House Speaker Beth Harwell wants to expel embattled Rep. Jeremy Durham from the Tennessee House of Representatives if he chooses not to resign.
Although the Tennessee Constitution states it would take a two-thirds vote of the House to expel a member, a spokeswoman for Harwell said the attorneys are reviewing the constitution and “also precedent as to the actual mechanics of the process.”
A Tennessean investigation found three women who said Durham sent them inappropriate text messages, something Durham says he doesn’t remember. Durham denies sexually harassing anyone. He has resigned his position as House majority whip and his place in the House Republican Caucus, but is adamant he won’t resign from the legislature.
If the House voted to remove the Franklin Republican, he would become only the second House member expelled in the past 150 years.
On Jan. 14, 1980, 92 members of the House voted to expel Rep. Robert Fisher for attempting to commit the felony of accepting a bribe, said legislative librarian Eddie Weeks. As the Nashville Post reported Wednesday and The Associated Press reported in 1987, Fisher, from Elizabethton, was convicted of asking for a payoff from the sheriff of Carter County to end a dispute between the sheriff and the county commission.
Before Fisher, the House hadn’t expelled a member since July 26, 1866, Weeks said.
In something of a stirring story, six members were expelled at the time for their role in trying to stop Tennessee from ratifying the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, according to the 1890 edition of the “Official and Political Manual of the State of Tennessee.” The amendment granted citizenship to former slaves.
“In order to enforce a quorum to pass legislation to ratify the amendment, warrants of arrest were ordered issued by the House of Representatives for the following members, to wit: A.J. Martin, of Jackson County; Pleasant Williams, of Carter; G.D. Foster, of Hamilton; G. Brittle, of Smith; Porter, of Henry; and Marshall, of Benton and Humphreys, whose seats were declared vacant and they were expelled,” states the manual.
“Brown, of Madison, M.E.W. Dunnaway, of Bedford, and Overstreet were arrested, but not expelled.”
It’s still unclear if (continue reading at Tennessean)