Tennessee’s felony law when local officials vote for ‘sanctuary’ policies is ruled unconstitutional

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee law that threatens local officials with felony charges and possible imprisonment if they vote for so-called “sanctuary policies” on immigration has been ruled unconstitutional after the state declined to defend it in court.

On Wednesday, Nashville Chancellor Russell Perkins signed an agreed order involving the Tennessee attorney general’s office, the local district attorney and the seven Nashville-Davidson County metro council members who are plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the policy.

For months, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office has made it clear that it would not defend the provision. Skrmetti, a Republican, told reporters in September that the Constitution has “absolute immunity for all legislative votes, whether at the federal, state, or local levels” even though it is illegal for Tennessee cities and counties to enact sanctuary laws.

Council member Clay Capp said in a news release that the case’s outcome ensures that Tennessee elected officials can represent their constituents “without looking over their shoulder at criminal penalties.”

“This settlement affirms a basic American principle: the government cannot prosecute you for how you vote,” Capp said in a news release from the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, one of the legal groups representing the plaintiffs. “Tennessee tried to gag local officials with threats of prison time, but the Constitution doesn’t allow that.”

Earlier last year, the GOP-supermajority Legislature and Republican Gov. Bill Lee approved legislation to aid the Trump administration with immigration enforcement. It includes the potential Class E felony — punishable by up to six years in prison — against any local elected official voting for or adopting a so-called sanctuary policy, as defined in state law. This could include voting in favor of local government restrictions that impede ICE efforts to detain migrants in the U.S. without permission.

Republican lawmakers kept the provision in a broader immigration bill despite warnings from legislative counsel that the penalty could be unconstitutional.

Legislative GOP leaders defended the penalty, including House Majority Leader William Lamberth, who has called it “the easiest felony in the world to avoid.”

In 2019, sanctuary cities became illegal in Tennessee, threatening governments that don’t comply with the loss of state economic development money.