Democrats want attorney general to probe expulsion of 2 Tennessee lawmakers

April 12 (UPI) -- A handful of Senate Democrats, led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to launch a civil-rights investigation into the expulsion of two Black Tennessee lawmakers.

The move comes after Nashville officials reappointed state Rep. Justin Jones to his post this week and as Memphis officials voted unanimously Wednesday to send Justin Pearson back to his House seat, too.

Seven Shelby County commissioners, all Democrats, were present for Wednesday's special meeting, which required a unanimous vote for Pearson's reappointment.

"We do not speak alone. We speak together. We fight together," Pearson said after the vote. "So a message for all the people in Nashville who decided to expel us: You can't expel hope. You can't expel our voice. You sure can't expel our fight."

Last month, Jones, Pearson and State Rep. Gloria Johnson protested on the Tennessee House floor against gun violence connected to the school shooting in Nashville that left six people dead.

"When we went to the well of the House myself, Rep. Johnson and Rep. Jones, we said we have an allegiance to a people, people who are tired of business as usual," Pearson said.

Republicans said all three violated decorum rules. Johnson, a white woman, survived expulsion by one vote while Jones and Pearson, both Black males, were expelled from the body.

In a letter calling on Garland to use "all available legal authorities" in his investigation, Schumer was joined by Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.; Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.

"Their tragedy shattered hearts across our country and galvanized Americans -- particularly young Americans in Tennessee -- to peacefully demand their legislators act," the letter to Garland said, according to The Hill.

"These deeply moving expressions of democratic participation follow America's long tradition of peaceful, non-violent protest, perfected during the struggles and triumphs of the Civil Rights Movement," the letter reads.

The senator's letter cites a unanimous 1966 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court for the examination of a possible law violation by Tennessee legislators. In that case, Bond v. Floyd, the high court ruled unconstitutional the Georgia House's refusal to seat a Black lawmaker Julian Bond because of a speech against the Vietnam War.

"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, according to The Washington Post.

House Republicans had not commented on the letter as of Wednesday afternoon.