Lawmakers were just expelled in Arizona and Tennessee. Are guardrails on behavior fair?

Two Democratic representatives in Tennessee were expelled this month over their involvement in gun control protests in the House of Representatives chamber after a deadly school shooting in Nashville. Another was allowed to remain by a one-vote margin.

Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, accused the GOP-led House in Tennessee of racism and oppression after their expulsion.

House Republicans said it was the representatives' leadership during the protests that took place on the House floor that led to their removal, not race. A few days later, local officials voted Jones and Pearson back in.

A representative in Arizona also was expelled, but in a vastly different situation. 

Rep. Liz Harris, R-Chandler, was expelled from the House of Representatives for disorderly behavior after allowing her guest on an election review panel to falsely accuse lawmakers and other officials of taking bribes from a drug cartel.

Expulsion is the strictest form of discipline a member of a legislature can face, and it hadn’t happened in Arizona since 2018.

Harris was one of three people whose names were submitted to the county Board of Supervisors, the body that will appoint a replacement. And the two lawmakers from Tennessee swiftly rejoined their colleagues.

It all begs the question: Is there a better way to put guardrails on ethical behavior by elected officials?

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, host Mary Jo Pitzl is joined by two guests to sort through the happenings and differences in the two cases.

Arizona Republic state politics reporter Ray Stern discusses the Rep. Liz Harris case. Later, ethics scholar Dr. John Pelissero analyzes the similarities and differences between what happened with the representatives in Tennessee and what happened in Arizona.

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