// Americans have an interesting way of prioritizing form over content. Take a recent happening in Tennessee for example. Two politicians were expelled from the House of Representatives, for protesting the frequency of children being mowed down by easily accessible fire arms… too loudly.

In a rare move, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 72-25 to expel Justin Jones and 69-26 to remove Justin Pearson.

Mr. Jones, 27, and Mr. Pearson, 28, used a megaphone and banged on the House lectern as they made rousing speeches and addressed the protesters who crowded around the chamber’s public viewing platform.

“We don’t want to be up here, but we have no choice but to find a way… to disrupt business as normal, because business as normal is our children dying,” Mr Pearson said.

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To make matters worse, it seems like part of the frustration that led to the expulsion was the two expelled Justins being framed as upstarts:

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Throughout the discussion, Mr. Jones rose to speak several times, accusing his colleagues of passing “band-aid” legislation in response to mass shootings.

“It is not action that will make our students safe,” he said. “We, as elected officials, have a moral responsibility to listen to these young people who are on the frontlines who are terrified, who are here, crying and pleading for their lives.”

In response, Republican Mark White – visibly aggravated – told Mr. Jones: “Look at me. Look at the other 97 [lawmakers]. This is exactly what we’re trying to do.”

Mr White continued: “I have been up here for 14 years, you have been in this assembly for two months, three months.”

Given that these shootings have happened for a while now, I’m not sure if Mr. White’s boasting that he’s been there for 14 years is making the point he wants to make. Another point that may have been made on accident? The vast majority of Tennessee’s House of Representatives appear to care more about maintaining decorum than the Constitution. It is hard to read this fact pattern without the free speech antennae popping up — isn’t it a violation of free speech to retaliate against politicians for advocating their political beliefs? In a word, yes. In two, hell yes.

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6/SCOTUS in Bond: "The manifest function of the First Amendment in a representative government requires that legislators be given the widest latitude to express their views on issues of policy.” What happened in Tennessee on Thursday was outrageous & stupid & petty. Also illegal.

— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) April 7, 2023

Mind you, outside of this being a clear violation of the First Amendment, it is pretty damned hard to overstate how petty of a reason this is to expel two representatives. For contrast, the House opted not to expel a representative after admitting to a far more heinous series of crimes:

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Tennessee Republican Rep. David Byrd admitted to molesting three children.

Democratic Rep. @VoteGloriaJ tried to expel him from government, but the Republicans refused and continue to support and protect him. pic.twitter.com/wsvYN7q6Hr

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) April 8, 2022

Odd commitment to decorum going on here. It is worth noting the racial dimension here. The two expelled representatives were protesting with a third, Gloria Johnson. It is unclear why she was not also expelled with Mr. Jones and Mr. Pearson. Was it because she didn’t use a microphone? Who knows, but if protesting the ease with which guns can be bought and used to kill children is worth expelling representatives over, I hope that Ms. Johnson and others will follow suit.

Tennessee Statehouse Expels Democrats For Gun Control Protest [BBC]

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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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Bond v. Floyd, First Amendment, Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, Protest, Tennessee