The Tennessee General Assembly Continues to Not Impress Me
From The Tennessean:
On one hand, I cannot support any motion to prevent indicted senators from voting on legislation, simply because I believe strongly that one is innocent until proven guilty. Not allowing indicted legislators to vote also gives political rivals a motive for setting up their opponents to be indicted on false charges. (I know this never happens, but it could.) Moreover, what if senators were to be indicted for protesting a law that many people found unjust and morally questionable and did not support? If those legislators were kept from voting, the law would stand no chance of being repealed. (Again, this is only hypothetical.)
On the other hand, Senators Bowers and Crutchfield (the two senators indicted in Operation Tennessee Waltz who have not yet resigned) should willingly sit out any votes on ethics reform. There is little doubt that either senator is guilty, and few would argue that taking bribes in exchange for introducing, or voting a certain way on, legislation is morally acceptable. And while I defend the right of indicted legislators to continue serving, I think that Bowers and Crutchfield should resign their offices.
In the first major vote of the legislative special session on ethics, the state Senate decided yesterday that it's OK for two members indicted on bribery charges to take part in the debate.
Senators did not pass a resolution yesterday asking Sen. Ward Crutchfield, D-Chattanooga, and Sen. Kathryn Bowers, D-Memphis, to sit out the special session.
On one hand, I cannot support any motion to prevent indicted senators from voting on legislation, simply because I believe strongly that one is innocent until proven guilty. Not allowing indicted legislators to vote also gives political rivals a motive for setting up their opponents to be indicted on false charges. (I know this never happens, but it could.) Moreover, what if senators were to be indicted for protesting a law that many people found unjust and morally questionable and did not support? If those legislators were kept from voting, the law would stand no chance of being repealed. (Again, this is only hypothetical.)
On the other hand, Senators Bowers and Crutchfield (the two senators indicted in Operation Tennessee Waltz who have not yet resigned) should willingly sit out any votes on ethics reform. There is little doubt that either senator is guilty, and few would argue that taking bribes in exchange for introducing, or voting a certain way on, legislation is morally acceptable. And while I defend the right of indicted legislators to continue serving, I think that Bowers and Crutchfield should resign their offices.
posted by Tinley | 3:35 AM
1 Comments:
As a local concern I have followed this and can say that I favor the motion to suppress the votes of the legislators indicted. It is quite a separate issue to respect their civilian right to due process and the presumption of innocense. But as a congress of lawmakers they act as a body separate from the their civilian life and are obligated to purge the appearance of impropiety, especially on ethics reform. I do think Senator Bryson did not go far enough in his resolution to make clear that it isn't a partisan political move but an issue of the congressional bodies integrity. I would recommend that a resolution be passed that for each member under indictment a member from the opposition party be selected to also sit out the vote and ensure no partisan advantage can be taken.
The principle of congressional self censure has always been recognized as independent of other civilian convictions. Such measures are necessary for the body politic to function. Public trust is a prime requirement for such a body to be effective at all and to avoid lawlessness.
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