Gloria Johnson speaking truth to power.
4 days ago, Tennesee State House members Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were expelled from the the Tennessee State House for participating in a gun protest at the Tennessee Capitol.
A third lawmaker, Gloria Johnson, who is neither a man nor Black, was not expelled by 1 vote, and when asked why she was not expelled, observed that, "Might have to do with the color of my skin." (True dat)
This is despite the fact that senior Republicans in the legislature threatened to eliminate hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for Nashville if they reinstated them.
Given the laws as I understand them here, and I am an engineer, not a lawyer, dammit,* threatening retaliation for the lawful exercise of power by the Council, probably State House Speaker Cameron Sexton or his Evil Minions™, would be a criminal act.
It appears that the Shelby County Council (Memphis) is poised to reinstate Justin Pearson in the next few days.
Meanwhile, it appears that a number of mrdia outlets are taking a deep dive on Speaker Sexton because of his recent notoriety, and, as often happens when large numbers of journalists decide to get up in someone's business, some interesting things have been discovered, such as his residence being falsified to run in his distract and potential misappropriation of state funds:
Last week, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) led the charge to expel two members of the Tennessee House, Justin Jones (D) and Justin Pearson (D). Jones and Pearson were expelled for expressing solidarity with protesters in the House gallery who were calling on the legislature to take action after a mass shooting left six people, including three children, dead. (Sexton also voted to expel Representative Gloria Johnson (D), but she retained her seat.) According to Sexton, Jones and Pearson were expelled for breaking "several rules of decorum and procedure" by speaking from the floor without being recognized. No one in the history of the Tennessee legislature has ever been expelled for a procedural violation.
But while Sexton is imposing draconian punishment for technical violations of procedural rules, an investigation by Popular Information reveals that Sexton may be in violation of the fundamental rules of the legislature prescribed in the Tennessee State Constitution. Specifically, Article II, Section 5a of the Tennessee State Constitution states: "Each district shall be represented by a qualified voter of that district."
Sexton represents the 25th district, a community located about 115 miles east of Nashville. It is a deep red district, and in 2022, Sexton won reelection with more than 82% of the vote. There is evidence, however, that Sexton is not a qualified voter of the 25th district.
On his official website, Sexton lists his address in Crossville as 186 Homestead Drive, a more than 4,000 sq foot, four-bedroom home that sits on more than an acre of land. But, according to property records, Sexton sold that house in October 2020 for $420,000. Sexton then purchased a much smaller, 1200 sq foot, two-bedroom condo in a nearby retirement community. Sexton listed that condo as his residence when he filed to run for reelection in 2022.
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While the evidence suggests that Sexton lives in the Nashville area, Sexton still collects tens of thousands of dollars from Tennessee taxpayers based on the premise that he is a full-time resident of Crossville.
Under Tennessee law, during the legislative session, all members receive a per diem expense "for meals and incidentals equal to the allowance granted federal employees for such expenses in the Nashville area." In 2022, that was around $79 per day. But members who live more than 50 miles outside of Nashville are entitled to a much larger per diem, $313 in 2022, to cover the cost of lodging in Nashville. These per diems are also available when the legislature is out of session if a member has to travel to Nashville to conduct official business.
Sexton has taken the larger per diem, which is pegged to the cost of a hotel room in Nashville. On the form, Sexton claims a roundtrip commute of 236 miles. During the 2022 legislative session alone, he billed taxpayers $19,093.
As some random dude said a few years back, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," though honestly I prefer the expression, "F%$# around and find out."
Tennessee House Speaker Sexton has F%$#ed around, and he is about to find out.
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