NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Tennessee law that made it a felony for local officials to vote in favor of so-called sanctuary policies is now effectively dead.
In a proposed settlement, the Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti concluded the statute was unconstitutional.
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In January 2025, lawmakers passed a bill making it a Class E felony for a member of a local governing body to vote to adopt a sanctuary policy. The law also required the Attorney General to initiate proceedings to remove an official from office if that official was convicted under the statute and failed to comply with a court order to repeal or rescind the sanctuary policy.
Gregory Magarian, a constitutional law professor at Washington University School of Law, said the law went beyond regulating policy but into punishing the act of legislating itself…