On Monday, only a few hours before the Tennessee House of Representatives convened for the special session on public safety, the House’s Ad Hoc Committee on Rules met in House Speaker Cameron Sexton’s conference room and decided to recommend new rules for the special session.
The meeting was not listed on the online House calendar where a member of the public or the press could see it and choose to attend, and no members of the public or press attended. This lack of public notice was in contrast to the previous House rule committee meeting that occurred before the regular General Session in January, which was listed in advance on the calendar.
The rules themselves would be different, too. For the special session, the committee decided to change Rule 4 to bar the public from having signs in the House galleries, which meant, the House leader said, all galleries, including the House committee rooms.
“No voice or noise amplification devices, flags, signs, or banners shall be permitted in the galleries of the House of Representatives,” said the new prohibition added to Rule 4. The rules were adopted later that afternoon on the House floor over objection from Democrats.
State troopers remove women for silently holding signs on 8.5 x 11 paper
The next day, on Tuesday, three women were removed by Tennessee Highway Patrol officers from a House Civil Justice Subcommittee meeting for holding signs that said “1 Kid>All the Guns” on 8.5 x 11-inch pieces of paper.
“And I will tell you this, if there’s an ongoing problem with signs, we’ll just clear the whole room,” the chair of the committee, Rep. Lowell Russell, told the audience. Later, he did just that after the room erupted in applause when a bill that would have allowed guns to be carried in schools by some gun permit holders was taken off notice.
On Wednesday, American Civil Liberties Union-Tennessee filed the lawsuit on behalf of the three women, Allison Polidor, Erica Bowton and Maryam Abolfazli. In Polidor v. Sexton et al, the women allege that under the rules, they “were denied their constitutional rights to speak freely, assemble, and petition the government.”
“These rules are unreasonable,” said ACLU-TN Legal Director Stella Yarbrough. “The Tennessee House’s ban on silently holding signs in House galleries directly undermines Tennesseans’ First Amendment right to express their opinions on issues that affect them and their families.”
Judge issues temporary restraining order barring enforcement of sign ban
Davidson County Chancellor Anne Martin issued a temporary restraining order on Wednesday, enjoining enforcement of the “no sign” provision of the House rules.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti Attorney General defended the sign ban in a motion filed Thursday and asked for an expedited hearing to dissolve the court’s order. Martin set a hearing for 11 a.m. Monday, exactly a week after the rules were adopted.
Skrmetti argues that the judge’s order is an undue incursion into the separation of powers and that the sign ban and other rules are “not a dangerous departure from the norm that required urgent correction,” but are “entirely consistent with parallel rules” in other state legislatures, and Congress.
He says the women have not proven that the sign ban violated their freedom of speech and that the House’s legislative galleries are “nonpublic fora subject to relaxed constitutional scrutiny.”
The legislative video from the committee meeting does not show the women holding the signs, except for two who held the signs as they were escorted out through the front of the room in view of the camera. But video from media reports document some of what happened, showing them silently holding their signs.
‘House rules … disallow use of signs’
Russell, the chair of the committee, was a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer himself until he was severely injured in 2012 when a tractor-trailer hit his patrol car during a traffic stop on Interstate 40, causing it to burst into flames with him inside. He wrote a book about the event and his long road to recovery.
Last week, he started the Civil Justice Subcommittee meeting by telling the audience that everyone must be seated and those who could not find seats should go to the viewing areas outside the hearing room. He also alerted the audience to the new rules: “House rules also disallow the use of signs in committee. Please refrain from displaying signs during the committee hearing.”
A moment later, he said, “I still see some signs. You can either exit the room or put them up. And I will tell you this, if there’s an ongoing problem with signs, we’ll just clear the whole room.”
A few moments later, “Trooper, the third one back in the center needs to exit the room. The other one holding the sign up needs to exit the room also.”
The video then shows one woman escorted out by troopers. Then another call from Russell: “Trooper, the lady back there holding the cell phone standing up in the blue needs to leave the room.” Then another woman is escorted out in the front, holding up their signs.
After the women left, the committee meeting began, with various committee members welcoming people in the audience to the meeting. The room was still packed.
After the House bill on carrying guns in schools was taken off notice, citizens erupted in applause. Russell asked the audience, “Are we going to quiet down and listen or are we going to sit there and clap?”
The clapping continued. “OK, troopers, let’s go ahead and clear the room,” Russell said.
“Would it be possible to just clear the half that’s causing the trouble?” one lawmaker asked.
“I don’t know that we can determine the half, so let’s just clear the room… No, this is their third time. Troopers, clear the room.” Russell said.
This isn’t the first time signs have been an issue at the Legislature. A few years ago, the House banned signs in committee rooms on the reasoning that the sticks used to hold them could be weapons and that when the signs were held up, they blocked others’ views. After pushback, the ban was eased for signs that did not block others’ views and were not on sticks.
Despite the House’s actions to ban signs during the special session, the Senate did not, with at least one Senate committee chairman welcoming people, along with their small signs, as he started the meeting.
