A coalition of activists and an elected official have sued the Memphis City Council, the City of Memphis and Council Chairwoman Jana Swearengen-Washington. The coalition was banned from the next two Council meetings due to protests emerging following a punted vote on a data center moratorium.
Court records show the lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee on Oct. 14, and an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order was filed the same day.
The lawsuit questions the constitutionality of the Council's public comment policies, which include decorum requirements barring people from calling out Councilmembers by name. But the temporary restraining order requests a court lift the bans those activists
received so they can attend the council's Oct. 20 meeting.
The Council may, during that meeting, vote again on a series of ordinances related to data centers.
The lawsuit is being brought by six people: community advocates Amber Sherman and LJ Abraham, activist KeShaun Pearson and his mother Kimberly Owens-Pearson, a high school senior, whom The Commercial Appeal is not naming due to their being a minor, and Tennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson.
Pearson, a Democrat, is in the midst of a contentious race for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives against Republican Tennessee state Sen. Brent Taylor. Early voting for that race's general election began Oct. 14, the same day the lawsuit was filed, and Pearson has made data centers one of his campaign's focal points.
In addition to lifting the bans for the lawsuit's plaintiffs, they are also asking a federal judge to stop the City Council from enforcing its public comment policy, which the lawsuit calls a "speech restriction policy."
"I particularly want to know how the five of us were targeted," Abraham said at a press conference about the lawsuit Oct. 15. "There were over 200 people in that room that stood up and showed their disappointment for the decision that the City Council had made. It is our duty, as citizens of this city, to show up and hold our City Council officials accountable."
Protesters have been banned from public meetings before
Similar bans were levied against protesters in 2023 as the Council contemplated passing ordinances restricting the type of traffic stops Memphis police officers could perform. That effort, and anger over the slow pace with which they were passed, came in the wake of Tyré Nichols' beating and death by Memphis police.
Sherman was among the people banned after that 2023 incident, as was Memphis City Councilwoman Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, who was not a member of the council at the time. Abraham was not banned during that incident, but recalled that ban was a one-meeting ban instead of this round's two-meeting ban.
"I don't see much difference aside from that, but also this isn't the first time a [local government] body has been sued for a violation of people's First Amendment rights," Abraham said.
In June 2023, amid the Memphis-Shelby County School Board's search for a new superintendent, five activists and education advocates were banned from all MSCS properties after the district expressed "safety and security concerns" following heated public comments.
Abraham and others sued the school board in federal court. Those bans were initially upheld, and over a year later, the case was dismissed when those activists reached a settlement with the school board.
Abraham, during the press conference, said she believes this lawsuit will result in a similar outcome to the one against the school board.
"This was an illegal ban," she said. "It absolutely does prevent us from exercising our First Amendment right during a time that is critical for our community. We don't come and do this because we feel like being agitators. We come and do this because people in our community rely on us to show up and speak for them and to support them as they come and speak out for themselves."
A court date for the temporary injunction has not yet been set, and it was not clear as of early on Oct. 15 if a hearing would happen before the council's Oct. 20 meeting.
Lucas Finton covers crime, policing, jails, the courts and criminal justice policy for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by phone or email: (901)208-3922 and Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, and followed on X @LucasFinton.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Activists barred from Memphis City Council meetings sue to lift bans
