Name: Tennessee legislature cracks down on protesters, making it a felony to camp overnight outside Capitol
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Tennessee legislature cracks down on protesters, making it a felony to camp overnight outside Capitol

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Nashville TennesseanAs protesters continued their two-month, round-the-clock demonstration just outside Capitol doors, the Tennessee legislature on Wednesday approved a bill that will make it easier for state troopers to file charges against the group.The&nbsp;legislation was promised by House leadership in early June when demonstrations against police brutality —&nbsp;and later against Gov. Bill Lee and the General Assembly&nbsp;—&nbsp;began increasing in Nashville.The bill —&nbsp;which will cost as much as $1.3 million&nbsp;per year between state and local government —&nbsp;was a source of contention between the House, Senate and governor's office, undergoing numerous rounds of changes into the final hours of the special session.Lee's office, which stayed out of public discussion surrounding the bill, internally raised concerns about the extent of some of the punishments in light of the governor's&nbsp;desire to implement various criminal justice reform measures.TENNESSEE LEGISLATURE:DEMONSTRATIONS:There was also back-and-forth between the chambers on how harshly to punish protesters for camping overnight on state property. While the final version ultimately made the offense a felony,&nbsp;the Senate at first passed the bill with an amendment that kept it a misdemeanor.Democrats largely resisted the legislation, and some Republicans raised questions and concerns about repercussions for people who aren't actually protesting, such as families having a picnic or a person taking a midday nap on War Memorial Plaza."We are using a bazooka to go after a house fly here,” said Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, during Senate floor debate on the bill."Are we really saying that a citizen of this state can be punished with a year in prison and have a felony record because&nbsp;they camped on public property? That should be a bridge too far."Class E felonies in Tennessee are punishable by up to six years in prison. Felony convictions also result in the loss of a person's voting rights.Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, who had filed the amendment Wednesday morning to make the camping offense a misdemeanor, said during a press conference afterward that "it was a little heavy handed" for the offense to become a felony.But the "overall benefits" of the bill outweighed any discomfort he and other Senate Republicans had with the measure.The Senate passed the bill 26-5 on a party-line vote, with a single GOP member, Nashville Sen. Steve Dickerson, opposing it. The House approved the legislation 71-20.Despite earlier versions establishing an effective date in September and October, the bill will now take effect upon becoming law, which means after Lee signs it or allows it to become law without his signature.PREVIOUSLY:While House Majority Leader&nbsp;William Lamberth, R-Portland, filed a version of the bill Friday that would have taken&nbsp;away discretion from local district attorneys who determine that a particular offense shouldn't be prosecuted, that provision was ultimately removed after pushback from prosecutors around the state.The final version of the bill did not authorize the state attorney general to step in and prosecute those cases, as Lamberth had proposed, but rather will call attention to any local prosecutor who declines to move forward with protest charges by requiring the District Attorneys General Conference to file an annual report about how those cases were handled.The legislation also requires that protesters charged with unauthorized camping, vandalism of state property, disrupting a meeting and certain other protest-related offenses&nbsp;be held for at least 12 hours without bond, by default. A magistrate must argue in writing that the defendant won't resume the behavior to avoid the mandatory hold.Such a hold isn't mandated in state law for the vast majority of other criminal offense, including those that are more serious.According to an estimate from the legislature's fiscal review office, the bill is expected to cost the state an additional $504,200 annually for incarcerations, and local governments&nbsp;$894,300 each year after 2021.In Senate committee hearings Tuesday and Wednesday, members heard live video testimony from several protesters who have been part of the ongoing People's Plaza demonstration set up across the street from the Capitol. Among them was activist Justin Jones, who is a leader of the group and has been arrested in several occasions since the protest began two months ago.The House, despite allowing a limited number of members of the public to attend its proceedings, did not hear testimony from the group."Rather than looking for ways to arrest them for signs and chalk and raising voices, we can build a better state," said the Rev. Venita Lewis, another one of the group's leaders who has been active in civil rights protests for several decades.Republicans in both the House and Senate have pointed to protesters' heckling of members this week, including blocking the garage that legislators use, shouting at them in their vehicles and, at one point, surrounding Sen. Joey Hensley's SUV as he was traveling on Martin Luther King Boulevard in front of the Capitol, placing signs over his windshield and refusing to move until troopers intervened.&nbsp;"The thing is, what I wish I could convey to people is that it's really hard to be sympathetic to what someone is saying when they are yelling at you, when they're trying to shame you, when&nbsp;they're calling you names and so forth," said Sen. Kerry Roberts, R-Springfield, recalling being shouted at by protesters as he walked down a sidewalk.Roberts clarified that he did not fear for his safety, but felt "extremely uncomfortable."During the House floor debate, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, asked if troopers had suffered any injuries during recent protests."In terms of reality, has there been someone injured at the Capitol?" Stewart asked Lamberth. "Has there been an actual event that has precipitated this multi-page bill imposing all these penalties?"Lamberth did not reply with any instances, but noted that officers are assaulted around the state in other situations unrelated to protests.Rep. Larry Miller, D-Memphis, was among the Democrats&nbsp;a House committee on Tuesday debating Lamberth on the necessity of the bill."A&nbsp;felony is a felony is a felony," Miller said. "And a felony will follow you for the rest of your life. Mr. Leader, do yo know the impact that a felony will have on an individual?"Rep. Jason Hodges, D-Clarksville, referenced a gathering of rifle-toting gun rights supporters who congregated outside the Capitol earlier this year&nbsp;—&nbsp;in an area now blocked off to protesters&nbsp;— that did not prompt a large law enforcement presence.“We seem not to worry about protesting when white people show up with AR-15s," Hodges said. "But when Black people show up with signs, we try to pass legislation ... maybe that’s why they’re out there in the first place."Debate on the bill repeatedly turned to recollections of the large anti-income tax protests outside the Capitol nearly 20 years earlier, where conservative activists at times resorted to throwing rocks at the building, in one instance into the office of Gov. Don Sundquist.To prove a point about the historic role of disruptive protests across a spectrum of causes, Rep. Bill Beck, D-Nashville, asked Lamberth what participants in the Boston Tea Party would have been charged with under the proposed law.Lamberth declined to answer."Democracy is messy," Beck said. "It's not clean-cut. There's a lot of gray. Everything's not black and white. I think there's a lot of unintended consequences in this bill."Rep. Johnny Shaw, a Democrat from Bolivar, called the bill "a great piece of legislation," but said he could not currently vote for it due to confusion among constituents who thought it would prevent them from being able to march in protest.The bill also:Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at .Want to read more stories like this? A subscription to one of our&nbsp;&nbsp;gets you unlimited access to all the latest politics news, podcasts like Grand Divisions, plus newsletters, a personalized mobile experience and the ability to tap into stories, photos and videos from throughout the USA TODAY Network's 261 daily sites.

Nashville TennesseanAs protesters continued their two-month, round-the-clock demonstration just outside Capitol doors, the Tennessee legislature on Wednesday approved a bill that will make it easier for state troopers to file charges against the group.The&nbsp;legislation was promised by House leadership in early June when demonstrations against police brutality —&nbsp;and later against Gov. Bill Lee and the General Assembly&nbsp;—&nbsp;began increasing in Nashville.The bill —&nbsp;which will cost as much as $1.3 million&nbsp;per year between state and local government —&nbsp;was a source...

Tennessee legislature cracks down on protesters, making it a felony to camp overnight outside Capitol

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