State files motion to dismiss lawsuit concerning signs at House meetings
State claims the question before the court is not what rules should apply, but who should decide what rules apply.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - The state has filed a motion in Davidson County Chancery Court to dismiss a lawsuit filed earlier this week by three women who were removed from a House committee meeting for holding a sign after rules were made to not allow them.
The motion filed on Thursday afternoon asks for an expedited hearing within 24 hours if the lawsuit isn’t dismissed. The hearing is scheduled in Davidson County Chancery Court at 11 a.m.
“The Court should dissolve its temporary restraining order. The law allows the extraordinary and drastic ex parte remedy only upon a clear showing of an entitlement to equitable relief. Plaintiffs have not (and cannot) carry that burden – a conclusion the State would have demonstrated had it been given an opportunity to respond before the court enjoined a co-equal branch on a mere hour’s consideration,” the motion stated. “The core question before the court is not what rules should apply to at the special session, but rather who should decide what rules should apply.”
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The state claims in the motion that the temporary restraining order “intrudes on the core exercise of a co-equal branch’s authority. The disregard for separation of powers in this instance threatens to erode the structural protections that fortify the judicial and executive branches against undue incursion by the General Assembly.”
Three women, identified in the lawsuit as Allison Polidor, Erica Bowton, and Maryam Abolfazli, were removed from a House committee meeting on Tuesday for holding small signs urging gun control.
WSMV4 has reached out to ACLU-Tennessee, which represents the plaintiffs, for a statement about the state’s motion.
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