Stockard on the Stump: Constitutionally suspect bills draw mixed results

The Tennessee Supreme Court. (Photo: John Partipilo)

An ode to a bug, written and produced for the Stump and sung to the tune of “Margaritaville,” RIP Jimmy Buffett: “Wasted away again in ol’ Cicada-ville, searching for my lost skeleton shell / Some people say that there’s a worm in my brain / But I know it’s an insect’s fault. (hell, it could be my fault)”

And with that tomfoolery out of the way, let us commence:

A year after trying to hammer Metro Nashville with legally suspect laws, Tennessee lawmakers tapped the brakes on bashing the capital city this year but still managed to turn out some constitutionally questionable bills.

Notably, Republican legislators admitted they’re bucking for a showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court, setting a scenario similar to the one in which the Legislature passed an abortion “trigger ban” in hopes the high court would reverse Roe v. Wade. Sure enough, the court turned back the 1973 law, enabling state legislatures to ban abortions.

(If there was ever any doubt that lawmakers at the state and federal levels want to control people’s bodies, consider the potential move to restrict contraception, announced this week by former President Donald Trump, the holder of all moral truths but keeper of none.)

The Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that the death penalty is unconstitutional in child rape cases. That is lost, though, on state lawmakers, and with an ultra-conservative court in charge, they passed the bill allowing prosecutors to seek the death penalty for child rape convicts, in addition to life in prison and life without parole.

Predictably, Gov. Bill Lee signed it into law in early May, though the Associated Press reported he didn’t do it to pursue a Supreme Court reversal, only because he felt it was a “heinous” crime.

Some Republican lawmakers conceded privately this session they had concerns about the bill but didn’t want to be seen as soft on child rape – especially in a GOP primary – and wound up voting for the measure sponsored by House Republican Majority Leader William Lamberth of Portland. One wonders if they were worried about getting House Republican Caucus money, too.

While Tennessee’s Legislature is pushing for change, a case in Florida – where a similar law was passed under the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis – could prove to be the high court’s test, the AP reports.

Opponents of the bill argued that it could stop victims from coming forward, especially if the perpetrator is a father, uncle or stepfather. 

They might as well have been talking to the wind.

Similarly, the Legislature passed bans this year against anyone besides a parent or guardian taking a minor out of state for an abortion or transgender-affirming treatment. We know this sort of abortion care is a widespread problem because we’re told of at least one case by Republican state Rep. Jason Zachary of Knoxville (Has anyone heard whether he’s running for mayor yet?).

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, a constant thorn in the Legislature’s unconstitutional side, sent Gov. Lee a letter urging him not to sign the abortion transportation bill. 

The ACLU contended the bill forces minors “to disclose their pregnancy status in potentially unsafe home environments and limits their ability to access the support of those they trust when they need it most.”

We wonder if the governor ever listens to the ACLU, even though it has a better track record in court than the state.

The governor is likely still looking at those bills, according to a spokesperson, but he addressed the abortion bill in early May, saying, “Parents are the ones who absolutely know best about their own children and should be the ones making decisions for their children, particularly an incredibly important decision like that one.”

Of course, that would be true as long as a parent or guardian isn’t the culprit.

Bloody tired

Lawmakers might have grown weary of getting their legal hat handed to them after attacking Metro Nashville a year ago when the council refused to approve a deal to bring the Republican National Convention to town. 

After all, their record on constitutional challenges is far from stellar despite the creation of judicial panels to hear their travails. 

Courts found laws giving the Legislature majority control on the Metro’s airport authority, seats on sports authority and changes to the votes needed for improvements at the fairground unconstitutional. The attorney general appealed the airport authority ruling, according to the Tennessee Journal.

An argument over halving the Metro Council to 20 members – which even some critics of the law believe could be a good move – remains in court. Both sides made arguments this week. 

In light of the ongoing drama and a honeymoon between legislative leaders and new Metro Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, lawmakers (make that the Senate) declined to pass a spate of pile-on bills this year.

The Senate Judiciary Committee killed a bill by Republican Rep. Gino Bulso, a Brentwood attorney, that would have removed circuit, chancery and other lower courts from handling challenges to state law. Bulso contended it was legit, even though it wasn’t.

The Senate State and Local Government Committee also sent a bill to the legislative scrap heap that would have stopped local governments from reappointing expelled lawmakers. Republican Rep. Johnny Garrett of Goodlettsville, still smarting from a shellacking in the expulsion of the “Tennessee three,” argued the bill was constitutional even after a House committee attorney told him it wasn’t.

For those who might have forgotten, the Republican-controlled House expelled freshmen Democratic Reps. Justin J. Pearson of Memphis and Justin Jones of Nashville last year for leading an anti-gun protest on the House floor, only to see them bounce back like a boomerang the next week when their local governments reappointed them. Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville narrowly avoided ouster that evening.

