Tennessee judge temporarily blocks rule banning public from holding signs during legislative hearings News
Ichabod, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Tennessee judge temporarily blocks rule banning public from holding signs during legislative hearings

A Tennessee judge temporarily blocked a rule on Wednesday that banned the public from holding signs during legislative proceedings in the state’s House of Representatives. This was done as part of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of three mothers who were removed from the house gallery for holding signs protesting gun violence.

“We applaud the court for taking swift action to protect the free speech rights of Tennesseans,” said ACLU of Tennessee Executive Director Kathryn Sinback. “Democracy depends on people’s ability to express their opinions to their elected representatives on issues they care about, and this unreasonable rule stood in the way of people fully participating in the democratic process.”

The rule in question, Rule 4, was part of a broader rules package for a special session of the legislature focused on public safety. It declared that “no voice or noise amplification devices, flags, signs, or banners shall be permitted in the galleries of the House of Representatives.” Three mothers who were impacted the Covenant School shooting on March 27 attended the session with small signs saying that kids’ lives are more important than guns. They were removed for these signs and subsequently filed a lawsuit claiming that the rule violates their constitutional rights.

Specifically, the mothers argued that Rule 4 violates provisions in Tennessee’s state constitution that protect freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, as well as the First Amendment of the US Constitution. In their lawsuit, they claim that “the Rules of Order are entirely unreasonable and do not further the purpose of the forum.” The temporary block means that the three mothers, and other members of the public, can bring signs to the house gallery while the lawsuit moves forward.

Tennessee has been grappling with how to respond to gun violence since the March shooting at the Covenant School. In April, the state house’s Republican majority voted to expel two out of three Democratic lawmakers who led a protest against gun violence on the house floor. The incident quickly gained national attention, with President Joe Biden inviting the lawmakers to the White House and thanking them for “standing up for our kids.” Both lawmakers who were expelled later won August special elections to complete their term and have returned to the legislature.

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