REVEALED: 'I've never seen things as bad.' Veteran lawmaker mourns loss of civility in Tennessee House

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — What happens when your state lawmakers can't even talk to each other, when their disagreements risk getting physical?

Tennessee's recent special session on public safety shows how basic civility has been lost — especially in the state House — yet no one agrees about who's to blame or who needs to take the first step to address the issue.

"I started my 23rd year this year, and I've never seen things as bad as what they are in the legislature, as what they are right now," said Rep. Johnny Shaw, a Democrat from West Tennessee.

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The collapse of civility is epitomized by a physical encounter at the end of the special session between Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Democratic Rep. Justin Pearson. It was a bump or a shove, depending on your perspective.

For the Memphis Democrat, it was an example of the assault on democracy.

"When we decide to go and speak up and say something, we get pushed, again physically," Pearson told supporters.

For Sexton, it was more proof of two radical Democrats — Pearson and Rep. Justin Jones of Nashville — who view themselves more as activists than lawmakers.

"Look, you know, emotions get high. But what I do know is, look, don't come up and try to bump me," the Crossville Republican countered.

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Ironically, it marked the end of a special session that began with Shaw making a plea for civility.

"It doesn't matter if you're Democrat, Republican, whether you are Kool-Aid or whatever you are, you have a responsibility to act right on this floor," he told his colleagues during a debate over House rules.

Shaw's comments followed a regular session that saw the disruption of the Tennessee Three's anti-gun protest on the House floor, then a Republican knocking a phone out of a Democratic lawmaker's hand, leading to a skirmish among multiple legislators that threatened to become an all-out brawl.

The incident at the end of the special session, it turns out, is a case study about what happens when civility breaks down.

If you look at the video, the speaker was just coming off the dais, getting ready to go out of the chamber. He had to go through a narrow opening where Pearson and Jones were waiting, partially blocking his path.

Slow down the video, and you'll see how the speaker squeezes through, actually pulling away from Pearson, but then a member of his security detail is cut off.

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When the officer breaks through, he collides with the speaker, who appears to fall forward, veering to the right to avoid a photographer and bumping into Pearson.

"Then, as I moved forward and I keep going, Pearson tries to get between me and security and comes up on my side and bumps me back to the left," Sexton recounted.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Pearson: "Are you open to the possibility that it was not intentional?"

"If it was not intentional," he answered, "the speaker would have said 'It was not intentional, it was accidental. I apologize to Representative Pearson.'"

Pearson went even further, putting out a social media post accusing Sexton of being a "white supremacist" who had "violently shoved" him.

"I'm not accepting the speaker's narrative that he is trying to spin and try to make himself out to be the victim here — because that is another tool that is used in white supremacy that turns the person that is actually impacted into the aggressor, and I was not the aggressor in this situation," Pearson said.

And, yet, the question is: did it have to happen at all?

NewsChannel 5 Investigates told Pearson: "The criticism that I have heard is if you had not been crowding the speaker this never would have happened."

Pearson rejected that argument.

"If the speaker had passed gun violence prevention legislation, if the Republican Party had the moral courage to do the work of justice that they were elected to do, then we would not have had this discussion."

NewsChannel 5 asked Shaw: "Is it appropriate for members of your own party to be getting in the speaker's face and being confrontational on the floor?"

"I can't say it's appropriate," Shaw responded. "That's not appropriate."

Another veteran Democrat, Rep. Antonio Parkinson of Memphis, also expressed hesitation.

"Was it a good idea to be in the speaker's face? I wouldn't have done it."

Parkinson noted that Pearson and Jones would have had a right to complain if Republicans had done the same thing to them.

"Then I look at how would I respond if somebody was in my space like that. I wouldn't respond very well," he continued.

Yet, Parkinson said civility also means being willing to listen to your critics.

In one committee during the special session, Parkinson and Jones ended up shouting at the committee chairman when Republicans attempted to run a bill to allow more guns in schools, cutting off debate before Democrats could raise any objections.

"If you want to run this bill and ram it down everybody's throat — and down these people's throat — you're doing exactly that, and that's wrong!" Parkinson exclaimed.

The scene — with Parkinson and Rep. Todd Warner standing and pointing at each other — was another reminder of how much relationships in the state House have deteriorated.

AP Photo

"That was an attempt to silence me. That was an attempt to silence Justin Jones at the same time," Parkinson said.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates noted: "Republicans say, these guys know the rules. The rules are, if you have the votes, you can cut off debate. And that's just the way it is."

"And that is the rules," Parkinson agreed. "However, you still want to run these committees fairly."

Democrats point to Sexton's use of his power to cut off any debate he doesn't like, while Republicans point to Pearson and Jones' frequent rhetorical jabs at their colleagues.

"Stop using God to try to justify your bigotry," Jones said during one debate. "Stop using God to justify hatred and racism."

Sexton gaveled him out of order.

This made us wonder: is there any hope for a return to true civility in the Tennessee House?

NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked the House speaker: "Do you have any responsibility?"

"The responsibility is on them to maintain decorum," Sexton answered. "That's not my responsibility to make them have decorum."

And what about the two young Democrats who've apparently decided that, with this supermajority, shouting is more productive than talking?

"Do you feel any personal responsibility to turn down the temperature?" NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Pearson.

"We have a responsibility to protect kids, not guns," he countered.

NewsChannel 5 went back to Johnny Shaw, noting: "Both sides of this have said to me, no, that's my job, it's the other side's job."

"No, no. I disagree. I totally disagree," the veteran Democrat said. "It is all of our jobs to try to keep the temperature as cool as we possibly can."

Shaw said that, from where he sits, trying to find a path toward greater civility is part of the job he was elected to do.

"I think it is my responsibility if I can say something that makes good sense to cool the temperature, it is my responsibility, but it is as much as the other legislator's responsibility as it is mine," he added.

Rep. Jones declined our request to sit down for an interview for this story.

Of course, one of the many issues is that, with the supermajority, Republicans represent districts that have been gerrymandered to be safe districts, so they don't actually have to work across the aisle — and Democrats struggle even to be heard.

Parkinson has advocated for some sort of formal dialogue, some sort of conflict resolution process — and a couple of veteran Republican insiders told me they agree.

But, right now, it's not clear how much influence Democratic leadership has with the newer members nor is it clear that Republican leaders think they have any responsibility themselves.

SPECIAL SECTION: Revealed

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