.SenSchumer & SenatorWarnock asked the DOJ to investigate the expulsions of two Tennessee Democratic state lawmakers after they disrupted a legislative session protesting for stricter gun control laws.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Raphael Warnock wrote a letter asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to"use all available legal authorities" to determine whether the expulsions violate federal statutes and “take all steps necessary to uphold the democratic integrity of our nation’s legislative bodies.”The senators argued that the removals may have violated the state representatives' First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly after state Reps.
This is the first response to the situation despite several Democratic leaders speaking out against the expulsions of Jones and Pearson. They were expelled last Thursday, with the Nashville Metropolitan Council voting to reinstate Jones to the state House on Monday. “We do not believe that breaking decorum is alone sufficient cause for employing the most draconian of consequences to duly-elected lawmakers,” the senators wrote in the letter via the Washington Post. “This is un-democratic, un-American, and unacceptable, and the U.S. Department of Justice should investigate whether it was also unlawful or unconstitutional.”
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