A bill to dissolve Tennessee’s independent civil rights watchdog agency and transfer its powers to the state’s attorney general drew heated criticism Wednesday from a Nashville Democrat, who suggested the state’s top legal officer is too partisan for the job.
Sen. Charlane Oliver of Nashville cited Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s history of involvement in Republican-led challenges to legal protections for women, transgender individuals and against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Skrmetti has led or joined lawsuits that include a challenge to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s rule prohibiting discrimination against women seeking abortions, litigation seeking to stop transgender medical care for minors and sent letters to corporations warning them against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, among other actions.
“How can pregnant women trust the attorney general’s office will defend their right to fair employment given it has previously taken action to restrict their ability to seek relief,” Oliver said during a meeting of the Senate Government Operations Committee.
“He has not proven to be an unbiased independent agency or appointee,” she said. “We clearly see that. This is a massive expansion of the attorney general’s responsibilities.”
Republican Sen. John Stevens of Huntingdon, cosponsor of the legislation, noted that different divisions of the Attorney General’s office would operate independently of one another.
Stevens’ proposed legislation (SB861/HB910) would dissolve the Tennessee Human Rights Commission by July 1, and transfer its responsibilities and 30 employees to a newly-created Civil Rights Enforcement Division within the Office of Attorney General. Rep. Johnny Garrett, a Goodlettsville Republican, is a cosponsor of the legislation.
The 60-year-old commission is a nonpartisan and independent agency responsible for enforcing civil rights laws in employment, housing and public accommodation – and discrimination claims against the state of Tennessee.
Should the bill become law, about 1,000 pending discrimination complaints before the commission would be dismissed, forcing the individuals who brought them — and the employers and institutions who have spent time and money defending themselves — to start anew, Muriel Malone Nolen, the commission’s current executive director, has said.
The bill also includes proposed changes to Tennessee anti-discrimination laws related to schools, creating a pathway for those denied admission or participation in campus activities on the basis of “race, color or national origin” to file civil rights complaints with the attorney general – a provision widely understood to give white students a basis to file claims against educational institutions that have diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
The commission has come under legislative scrutiny in recent years over internal turmoil.
Last year, a vice chair resigned after being accused of disparaging remarks about LGBTQ individuals and ethnic communities.
In 2022, allegations of a toxic and abusive workplace forced then-Human Rights Commission executive director Beverly Watts to step down. Watts has denied the allegations.
The nine-member Human Rights Commission has been operating with just five members in recent years, in part because Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton – who is responsible for the appointment of three of its members – has failed to add new members.
This story was originally published by the Tennessee Lookout.
