Soon to be banned in Tennessee?
A Republican bill to criminalize union picketing
has been moving through the Tennessee State House, with a committee
vote coming up soon. But it may be running into a snag: Tennessee
Attorney General Robert Cooper says the bill violates the First Amendment.
“HB1688 presents a content-based restriction upon speech. It would criminalize ‘any form of mass picketing activity in the context of a strike, lockout, or other labor dispute’,” the opinion says.
It notes the bill "includes labor-dispute-specific proscriptions on conduct that do not apply in non-labor contexts. Furthermore, the injunction provision of HB1688… would establish a different standard for business and private-property owners who are the targets of labor-related mass picketing.”The question, of course, is whether likely UnConstitutionality is enough of a reason for Tennessee Republicans to back off of limiting speech because they don't like who's speaking, or what they're saying. An early response from state Rep. Jeremy Durham, the bill's sponsor, suggests he's not backing down without a fight.
