Bill to punish local officials who vote to remove monuments advances in House, won’t likely move in Senate

Republican lawmakers in the House on Tuesday advanced a bill that would make it a Class E felony for local officials to vote to remove historic monuments or in favor of sanctuary city policies — despite a legal expert saying the measure raises constitutional questions.

The bill previously stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is now closed and will not likely reopen, meaning the bill is likely dead for the year.

But the debate over the proposal still raised questions about how much state oversight is too much.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Dawn White, R-Murfreesboro, and Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, was introduced to force local officials to abide by state laws that prohibit the removal of historic monuments without proper permission and sanctuary city policies.

Some have said the measure was retaliation against Memphis, which sold public parks to a nonprofit, which then removed a series of Confederate monuments.

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By Tuesday, the bill had made a circuitous journey from the House floor, back to the Criminal Justice Committee, then from vote for summer study, before it was brought back for consideration.

The measure faced tough questions from three Democrats on the committee that were eventually echoed by a Republican lawmaker as well.

Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, first asked the committee’s legislative attorney, Elizabeth Insogna, whether elected officials could commit a crime by voting their conscience to represent their constituents.

“The majority that voted on removing the statues would face a felony for representing their constituency?” he asked.

But Insogna said that would be a policy determination for legislators.

Then Rep. Sherry Jones, D-Nashville, said the bill would not meet constitutional standards, and Rep. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, asked the attorney to weigh in.

“I can’t predict what a court would do, and how a court would interpret this, but I think if a local government official was charged and convicted of a crime for voting their conscience on an ordinance or resolution, I think there is at least a question whether that would be found constitutionally suspect,” Insogna said.

Akbari then told White that if she would go this far she should include the state legislature as well, saying if legislators make any votes or resolutions that run contrary to federal law they should also be subject to prosecution.

Rep. Micah Van Huss, R-Jonesborough, said it is not unprecedented to make someone a felon for their vote, citing an instance during the Civil War in which Kentucky and Maryland both intended to vote on secession from the Union and members of the Maryland legislature were arrested.

Van Huss said he felt like it was a good bill and intended to vote on it regardless of the Senate’s decision.

But Parkinson then told the committee he’d received a message from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, who said the committee, which had not put the bill on notice, would not reopen.

Then Rep. Andrew Farmer, R-Sevierville, became a dissenting voice from his fellow Republicans.

“There’s something wrong with this,” he said. “I think it has some constitutional problems.

“We pass something like this and we are going to have some of our locals say, ‘Hey, you just did this to us, I want you all to walk the walk,' " he said. " 'You’ve talked the talk, now walk the walk.' Then we’re sitting here worried about if we are going to break the law while we are trying to make good policy.”

Still, the committee voted 6-4 in favor of advancing the bill.

Reach Jordan Buie at jbuie@tennessean.com or 615-726-5970 and on Twitter @jordnabuie.