by State Senator Mark Norris

“…and for any speech or debate…they shall not be questioned in any other place.”
-Article II, Sec. 13, Tennessee Constitution

With apologies to Peter Taylor, author of the novel by the same title, I have been summoned to Memphis to appear in federal court thanks to Ophelia Ford. Thus, I find myself in the midst of a legal battle of potentially historic, constitutional proportions.

You see, I have been sued by someone who wants to be a State Senator simply for doing my job as a State Senator.

Under the subpoena received yesterday, I am required to leave the Tennessee Senate in the midst of special session to testify in Ford’s case tomorrow. I am to appear at the federal courthouse in Memphis one hour before I am also to appear on the floor of the Tennessee Senate in Nashville. When the Senate convenes, I will either not be at my Senate desk representing my constituents, or I will risk contempt of the federal court for doing my job as a State Senator. I will not be able to appear in both places at once.

This has become a constitutional struggle not only over the right to free and fair elections, but the preservation of republican government itself. If I comply with the subpoena, the voters of my Senate District will arguably be disenfranchised by these federal proceedings.

Separation of powers, federalism, states’ rights, equal protection and free speech are all at stake.

The Tennessee Constitution provides that the “senate…shall…be judges of the qualifications and election of its members.” The Tennessee Supreme Court holds that “the senate is the sole and exclusive judge.”

Accordingly, when a Resolution was introduced in the Senate setting forth voting irregularities, illegalities and fraud in the District 29 election, I spoke on the Senate floor about the importance of preserving the sanctity of the electoral process; protecting legitimate votes from dilution by illegal votes. To fail to overturn the election, I argued, violated equal protection of all voters. It is what patriots from Susan B. Anthony to Martin Luther King fought for right here in Tennessee.

The Tennessee Constitution also provides that “for any speech or debate… (Senators and Representatives) shall not be questioned in any other place.” This is identical to the same privilege set forth in the Constitution of the United States.

It is called the Speech or Debate Clause. It is deeply rooted in our Nation’s history and was preserved by the founders as a fundamental legislative freedom to preserve liberty. James Wilson, who was partially responsible for the federal provision, said:

“In order to enable and encourage a representative of the public to discharge his public trust with firmness and success, it is indispensably necessary, that he should enjoy the fullest liberty of speech, and that he should be protected from the resentment of every one, however powerful, to whom the exercise of that liberty may occasion offence.”

- II Works of James Wilson (Andrews ed. 1896) 38.

This important principle has been upheld over the years by the United States Supreme Court as well. In Tenney v.Brandhove, Justice Frankfurter recognized that “as other States joined the Union or revised their Constitutions, they took great care to preserve the principle that the legislature must be free to speak and act without fear of criminal and civil liability.”

That historical freedom has never been more important. United States Supreme Court Justice, William O. Douglass, said it best:

“Free and honest elections are the very foundation of our republican form of government. Hence any attempt to defile the sanctity of the ballot cannot be viewed with equanimity. When corruption enters, the election is no longer free, and the choice of the people is affected.”

If only I could say that without getting hauled into court.