October 4th 2023.
Tennessee Representative Justin Jones has taken drastic action by filing a federal lawsuit against his state's Speaker of the House, Cameron Sexton, for the unequal treatment he has faced in comparison to his White colleagues for the same conduct.
The lawsuit, as reported by The Hill, claims that Sexton and other three state House officials violated the Fourteenth Amendment, as it reads, “The government denied equal protection to Representative Jones in treating him differently than similarly situated white House members for the same conduct.”
Jones was expelled from the legislative body for a protest he had participated in, but a White colleague, Gloria Johnson, who engaged in the same kind of protest was not, and was even allowed to serve on a committee before her expulsion. In addition, Jones was denied any seniority status or retirement benefits from the Tennessee Legislature.
According to Nashville News Channel 5, the complaint also states that Jones was prevented from speaking on behalf of his constituents because he was denied his seat on the Government Operations committee to which he was appointed. Jones also claims that the changes to the Rules of Order of the Tennessee House of Representatives in August amount to a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech and the Tennessee Constitution.
Jones' lawsuit pushes back on claims that the protest that led to his expulsion was in violation of the House rules. He told reporters from WPLN, “I was the only member ruled out of order and had my microphone cut off when I was questioning about where in the rules can we hold the speaker accountable for abusing the rules.”
The people of District 52 deserve to have their voices heard without any threat of silencing and retaliation, and with this federal lawsuit, Jones is standing up for the rights of his constituents.
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