Lee’s signing of the bill comes just a week after the GOP-controlled General Assembly first passed the legislation. Currently, Senate Lieutenant Governor and Speaker Randy McNally, a Republican, touted the bill as a preventative measure against the formation of autonomous zones like those in other major cities.
The sponsor of the bill, Leader William Lamberth, Republican House, said at the same news conference that the bill was to scrape “criminal elements” and protect lawmakers.
“And then specifically on the criminal justice reform bill that is shrinking on criminal elements that there are unfortunately very difficult for people to even visit this capital,” Lamberth said.
“Whenever a law enforcement officer is attacked, I would agree that there is actually an attack on the state of Tennessee and all of our people, because that official is really there to protect and serve us. From when this bills have been signed by the governor or go into law … any officer can be sure that they are more protected than they are right now, “Lamberth said.
The Tennessee chapter of the ACLU declared Lee’s signing of the bill a “cool on free speech.”
“While the governor often talks about reforming the ordinance, this bill is at odds with those words and wastes valuable taxpayer funds to severely criminalize dissent,” Hedy Weinberg, executive director of ACLU of Tennessee, said in a statement to CNN.
“This law also deprives individuals of their right to vote if they are convicted of these new criminal charges. We will closely monitor the enforcement of this law and urge Tennesseans to go out and vote as their rights depend on it,” he said. Weinberg.
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