Tenn. bill criticized for targeting Muslims splits Tea Party

NASHVILLE  Jon Campbell considers himself a loyal member of the Tea Party.

The Kingsport man is a conservative Christian who wants the government to keep its hands off his wallet and his personal life. And that's why, he said, a bill in the Tennessee Legislature that originally targeted supporters of Islamic law is a bad idea for Tennessee. State officials could have used the bill to punish unpopular groups, he said.

Today, that's Muslims, he said. Tomorrow, that could be the Tea Party. He pointed to a 2009 report by the Missouri Information Analysis Center, funded in part by the Department of Homeland Security, that labeled Ron Paul supporters as potential terrorists.

"If you don't like the ideas that someone supports, how is that illegal?" he said.

The Material Support to Designated Entities Act, proposed by state Sen. Bill Ketron and state Rep. Judd Matheny, both Republicans, exposed an ideological divide in Tennessee's Tea Party. It split Libertarians who supported Paul's candidacy for president from social conservatives concerned about national security who have supported Ketron and Matheny.

The split aligned Tea Party members who strictly interpret the Constitution with some unexpected groups over the bill, which -- until it was amended last week -- would have allowed the governor and attorney general to use secret evidence as proof that a group is involved in terrorism. The bill also would have presumed that any group they designated a terrorist entity was guilty until proven innocent, opponents said.

About the bill The Material Support to Designated Entities Act lets Tennessee officials prosecute people in state court who support terrorist groups.

Why is it controversial? The bill originally targeted groups that support Sharia, or Islamic law, as potential terrorists. A second version took out references to Sharia and Islam, but still raised constitutional questions.

Where does it stand? A third version that leaves the call on which groups are terrorist up to the U.S. State Department passed the House on Friday and the Senate on Saturday. That version is now before Gov. Bill Haslam .

Libertarian objections helped convince the bill's supporters to scale back the legislation. An amendment leaves decisions over which groups are terrorists to the State Department, which already maintains a list of terrorist organizations. The amendment also toughened state penalties for supporting terrorist groups.

The state House on Friday night approved that version of the bill by a 76-16 vote. The Senate passed it 26-3 Saturday afternoon, sending it to Gov. Bill Haslam for signature.

The changes came after a campaign in which the American Civil Liberties Union and Tennessee Muslims opposed the original bill. They continued to press lawmakers to drop the bill even after Matheny and Ketron agreed to take out language that had specifically targeted groups that support Sharia, or Islamic law.

Republican Rep. Jon Lundberg referred to the bill as "the ultimate in truly Big Brother" when it was in committee. Prior to casting a vote for the bill Friday, Lundberg said his fears had been eased when the provisions he objected to -- those allowing secret evidence and giving state officials broad powers to decide which groups support terrorism -- were removed.

"How this came to this floor was frankly a pretty ugly process," Lundberg said. "I can support it now."

In its final form, the bill makes it possible for Tennessee officials to prosecute in state courts people who knowingly provide support to terrorist groups, said Matheny. It also makes support for terrorist organizations a Class A felony, which would add about 11 years to the average prison term for people convicted of breaking the law, according to an analysis prepared by legislative staff.

Carol Swain, a Tea Party supporter and Vanderbilt University political science professor, dismissed the idea that law-abiding citizens needed to fear the more controversial version of the Material Support bill. She said followers of Paul are a fringe element of the Tea Party. She thinks the benefits of the Material Support bill to fight terrorism were worth it.

"We should all be against terrorism," she said.

Ketron has denied that the bill targets Muslims. But while his bill was being scaled back, he distributed copies of a video that claims the Islamic Center of Nashville has been involved in teaching radical Islam. The video was made by the Boston-based Americans for Peace and Tolerance with help from the Tennessee Freedom Coalition, a new nonprofit run by Tea Party favorite Lou Ann Zelenik who made an unsuccessful bid for Congress last year.

Asked Thursday if he believes the Islamic Center of Nashville could have been labeled as a terrorist group under his bill, Ketron issued this statement: "Your question regarding whether or not I have said or implied that the Center is a terrorist organization is absurd. I have never said that, inferred it or even suggested it. I provided copies of a DVD produced by an independent organization containing information regarding activities of concern within our state to members of the Senate. The members were free to view the video or not and draw their own conclusions. Period."

Sabina Mohyuddin of Tullahoma, a Muslim who has been an outspoken critic of the Material Support act, said she was surprised to hear that some tea party members oppose the bill.

But their similar feelings proves the point that she and other critics of the bill have been trying to make, she said -- the bill can punish people for the ideas.

Mohyuddin believes that religious groups are particularly at risk, since they often try to change laws to support their beliefs.

"If a church shows a film about abortion and how inhumane abortion is, and then someone decides to take matters in their own hands and kill an abortion doctor, should the church be designated at a terrorist group?" she said. "People say that it won't happen to them, but it could."