Tennessee House GOP moves to make camping outside the Capitol a felony [View all]
Two days after protesters set up a small campsite outside the state Capitol, House Speaker Cameron Sexton on Monday moved to amend state law to make doing so a felony.
After reports online Friday that a group of individuals planned to establish an "autonomous zone" outside the Capitol, Sexton, R-Crossville, quickly announced he was prepared to pass legislation to increase from a misdemeanor to a felony the criminal offense of camping on certain state property.
A current state law, passed in February 2012 on the heels of an Occupy Nashville protest months before, makes it a misdemeanor to camp on state property that isn't marked for doing so, though the state's current definition of camping is somewhat murky.
While Gov. Bill Lee on Friday said autonomous zones "will not be tolerated," no protesters were arrested as they remained outside the Capitol day and night throughout the weekend, and officials were uncertain whether their actions met the current law's criteria for camping.
Read more: https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/politics/2020/06/15/tennessee-house-camping-capitol-felony/3192467001/
(Memphis Commercial Appeal)
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