(CNN) After being sworn back into the Tennessee House of Representatives Monday, a lawmaker who was ousted days ago for a gun control demonstration on the chamber floor said he will continue to call for gun reform.
“The first thing I’m going to do when I walk into this building as a representative is continue to call for commonsense gun legislation,” Democrat Justin Jones said as he stood on the Capitol steps after his again on Monday.
Jones and another Black Democrat, Justin J. Pearson, was forced out of the Republican-controlled legislature last week, after a protest on the chamber floor spurred by last month’s mass shooting at a Nashville Christian school that left six people dead.
The third Democrat who joined them in protest, Rep. Gloria Johnson, avoiding deportation.
The Nashville Metropolitan Council voted 36-0 Monday to reappoint Jones to the House of Representatives, making him the representative for House District 52 — but this time on an interim basis. State law allows local legislative bodies to appoint interim House members to fill the seats of ousted lawmakers until an election is held.
“Today we send a resounding message that democracy cannot be killed in the comfort of silence,” Jones told a cheering crowd Monday after marching back to the Capitol.
Now technically a new member, Jones said he can file 15 bills. He will work on gun reform legislation when he returns Tuesday, he told CNN Monday night. Each of the bills has something to do with gun reform, he said, because “that’s what young people are asking us to do.”
Tennessee House Republicans released a statement Monday, saying, “Tennessee’s constitution provides a path back from expulsion. If any expelled member is reappointed, we will accept them. As others, they are expected to follow House rules as well. as state law.”
Jones’ return “just feels right,” Johnson told “CNN This Morning” on Tuesday, stressing the need for “young, vibrant voices” like Jones and Pearson willing to engage fight for their constituents.
“It’s great that he’s back in good health,” he said, “so supported not only by his district but by every district in Davidson County.”
Meanwhile, Pearson’s still-vacant District 86 seat is scheduled to be discussed Wednesday during a meeting of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners in Memphis, announced Commission Chairman Mickell Lowery, who said Pearson’s ouster “was done in haste.” method without consideration of other methods of correction.”
“To anyone who doubts the South, anyone who doubts the power of Tennesseans to advocate for an end to gun violence, anyone who doubts the movement to end assault weapons — anyone who doubts the movement, here’s your answer: The movement is still alive,” Pearson said while standing on the Capitol steps next to Jones on Monday.
Pearson told CNN’s John Berman that while Monday brought celebration for Jones’ return, it was also a tragic day marked by a shooting in Louisville, Kentucky — less than a month after the school shooting in Tennessee lawmakers prompt protests.
The Louisville shooting points to a “sad reality we have that we’re not doing enough to prevent gun violence,” Pearson added.
“It’s also a painful moment to recognize that our lawmakers and people like (Speaker of the House) Cameron Sexton and the Republican party in Tennessee and across the South of this country have not done enough to keep guns out of people’s hands and do everything the holistic work of gun control that is needed in places in our communities,” Pearson told CNN.
The Rep. of State Justin Jones made the remarks outside the state Capitol in Nashville on Monday.
What happens next?
Since there are more than 12 months until the next general election in November 2024, a special election will be held to fill the seats, according to the Tennessee Constitution.
No date has been set for a special election, but state law says the governor must schedule it within 55 to 60 days.
It appears that both Jones and Pearson are eligible to run again for their seats in the special election. In the meantime, “the legislative body of the replaced county of residence of the legislator at the time of his election may choose an interim successor,” the state Constitution says.
Sexton, the Speaker of the House, indicated earlier Monday that he would not block the appointments if local governing bodies choose to send Jones and Pearson back to the chamber.
“The two governing bodies will make the decision on who they want to appoint to these seats,” a spokesperson for the speaker’s office told CNN on Monday. “Those two individuals will sit as representatives as required by the constitution.”
On Monday, Jones called for Sexton’s resignation.
“He is an enemy of democracy, and he should no longer be in the office of a speaker of the House,” Jones told CNN.
Johnson agreed, accusing Sexton of limiting debate on the House floor until last week, when the nation’s eyes turned to watch the measures against Jones, Johnson and Pearson.
“Prior to the hearings, we had a healthier debate on the bills than I think we’ve had in three or four years on the House floor,” he said on CNN Tuesday, “because people watching.”
CNN has reached out to Sexton for comment.
In ousting Jones and Pearson last week, Republicans held a party-line vote to oust them, accusing them of “knowingly and intentionally” bringing “disorder and embarrassment to the House of Representatives” without known to speak, CNN affiliate WSMV reported.
While the state Constitution says members can be expelled for misconduct with a two-thirds majority vote, they cannot be expelled “a second time for the same offense.”
The expulsions were ‘unconstitutional,’ the lawyers said
Lawyers for the ousted representatives — among them former US Attorney General Eric Holder — sent a letter to Sexton Monday, calling their removal “unconstitutional.”
“Their partisan expulsion is unusual, illegal and without any historical or legal precedent,” the lawyers said.
Attorney Scott J. Crosby — who represents Jones and Pearson, respectively — urged the House not to “compensate for its mistakes by taking any additional retaliatory actions.”
“Any partisan retributive action, such as discriminatory treatment of elected officials, or threats or actions to withhold funding for government programs, will constitute additional unconstitutional action requiring compensation,” the letter says.
The Congressional Black Caucus released a statement Monday after Jones was returned to his seat.
“While this is what Nashville residents deserve, we must recognize that Rep. Jones was reappointed to his position not because the Republican majority did the right thing, but because Rep. Jones’ constituents in Nashville, joined by supporters from all over our country, peacefully expressing their concerns about the prevalence of gun violence in our communities and the ongoing Republican assault on our democracy,” read the statement.
CNN’s Aya Elamroussi, Shawn Nottingham, Theresa Waldrop, Amy Simonson, Ritu Prasad, Kelly McCleary, Devon Sayers, Sara Smart, Tina Burnside, Isabel Rosales, Kevin Conlon, Mitchell McCluskey and Amy Simonson contributed to this report.