Garrett’s legal argument this year – one that only House members could grasp because it made no sense – didn’t fly very far, and senators sent the measure into the netherworld.

Likewise, the full Senate banished a schoolhouse flag restriction bill after Lt. Gov. Randy McNally said it would probably fail in court because House sponsor Bulso singled out the Pride flag in debate. Bulso said he’d heard of a Williamson County teacher putting a Pride flag on the desk, thus a state law was required. 

But McNally noted he was tired of losing lawsuits to the ACLU, and, in a rarity, the Senate defeated it in a floor vote. (Not that everything they do is good, either, far from it. A bill has to be really horrible to die there.)

Out of touch?

Tennessee has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation, and they’re getting stricter based on this year’s abortion travel restriction for minors. Yet Vanderbilt’s most recent statewide poll found the majority of voters, 52%, consider themselves pro-choice, that’s 93% of Democrats, 54% of independents and 30% of non-MAGA Republicans. The poll showed a shift from May 2024 when 45% of registered voters considered themselves “definitely” or “somewhat” pro-choice, and up from 48% just two years ago.

“There is clear evidence that Tennessee is a ‘pro-exception’ state, with voters accepting of the right to choice in cases such as rape, incest, the health of a mother or fetal viability, but now the state has moved into pro-choice camp,” said Vanderbilt’s John Geer, who co-heads the poll.

In 2023, lawmakers rang their hands and passed a bill allowing women to have abortions only when they’re about to die. 

Don’t look for the Vandy poll to lead to more abortion exceptions, though, because Republican leaders really don’t care what the majority of Tennesseans think, only how they look to voters in a primary pounded by Tennessee Right to Life and other red-meat GOP groups.

From the good grief file

The Federal Election Commission sent a batch of warnings to Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles of Columbia last year notifying him it was ready to audit his campaign finance account or take “enforcement action” for a spate of violations, such as accepting excessive contributions from the House Freedom Caucus.

Clearly he needed the money.

Fast forward to this May, and Ogles continued to deliver on his habit of deception with amendments showing he didn’t really lend his campaign $320,000, only $20,000, according to NewsChannel5.

The Columbia Republican, beneficiary of 5th District gerrymandering, also announced in early 2022 that he raised $453,000 in the first 30 days of his campaign, only to file a late report showing he brought in $264,400. That’s off by $188,600, a mere typo. 

Ogles released a statement Thursday saying he pledged $320,000 toward his campaign, made up of “documented assets,” including bank and retirement accounts.

“While we only needed to transfer $20,000, unfortunately, the full amount of my pledge was mistakenly included on my campaign’s FEC reports,” he said in a statement. Ogles noted the amendments were filed after consulting with attorneys and the FEC.

Nothing like a $300,000 error to match the other one. 

The former state director of Americans for Prosperity is on the verge of leading the league in lying. If not for goofballs such as former Republican U.S. Rep. George Santos of New York, he’d win the Silver Slugger award for whoppers about his education, career and even fundraising for a child’s burial garden – never built.

Metro Councilwoman Courtney Johnston, who is running against Ogles in the Republican primary, put out a statement Thursday pointing out his 11 amended filings show hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of discrepancies.

“Andy Ogles lied to the federal government and got caught. Normal folks get in big trouble for lying to the feds about money, but Andy is a politician who thinks he deserves a free pass and two more years of a taxpayer salary. If Andy Ogles is willing to lie about his own money, what won’t he lie about?” Johnston said in a statement.

It’s early in the campaign, but at this point we must ask: Can anyone take Ogles seriously? The answer is: Not if they’re in their right mind. But we don’t expect a lot of our congresspeople, or any politician for that matter.

Work on those autographs

State Rep. Bo Mitchell is suing the Davidson County Election Commission, claiming it showed a “farcical display of incompetence” in wrongfully approving the qualifying petition of his Republican opponent, Metro Councilwoman Jennifer Frensley Webb who is running against him for the House District 50 seat.

Mitchell’s lawsuit comes after state Rep. Jones narrowly skated by a complaint about his qualifying petition. Apparently, he turned in a sheet with only 26 names and barely reached the 25 required.

Mitchell, a Nashville Democrat known for challenging the House speaker with bombast, contends the commission’s decision will require him to spend heavily to beat Webb even though she “failed to qualify for election as required by law,” according to The Tennessean and other reports. Mitchell says the commission, in making its decision, should have stuck to the nominating petition and voter registration cards, which contain a person’s signature. But alas.

Call me crazy – or maybe it’s just the cicadas – but you’d think putting together a qualifying petition would be a simple thing to do, and getting a lot more than 25 in case some are tossed. “I’m running for House District 50. Will you sign my qualifying petition?”

Maybe not.

“It seems to me I could live my life a lot better than I think I am.”

Rush, Working Man

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