let you literally in front o the hole - that s exactly what happened today. sherrilyn, to go back to th broader context here, this is very aggressive jury gerrymandering in the state, among state assembly lines obviously, it s a very republican state, but it s a enormous lopsided 75 to 25 something in that range. you know, we ve seen this in wisconsin, we ve seen it i north carolina, a state that s very, very hotly contested i which there s two thirds majority is now in both houses thanks to that gerrymander we see it in state after state that s part of what facilitating this here even though tendencies a conservative state and doe have a republican, you know, statewide office, part o what s facilitating this is th way they ve drawn the district so that they have the power to do what they are doing today absolute power corrupts absolutely and today was a example of an abuse of power i do want to say a word abou due process because when you have the kind of supermajority that they
house and everything, but supported justin pearson fro afar i will continue to do that and i will continue to ask all o you all to help make sure we get these fabulous young men back to the house. i have with me here at th table harry lippman and, you know, you and i were jus discussing, as we took tha quick break, that we have little bit of precedent fo something that did happen like this in the 1960s, when a youn julian bomb elected to the state house in the state o georgia. yeah, i think we have a lot of precedent so, they refused to seat him basically because, and interim me anytime if you want, bu they refuse to seat him becaus of his views on the vietnam wa and the supreme court night zi says a 1995, you can t do that he has the same first amendmen rights as any citizen. i can t see how that can b reconciled with what they ve done here. everybody understands it s really about gun control they are going to, say oh, it just breaking the rules of the house, it s an insurrection
of democracy every legislature has rules, and rules for the quorum, rule for the conduct, rules for committees, and they also have sanctions for violations o those rules. and they are on a slidin scale. one can be reprimanded, one ca be sanctioned, one can b stripped of committe assignments, which all three o these representatives were o the day of their protest but the most extreme i expulsion because expulsion is a sanction not just agains representative, but against th voters who voted them into office justin pierson and justi johnson were just elected. they are in their first session. justin johnson was sworn in on january 10th this is what they did to these young men who just entered the state house. and if you heard - chris, i m sure that, you know your other guests can attest t this, this is part of a broade context of what has been happening in the house the silencing of democrati
so that they have the power to do what they are doing today absolute power corrupts absolutely and today was a example of an abuse of power i do want to say a word abou due process because when you have the kind of supermajority that they have in this house and you have a speaker willing to wield that power in the way this speaker is, then th immediate thing that follows this process the last representative who wa expelled in 2016, when thi came out today, it was shocking there was an ad hoc committe appointed to investigate the motion to expel that investigation was brought an all the materials and th evidence was shared with the entire house, in advance of th trial and hearing. i mean, there was a whol process that was followed. none of that happened with these young men. when i spoke to justin jones yesterday, he didn t even know what the process was going t be today he didn t even know how long he d be able to talk
you hear them saying thank you they are stomping as those three lawmakers are standing i the center with her arms raised it s unclear if they are about to speak or not, but just an incredible day here. i ve spoken to people who have gone through the gamut o emotions today, feelin disappointed, because they fee like this is an attack o democracy, and just feelin unclear about what exactly the path forward is, after something like this happens. and there are also questions that we are beginning to hea about what role, if any, - played in all of this. we know that gloria johnson wa the only person saved in all o this and i had an opportunit to speak with representative jones, and he says, he feels unequivocally that this was political lynching, that rac did play a role in this, and w heard him on the house floor accusing republicans of trying to treat him like an uppit knee grow, as he put it, tha needed to be put in his place.