VITAL POLICY – Gentry vs. Speaker of the House, A Citizen’s Quest to Exercise Constitutional Rights and Improve Tennessee Government

John Gentry is asking the Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives to schedule a time for him to orally “address” the house of representatives for a period of fifteen minutes at a time mutually agreed upon when a quorum is present. His aim is to persuade state legislators to make corrections to a system of governance and law making that he considers corrupt, inefficient, and favorable to special interests.

He is not alone in his beliefs and is on the record as stating that many office holders are “constitutionally incompetent”.

Gentry started several months ago by making a simple request. On May 3, 2021, he presented a letter to the Tennessee House of Representatives, co-signed by a large number of citizens from across the state, which asserted the right of citizens to make “application to the body by oral address”, the right to “instruct” representatives, and sought a resolution by the members of the house to “welcome proper petitions and remonstrances”, and to “reinstate the [House] Propositions and Grievances Committee”. A video of the application being announced on the house floor can be viewed at the link provided here.

https://youtu.be/SmcPOmWpFiw

Gentry then followed up with calls and emails to the speaker of the house and certain representatives to assert his rights. None of his efforts produced satisfactory results.

Gentry relies on the Tennessee Constitution Article I, Section 23 in making his application, which reads: “That the citizens have a right, in a peaceable manner, to assemble together for their common good, to instruct their representatives, and to apply to those invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances, or other proper purposes, by address or remonstrance.”

 In response to my request for comment, Mr. Gentry states as follows for this article.

The very idea of a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people, evidences the right to petition for redress of grievances.  But this right has been so oppressed for so long, it has been wiped from our collective knowledge.  The fact that I am the first person, since the year 1850 to exercise the right of petition, is proof this right has been oppressed.

 It is my honor, my duty, to endeavor to restore this right to its full and proper magnitude.  I pray you will join me.

 

It was written by a Supreme Ct Justice in 1883, that for this right to be denied, the spirit of Liberty must have wholly disappeared, and the people to have become so incompetent, as to no longer deserve any of the privileges of freemen.

 

The spirit of Liberty is not dead in me, and I know the spirit of Liberty has not disappeared from my fellow Tennesseans, although perhaps dormant in some, due to the circumstances of our times.

 

When you come to understand the power of this right, you will know, it is the gross oppression of this right by government that is at fault of violent protests in modern times.” – John A Gentry

After Gentry’s efforts were exhausted with state legislators, he sought relief from Davidson County Chancery Court in two separate lawsuits to exercise his constitutional rights. That too failed. Now Gentry has appealed the case to the Tennessee Court of Appeals which has set oral arguments for January 4, 2023, at the Tennessee Supreme Court Building, 401 7th Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee with Gentry representing himself against the Tennessee Attorney General. Mr. Gentry is asking that citizens attend the oral argument in support of his efforts.

Court Documents Related to the Case are linked here.

Oral Argument

Apellee Brief

Allellant Brief

Final Opinion Court of Appeals

David Seal is a retired Jefferson County educator, recognized artist, local businessman, 917 Society Volunteer, and current Chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. He has also served Jefferson County as a County Commissioner and is a lobbyist for the people on issues such as eminent domain, property rights, education, and broadband accessibility on the state level.