August 14, 2020
Sent via electronic mail
The Honorable Bill Lee
State Capitol, First Floor
Nashville, TN 37243
Dear Governor Lee:
On behalf of millions of Tennesseans who support freedom of speech
and the right to petition their government — rights guaranteed under
the United States and Tennessee Constitutions — we urge you to veto
SB 8005. The ACLU of Tennessee opposes this legislation because it
chills free speech, undermines criminal justice reform, and fails to
address the issues of racial justice and police violence raised by the
protesters currently outside the State Capitol.
Under the guise of protecting our first responders, this bill attacks our
free speech rights, intentionally chilling the act of protesting by
threatening those individuals with overly harsh criminal penalties.
Tennessee has a rich history of non-violent protest and civil
disobedience and today we celebrate the men and women who engaged
in civil disobedience in the streets and at lunchcounters during the late
1950s and 1960s. Time and again, non-violent protests have been at
the heart of moving our state and our nation forward. SB 8005 is a
giant leap in the wrong direction, trampling on the rights of
Tennesseans simply because some do not like the message or the
fashion in which protesters are making their voices heard. Regardless
of the message, non-violent protest is protected speech.
Additionally, by harshly increasing penalties and imposing mandatory
minimum sentences for offenses commonly used as a pretext to arrest
non-violent protesters or to target non-violent acts of civil disobedience,
this heavy-handed legislation serves only to exacerbate our overly high
incarceration rates. While the state has a responsibility to maintain
public safety, Tennessee already has laws that punish the behavior
described in SB 8005, highlighting how unnecessary this legislation is
for any legitimate public safety purpose. It is telling that legislators
supporting this bill could not point to any behavior by those protesting
that requires these enhanced penalties.

 Increasing incarceration flies in the face of the criminal justice reform
platform you ran on and which you have repeatedly identified as one of
your top priorities since you took office. While your administration
often speaks about sentencing reform, signing this bill would
contradict those words and waste valuable taxpayer funds to severely
criminalize dissent. Requiring 12-hour holds upon arrest, putting in
place mandatory minimums, and enhancing petty crimes to felonylevel offenses will only hurt our communities, waste state dollars and
send a message loud and clear that Tennessee is no place to exercise
your constitutional rights if state or local government entities disagree
with you.
ACLU-TN opposes this legislation not only because it intentionally
chills free speech and protest and increases incarceration rates in our
state, but also because in this important moment in our history,
amidst calls for racial justice and an end to police violence, the
Tennessee General Assembly has chosen to ignore those calls and
instead has prioritized punishing the people courageous enough to
speak out.
Too many elected state legislators have repeatedly ignored the reasons
why the protests are happening in the first place. Let’s remember that
the protesters are at the State Capitol because on May 25, a police
officer placed his knee on George Floyd’s neck and brutally murdered
him. By signing SB 8005, your administration will be on the wrong
side of history when it comes to the advancement of racial justice and
equality in the South.
Nearly one month ago, you ordered flags to be lowered to honor the life
of Congressman John Lewis. Were he alive, we are confident that
Congressman Lewis would be standing with the protesters at the State
Capitol and would urge you to veto SB 8005. Celebrating Congressman
Lewis’s life rings hollow if you do not support the right of protesters to
speak out and challenge their government.
This legislation could also have far-reaching and long-term
consequences well beyond the particular protests this measure targets.
For example, SB 8005 would make it a felony for a homeless person to
sleep on state property, forcing unhoused people onto private property.
If an individual intervenes when they witness a police officer using
excessive force, SB 8005 says they could be charged with a felony and
subjected to a minimum of 30 days in jail upon arrest. If people
supporting a candidate during early voting leave a canopy out

 overnight, it could be seized. In their zeal to target and shut down the
current protests taking place outside the State Capitol, lawmakers
rushed this bill through without fully considering the significant and
wide-ranging impact it could have.
The sponsors of this legislation say SB 8005 is about standing with law
enforcement. This bill has nothing to do with supporting law
enforcement. Laws and penalties already exist for every offense the
legislature has now enhanced. This shameful legislation serves no
purpose other than to quell First Amendment rights, now and in the
future. SB 8005 was passed in both chambers because there are some
who disagree with the message of the protesters and others who think
the protests somehow make our state look weak. On the contrary,
encouraging Tennesseans to use their voices strengthens our
democracy, which people from across the political spectrum should
embrace. Across the country, leaders are rising to the occasion to try to
heal our nation. ACLU-TN hopes you will join with them by
acknowledging the importance of the right to dissent and petition one’s
government. We strongly urge you to veto SB 8005.
Sincerely,
Hedy Weinberg
Executive Director

cc: Brandon Gibson, Chief Operating Officer