(C) Tennessee Lookout
This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



ACLU sues Tennessee over law criminalizing elected officials’ votes for ‘sanctuary policies’ • Tennessee Lookout [1]

['Cassandra Stephenson', 'Anita Wadhwani', 'More From Author', '- June', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img']

Date: 2025-06-24

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee is suing the state over a new law that created a felony charge for elected officials who vote in support of sanctuary policies for immigrants.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Davidson County Chancery Court on behalf of seven members of the Metro Nashville Council, argues that the law violates local elected officials’ First Amendment right to free speech.

The statute creates a Class E felony for local public officials who vote to adopt a “sanctuary policy” and requires any official who violates the law to be removed from office “as soon as practicable.” The charge is punishable by up to six years in prison and a $3,000 fine.

“This law infringes on the constitutional protections I have as a legislator: to do what is best for my constituents without fear of interference,” Metro Councilmember at large Zulfat Suara, one of the plaintiffs, stated. “We must not allow the state to usurp these protections. As a public official and an immigrant, I cannot accept a law that makes compassion a crime. Many immigrant families already live in fear — if they come after immigrants, who will they come for next?”

Suara is joined in the suit by Council members Clay Capp (District 6), Brenda Gadd (District 24), Sandra Sepulveda (District 30), Terry Vo (District 17), Ginny Welsch (District 16), and Delishia Porterfield (Council member at large).

Representatives for Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk, who are named as defendants in the suit, were not immediately available for comment.

District 25 Metro Council member and attorney Jeff Preptit is representing his fellow council members as co-counsel on the suit alongside ACLU-TN Legal Director Stella Yarbrough and Ben Gastel, Preptit’s colleague at Herzfeld, Suetholz, Gastel, Leniski and Wall PLLC.

“This legislation makes it a felony for local leaders to do the job our communities elected them to do,” Preptit said in a news release. “Local leaders shouldn’t face criminal charges for passing policies that reflect the values and safety concerns of our neighbors — especially when those policies ensure trust between residents and local government.”

The provision is part of a broad-ranging immigration enforcement plan spearheaded by Gov. Bill Lee’s administration to align with the Trump administration’s immigration policy. Lee signed the bill into law in February after it passed in a special legislative session with strong support from the Tennessee General Assembly’s Republican supermajority.

Sen. Todd Gardenhire, the Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Democratic senators in voting against the measure after calling it a “dangerous precedent.”

Prior to the law’s passage, First Amendment, government accountability and legal experts said the law was “constitutionally suspect.”

Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson said in an emailed statement in January that “requiring localities and public officials to comply with federal law is not a matter of public opinion” and that the criminal penalties “reflect the overwhelming belief of our constituents” regarding support for the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement.

A 2019 Tennessee law already prohibits the adoption of “sanctuary policies,” broadly defined as any formal or informal policy that in any way limits state or local government cooperation with federal immigration agencies. That law allows the state to withhold grant funding from jurisdictions that adopt such policies, and gives citizens the right to file a civil suit challenging policies they suspect of violating the law.

Anita Wadhwani contributed reporting.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://tennesseelookout.com/2025/06/24/aclu-sues-tennessee-over-law-criminalizing-elected-officials-votes-for-sanctuary-policies/

Published and (C) by Tennessee Lookout
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-ND 4.0.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/tennesseelookout/