A bill that would have prevented Tennessee state courts from hearing challenges to Legislative rules failed to pass a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, effectively shelving the measure this year.
The bill was brought by Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, and Sen. Adam Lowe, R-Calhoun, months after a Davidson County Chancellor issued an injunction that blocked the Tennessee House of Representatives from banning members of the public from holding signs during a special session last August.
Chancellor Anne Martin ruled the sign ban during the highly-charged session on gun violence would likely be found unconstitutional at trial, but the ACLU of Tennessee, who represented three women challenging the rule, agreed to the case being dismissed as moot after the five-day session came to a close.
Bulso, an attorney, said earlier this year that he has sponsored the bill “just to enforce the constitutional provisions that deal with the General Assembly.”
The bill, had it become law, was likely to have faced a legal challenge of its own.
This article was originally published by The Tennessee Lookout.
