Tennessee expels lawmakers for ‘disorderly’ floor behavior. Could it happen in PA? It has

The Tennessee legislature voted to expel two members Thursday over their conduct during a gun violence demonstration the week before. Expulsions of state lawmakers, while rare, are not unheard of.

In the Pennsylvania legislature’s 341-year history, more than a dozen lawmakers have been expelled for offenses ranging from “contemptible language” to federal crimes.

Only once in this state was it for behavior that loosely resembled what prompted the GOP-controlled Tennessee state House to expel two of its members.

The offense that led to the two Tennessee Democrats’ expulsion was a rule violation for “engaging in disorderly behavior” when they led a raucous gun control demonstration on the House floor in the wake of the Nashville school shooting. The shooting left six dead, including three nine-year-olds.

A motion to expel Rep. Gloria Johnson, who also stood in the House well during that same demonstration, was defeated by a bipartisan 65-30 vote.

The ouster of Tennessee Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson marks only the third time since the Civil War that a representative in that state was expelled by their colleagues.

Expelling duly elected legislators for breaking a House rule strikes Muhlenberg College political science professor Chris Borick as a new level of partisan warfare.

Typically, breaking institutional rules is punished by a formal reprimand or censure that is brought forward and made public. Expulsions occur when members commit ethical violations, lapses in good judgment, and criminal activities, and in those instances, typically draw bipartisan support because they “brought shame to the institution,” he said.

But in this case where the legislators were expelled for what is described as a rule violation for a demonstration that had clear partisan overtones, Borick said it takes the punishment to the highest level.

“That’s relatively new in terms of legislative politics,” he said.

There have been plenty of fiery moments on the Pennsylvania House and Senate floor — with lawmakers even coming to near fisticuffs on a chamber floor on at least two occasions in modern memory — but only once did floor conduct result in an expulsion, according to House and Senate archives.

In 1840, a heated debate on the House floor that nearly erupted into a fistfight led to the expulsion of Bedford County representative Thomas M’Elwee, after he spit into a member’s face who had called him a “damned scoundrel.” M’Elwee asked the House to reinstate him but the chamber refused.

Article II, Section 11 of the Pennsylvania Constitution gives each chamber “power to determine the rules of its proceedings and punish its members or other persons for contempt or disorderly behavior in its presence, to enforce obedience to its process, to protect its members against violence or offers of bribes or private solicitation, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, to expel a member.”

Over the years, some calls for expulsions were never carried out because the member resigned, their term expired, or there simply was not enough votes to meet the minimum two-thirds majority in a chamber to execute it.

Only one member of the Pennsylvania Senate has been expelled, according to legislative records.

Allegheny County Democratic Sen. Frank Mazzei was expelled in 1975 following his conviction on federal extortion charges for taking $20,000 in kickbacks for lease of state office space in his district, according to the Senate archives.

The same year the House voted to expel Rep. Leonard Sweeney, another Allegheny County Democrat, following his conviction on mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud for filing false insurance claims.

Throughout its long history, the House has proposed expulsion or voted to expel 15 of its members although some were reinstated after apologizing shortly thereafter, according to a document from the chamber’s archives.

That includes John Bridges who was expelled in 1685 for uttering “contemptible words” against the Assembly but was re-admitted after an apology.

Rep. Emile J. Petroff, a Republican from Philadelphia, was expelled in 1876 for accepting and distributing bribes in exchange for delivering votes he promised to a Harrisburg firm. But it was voters who reinstated him. He was re-elected the next year and he served for three more years.

Whether what played out in the Tennessee House on Thursday is “a harbinger of what you may see in similar fights in other states and places like Pennsylvania. It’s hard to tell,” Borick said. “I think it’s reflective of the hyper-partisan environment we’re living in in so many places.”