Editor’s Note: This story was updated after it was published in comments from Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson.

As Gov. Bill Lee’s immigration enforcement plan moves quickly through the Tennessee Legislature, one element of the bill aimed at arresting local officials who support a sanctuary policy for immigration was caught in scrutiny Tuesday. It will be available.

Included in the governor’s broad proposals to coordinate with the Trump administration on mass immigration detention and deportation are provisions that create a rank-E felony for civil servants who vote to adopt or enact sanctuary policies. Sanctuary policies can protect undocumented immigrants and limit cooperation with enforcement actions

Felony charges that are punished in prison for up to six years and punished with a $3,000 fine apply to civil servants who vote in favor of sanctuary law, policies, or non-binding resolutions.

Sen. Todd Gardenhier, Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, denounced the provisions on Tuesday as a “dangerous precedent.”

“We are a Republic and the Republic is what we choose people to vote in the way they think they are the best for their district, city, county, or state,” he said.

“If we set a precedent of fines for voting conscience on elected officials, whether good or bad, we set a dangerous precedent for the future,” he said.

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Democrats view the provision as a “slippery slope” and could be called in future laws to criminalize votes on controversial issues.

“We’re wary of sitting here talking about the felony of officials who voted for votes on behalf of their district,” said Heidi, a Nashville Democrat. Senator Campbell said. “Boy, this is a slippery slope and beware of what you would like if you vote for this.”

Gardenhire was a minority among Republicans who controlled the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he chaired. They quickly shot Garden Hire’s efforts to amend a bill to remove criminal penalties before voting to move it forward in Congress.

Sanctuary policies are already prohibited by a 2019 Tennessee law that attempts to prevent local governments from adopting sanctuary city status.

Tennessee law of 2019 gives citizens the right to file civil lawsuits that challenge the adoption of sanctuary policy jurisdiction and gives the state the authority to withhold funds for violations.

“When the state banned sanctuary cities, the remedy was to reject city grants and seek court orders,” said Ken, director of the Center for Free Speech at Central State University of Tennessee. Paulson said.

“Here, the state is trying to control the actions of officials who have been formally elected through police power,” he said. “It’s a dramatic escalation.”

One central government accountability expert said he was unaware of other state laws that threatened to indict civil servants for how they voted.

“This is an unprecedented grip on power and criminalisation of political discourse,” said Dan Vicgna, representative of the Common Cause, the Washington, DC Advocacy Group.

“It puts fundamental rights to local representatives and to democratic governments,” he said.

And in local legal experts, among them, counsels, he said the provision could be “constitutionally questionable.”

“Generally speaking, Tennessee courts have found legislative bodies have legislative immunity for conduct that serves some of their legislative functions.

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“There is a possibility that criminal provisions enacted against members of legislative bodies could be constitutionally suspected,” she said. “The court will decide.”

John Vill, a professor of political science and dean of Tennessee State University University Honorary College, said that “legislators should bear Article 1” of the Tennessee Constitution, and that citizens and their elected representatives has established a “declaration of rights” for the

“No other state or federal law knows that it punishes elected officials based on the way they vote,” he said. “This seems to overpower the entire purpose of the Democrat (representative) government.

However, Republicans pointed out that criminal penalties are intended for elected officials seeking to pass laws already prohibited in Tennessee.

Sen. Kelly Roberts, a Republican of Springfield, said: “The fact that there are consequences to it, I personally have no issues with it because they shouldn’t do it in the first place. It’s illegal.”

Only two current laws provide criminal penalties for lawmakers acting in official capacity provide criminal penalties, according to Stephen Crump, executive director of the Tennessee District Attorney General. One long-standing law allows criminal charges to be filed against county commissioners who cannot properly fund local prisons. Other lawmakers may be charged if the vote violates official fraud laws.

Senate majority leader Jack Johnson said in an emailed statement that criminal penalties “reflected the overwhelming beliefs of our members.

“Requiring local and civil servants to comply with federal law is not a matter of political opinion,” the statement said. “It reflects our commitment to supporting the rule of law and ensures consistency in federal and state efforts to address the challenges of immigration.”

Johnson’s statement noted that if the bill is successful, it will ultimately be up to the judge to decide how to weigh the law.

“If an elected employee has enacted a sanctuary policy and elected to be prosecuted under this law, the court will be subject to an absolute legal exemption to the conduct of an offender under both state and federal law. I’m sure I’ll carefully consider whether this will happen.”