After images spread around the country of mothers being pulled by state troopers out of a House committee meeting for silently holding signs decrying gun violence, a Tennessee county judge has suspended new Republican-passed state legislature rules banning signs from the gallery, the Tennessean reports.

In the aftermath of their embarrassment for expelling two young Black Democratic lawmakers for supporting a gun violence protest in the state house gallery, Tennessee Republicans passed a rule essentially banning all kinds of protests, including silent, non-disruptive demonstrations, during all state house proceedings.  This included displaying any message on a sign or a shirt that expresses an opinion even if the demonstrator doesn’t say a word or move out of their seat.

After Allison Polidor was removed from a Tennessee House Civil Justice Subcommittee hearing for clutching a sign reading “1 kid > all guns” to her chest and refusing to put it out of the sight of legislators, two other protesters were also taken out by troopers as parents of children killed in the Covenant School shooting expressed their displeasure at the committee for failing to take action on gun crime. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee immediately filed a lawsuit challenging the rule, stating that it violated First Amendment protections.  “These rules are unreasonable,” ACLU-TN Legal Director Stella Yarbrough said in a statement. “The Tennessee House’s ban on silently holding signs in House galleries directly undermines Tennesseans’ First Amendment right to express their opinions on issues that affect them and their families.”  Davidson County Chancellor Anne Martin agreed, and ordered a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of the authoritarian rule.