is the first part of the healing process," Judge Margo Northrup said during the hearing.
Koskan, 44, originally faced felony child abuse charges for acts that allegedly took place between October 2014 and October 2016, according to court documents filed in November. He exposed his victim, a now 20-year-old woman, to "sexual grooming behaviors."
Sen. Mike Moon reiterates support for 12-year-old's right to marry in Missouri
Andrew Sullender, Springfield News-Leader
Wed, April 12, 2023 at 10:24 PM GMT+2
During debate Tuesday on a bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, Missouri State Senator Mike Moon suggested children as young as 12 should have the right to marry with parental permission.
"Do you know any kids who have been married at age 12? I do. And guess what? They're still married," Moon said in response to questioning by Democratic state Representative Peter Meredith. A clip of the interaction has garnered attention on social media.
A southwest Missouri Republican from Ash Grove, Moon's support of child marriage in some instances has been long documented. In 2018 Missouri passed a law raising the marriage age in the state from 15 to 16 and requiring parental permission for older teenagers to marry. Moon opposed the bill at the time — citing the same anecdote of a couple he met in college who had married one another at age 12.
He said they were still happily married and acknowledged that while they provided an extreme example, they were "something to ponder."
Moon's support of the practice resurfaced during a committee hearing on a bill introduced by Moon that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender children. If passed the bill would ban health care providers from performing gender-affirming surgeries on any minor or from prescribing or administering cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs to a minor for a gender transition, unless such minor was receiving such treatment prior to August 28, 2023.
In debate on the bill, Rep. Meredith cited Moon's stance on child marriage as inconsistent with his aim of protecting children through his bill banning transgender care for minors.
"I've heard you talk about parents' rights to raise their kids how they want. In fact, I just double checked. You voted no on making it illegal for kids to be married to adults at the age of 12. If their parents consented to it, you said actually, that should be the law because it's the parents right and the kids right to decide what's best for them. To be raped by an adult," Meredith said.
In response Moon said that he knows someone married at 12 and "they are still married."
Sen. Mike Moon reiterates support for 12-year-old's right to marry in Missouri
Andrew Sullender, Springfield News-Leader
Wed, April 12, 2023 at 10:24 PM GMT+2
During debate Tuesday on a bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, Missouri State Senator Mike Moon suggested children as young as 12 should have the right to marry with parental permission.
"Do you know any kids who have been married at age 12? I do. And guess what? They're still married," Moon said in response to questioning by Democratic state Representative Peter Meredith. A clip of the interaction has garnered attention on social media.
A southwest Missouri Republican from Ash Grove, Moon's support of child marriage in some instances has been long documented. In 2018 Missouri passed a law raising the marriage age in the state from 15 to 16 and requiring parental permission for older teenagers to marry. Moon opposed the bill at the time — citing the same anecdote of a couple he met in college who had married one another at age 12.
He said they were still happily married and acknowledged that while they provided an extreme example, they were "something to ponder."
Moon's support of the practice resurfaced during a committee hearing on a bill introduced by Moon that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender children. If passed the bill would ban health care providers from performing gender-affirming surgeries on any minor or from prescribing or administering cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs to a minor for a gender transition, unless such minor was receiving such treatment prior to August 28, 2023.
In debate on the bill, Rep. Meredith cited Moon's stance on child marriage as inconsistent with his aim of protecting children through his bill banning transgender care for minors.
"I've heard you talk about parents' rights to raise their kids how they want. In fact, I just double checked. You voted no on making it illegal for kids to be married to adults at the age of 12. If their parents consented to it, you said actually, that should be the law because it's the parents right and the kids right to decide what's best for them. To be raped by an adult," Meredith said.
In response Moon said that he knows someone married at 12 and "they are still married."
Mike Huckabee says the conduct of the two expelled TN legislators is the same as J6 defendants: “They disrupted the flow of government business. That’s was the people on J6 were accused of - that’s what their big crime was.”
Mike fuckabee should just worry about helping his daughter get all the praise she deserves!
Republicans behaving badly
Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2023 10:06 am
by Kendra
BREAKING
Tennessee House Speaker
@CSexton25
secretly bought a 600K home in Nashville
He went to extensive efforts to shield the purchase from the public
It raises serious Qs about whether Sexton legally represents his district and whether he is misusing taxpayer funds
Mike Huckabee says the conduct of the two expelled TN legislators is the same as J6 defendants: “They disrupted the flow of government business. That’s was the people on J6 were accused of - that’s what their big crime was.”
Mike fuckabee should just worry about helping his daughter get all the praise she deserves!
My god, he has visibly aged 20 years in all of 2. (Is neon being mean again?)
Republicans behaving badly
Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2023 10:25 am
by Kendra
Not mean this time neon.
Republicans behaving badly
Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2023 10:28 am
by Tiredretiredlawyer
Hubby found this recording of the Tennessee Republican legislators in a closed meeting about the expulsion votes. Enjoy!
