1 yr. ago • 98%

Both expelled members of ‘Tennessee Three’ win back their state House seats

apnews.com Both expelled members of ‘Tennessee Three’ win back their state House seats

Tennessee Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones have reclaimed their legislative seats after they were expelled for involvement in a gun control protest on the House floor.

85 comments

The people have fucking spoken.

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- Twice.
  
  98
  
  Three times!
  
  Elected, reinstated, reelected!
  
  70
- The people have spoken, and shockingly republicans spent a fuck load of the tax payers money to be sure that they didn't misspeak.
  
  80
  
  'Taxpayer money.'
  
  They'll do unlimited court attacks, knowing that they can't actually be forced to pay for the nonsense.
  
  If you made police unions liable for police violence, you'd see a rapid drop in aggressive policing.
  
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This is the best summary I could come up with:

The young Black lawmakers were reinstated by local officials after being booted from the GOP-dominated Statehouse, but only on an interim basis.

Thursday’s election came as lawmakers are preparing to return to Nashville later this month for a special session to address possibly changing the state’s gun control laws.

While Jones and Pearson’s reelection to their old posts won’t make a significant dent to the Republican supermajority inside the Legislature, they are expected to push back heavily against some of their GOP colleagues’ policies.

It wasn’t until this spring that their political careers received a boost when they joined fellow Democrat Rep. Gloria Johnson in a protest for more gun control on the House floor.

The demonstration took place just days after a fatal shooting in Nashville at a private Christian school where a shooter killed three children and three adults.

The move briefly left about 140,000 voters in primarily Black districts in Nashville and Memphis with no representation in the Tennessee House.

I'm a bot and I'm open source!

119
- Good fucking bot
  
  44
  
  Right?? I was about to thank the dude for such a thoughtful tldr but it's just a bot
  
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Fuck yeah! These guys were impressive before all the bullshit went down, and it just made them even more motivated. It also forced them to be fully empowered by their constituency, multiple times, which is just the icing on the cake. Can’t wait to see what they get up to!

Side note, I dare you to listen to Pearson and/or Jones for more than a few minutes and not tear up. They’re legitimately inspiring and damn good at their jobs.

60
You okay, US? Been removing voting locales, preventing people from getting hydrated when standing in line, literally trying to prevent the end of an election cycle and now... this.

Democracy, does that mean anything anymore over there, or is it just decorative?

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- We're are learning that building a government based on the idea that the members of that government will act in good faith was fucking stupid.
  
  Here's to hoping we can figure out how to solve the bad-faith problem without Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo.
  
  19
  
  You know, I've heard it said that democracies founded in Europe after WW2 had an advantage because they could see the result of mistakes in the USA's founding.
  
  Like clearly X, Y, and Z was a mistake that they couldn't have known at the time - but now we know better, so let's not repeat that.
  
  3
- No, we are not ok. Please send help.
  
  8
- Hey, don't lump the rest of the country in with these ass-backward hillbillies. This kind of shit only happens in red states.
  
  7
- It was fucked when they were expelled buy that collection of racist idiots. This took a while to happen, but I'm relieved the second rep regained his seat.
  
  6
- republicans have increasingly made "This is not a Democracy, it is a Republic" one of their rallying cries.
  
  That about sums it up
  
  6
This is excellent news. America needs to keep fighting back.

I didn’t realize they were both named Justin. Good job, Justins.

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- 💀
  
  8
  
  I thought they were called a Justice.
  
  3
This makes me happy!

36
Those two have immaculate hair!

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- Just one of many great features.
  
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I am not a fan of gun control but I am a fan of free speech. I am glad these young men are back in office. Opposing views are important for democracy.

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- Bit hypocritical that you're into vehicle control SpeedLimit55
  
  25
  
  Lol yep!
  
  6
- Out of curiosity, why are you ~~against~~ not a fan of gun control?
  
  What kind of gun control laws do you think people are trying to pass that you would consider unnecessary or dangerous?
  
  11
  
  I’m not a fan of government regulations beyond basic safety measures. Guns don’t just randomly shoot people.
  
  -16
What about the 3rd one?….🤔

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- She never lost it.
  
  44
  
  How strange, I wonder what was different about the third one as opposed to these two guys...
  
  43
  
  Oh that’s awesome
  
  Edit: that’s right, I forgot the expulsion was racially motivated
  
  16
Good they deserve it.

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Good! We need more people like them in government.

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Can’t get rid of these communists

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- Not sure you know what communism is.
  
  So, economically and socially successful countries like, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, France, Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, etc are all "communist" countries, right?
  
  In that case, sign me up for communism.
  
  10
  
  My dude probably thinks that neoliberals are left wing too
  
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- 💀
  
  6

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