TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Apr 12, 2023

Shelby County commissioners today voted unanimously to appoint Justin J. Pearson to the state House seat he was expelled from last week. None of the four Republican commissioners were in attendance and Democrats Britney Thornton and Michael Whaley were absent as well, the Daily Memphian reports. Republican commissioner Mick Wright issued a statement just before the special meeting saying he could not “in good conscience contribute to what I see as a breakdown in our representative system of government.” A group of several hundred marched from the National Civil Rights Museum to the Vasco A. Smith Jr. County Administration building in support of Pearson, who was expelled from the District 86 seat Thursday for violating House rules of decorum. According to the National Bar Association, Pearson will be sworn back into the House at 9 a.m. CDT tomorrow. He will have to run again for the seat in a special election. Commissioners say holding that election could cost up to $1 million.