Tennessee Court Strikes Down Power Grab Law Targeting Nashville

This Jan. 8, 2020, photo shows the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
This Jan. 8, 2020, photo shows the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Over a year after the Republican-controlled Tennessee Legislature attempted to shrink the size of Nashville’s Metro Council from 40 to 20 members, a state court has blocked that plan for good. 

Ruling that House Bill 48 violates Tennessee’s Home Rule Amendment, yesterday the court held the power-grab law, which the plaintiffs argued waged “an unprecedented disenfranchisement of the voters of Metro Nashville,” will stay blocked. The council will remain at 40 members. 

The Metro Council is the legislative authority of both Nashville, the state’s most populous city, and Davidson County, one of the state’s most diverse counties that surrounds Music City. The council is incredibly diverse and is the third largest local council just behind New York City and Chicago. 

In March 2023, Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed H.B. 48 into law and was immediately met by public out-cry and two lawsuits. At the same time the Legislature was trying to reduce the political power of some of the state’s most diverse voices by shrinking the council, the Republican Legislature made national headlines for ousting two Black members of the state Assembly for protesting gun-violence in the wake of a local tragedy.

analysis “An Unprecedented Disenfranchisement”: How Republicans Are Stripping Nashville of Political Power

Last year, a Tennessee court temporarily blocked portions of the law while the lawsuit continued, writing that the law “results in upheaval of the election process” and risked confusion for voters. Now the court has concluded the law must remain blocked for violating local law.

This decision is a victory for Music City voters who will not have their representation slashed in half as a result of a Republican power grab. 

Learn more about the case here.

Read the opinion here.