The Tennessee state house chamber just took a step down a very dangerous path. It voted to expel one of its members on purely partisan lines (this is as of this writing -- votes on expelling two others are expected shortly). Expulsion has historically been used only in the most drastic and serious instances, such as when a member has been convicted of a crime but refuses to resign their seat. This time around, three Democrats are up for expulsion for mounting a political protest on the chamber's floor. That's it -- there was no other underlying reason. They're getting kicked out for being rude.

Here's the backstory, from a New York Times report:

Hundreds of students, parents and teachers have marched to the State Capitol since the Covenant School shooting on March 27 and have held demonstrations at the Capitol to demand action by the legislature to toughen gun laws.

Last Thursday, Representatives [Justin] Jones, [Justin J.] Pearson and [Gloria] Johnson -- whose districts are in Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis, the state's three largest cities -- interrupted the legislature by chanting "No action, no peace" on the House floor. Legislative proceedings were forced to a halt.

The speaker of the House, Cameron Sexton, responded by comparing the three lawmakers to the rioters who breached the U.S. Capitol in 2021. He called their actions "unacceptable" and a violation of House rules of decorum and procedure. By Monday, he had revoked their ID access to the State Capitol building and had stripped two of the three lawmakers of their committee assignments.

The protesters outside (and inside) the building are demanding that the state lawmakers pass a law or laws to address the epidemic of school shootings. The state legislature, however, is mostly Republican. Their answer was to move a bill on "school safety" that does nothing about guns whatsoever. So the three Democrats decided to halt the proceedings on their own.

They began their chant in the middle of the house floor, with one of them using a bullhorn to drown out any possibility of their just being ignored. According to a local news report, they were convinced to stop chanting by being "admonished by members of their own party and the speaker of the house."

This was without doubt rude and disruptive behavior. But did it really rise to the level of expulsion? There were plenty of other ways for the legislature to disapprove of their actions, some of which had already been taken ("revoked their ID access to the State Capitol building and had stripped two of the three lawmakers of their committee assignments"). They could have been censured or punished in any number of ways short of booting them out.

The Republicans, however, chose the "nuclear option" instead. Expulsion only requires a two-thirds vote, and the first vote (to expel Representative Jones) passed with a 72-25 supermajority. [Editorial Note: just before posting this article, the second expulsion vote, for Representative Johnson, failed to reach the two-thirds majority to remove her. The third vote, for Representative Pearson, will be held next.]

The three Democrats broke the rules of decorum. That is not in dispute. They were disruptive and loud, and for a short time they brought the house proceedings to a halt. But is that really enough of a reason to politically silence them by removing them from the legislature? After all, they were -- even though disruptive -- merely exercising their right to free speech. Their constituents were angry at the lack of action and were protesting in the streets. The representatives did nothing short of representing these viewpoints on the house floor.

Of course, rudeness within legislative chambers isn't exclusive to one party. We've seen that in the United States House of Representatives, mostly during annual Sate Of The Union speeches. It was shocking when a House Republican heckled President Barack Obama. It is now no longer shocking and has become almost normalized by Republicans such as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert.

The difference is that even if Democrats held a supermajority in the House, they wouldn't expel Greene or Boebert for such outbursts. They might consider removing them from committee assignments, or censuring them, or even barring them from attending the next State Of The Union speech (which would seem to be the most fitting punishment). Each would be a proportionate penalty. Expulsion -- even if the shoe were on the other foot and Democrats had the votes to do it -- would be considered too drastic a measure.

Hopefully, the actions of the Tennessee legislature will not be the start of this becoming a normalized tactic for Republicans elsewhere. While the Wisconsin supreme court election got most of the media attention, a special election for a state senate seat was also held this Tuesday. The Republican won -- which gave Republicans a two-thirds supermajority. Some are speculating that this could lead to impeachment proceedings against either the Democratic governor or the newly-elected supreme court justice (before she is even sworn in). All they'd need would be a majority vote in their state house, and now they've got the necessary two-thirds to convict in the state senate.

This is not normal "checks and balances," this instead would devolve into a "take no prisoners" attitude in politics. This is a dark and dangerous path that runs completely counter to the ideals of American democracy. Expelling elected lawmakers or impeaching state officials on purely partisan grounds "just because we can" is far from the ideal way to govern. Instead, it is anti-democratic in the extreme.

Yes, the three Democrats disrupted the state legislature. Some sort of punishment was justified. But expulsion just wasn't. Their own constituents should be the ones to pass judgment on their actions by removing them from their seats, not the opposition party. But at least the voters will get a chance to have a say on the entire matter. What happens next is that special elections will be held in the members' districts. The expelled Democrats will be free to run in these elections. And if they are returned to office by the voters, the Republicans' hands will largely be tied. Because the last word on the issue will indeed come from the voters. From a Politico report: "The state constitution forbids lawmakers from being removed from office twice for the same offense."

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant