Here is how Virginia Delegate Joe Morrissey may continue to be a sitting member of the General Assembly and may continue on his quest to impose a $15.15 per hour minimum wage upon the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia.[read_more]
Expulsion under the Virginia Constitution only applies to sitting members of the General Assembly. Morrissey resigned and is therefore not a sitting member. Morrissey can’t be excluded from being admitted to the General Assembly because he qualifies for the seat for which he was elected. Once he is sworn into office, according to US Supreme Court precedent (interpreting language identical to the Virginia Constitution), he can’t be excluded from office for behavior which occurred prior to his official swearing in.
Here is the language from the US Supreme Court case Powell vs. McCormack “”[I]t must be said that with practical uniformity the precedents in such cases are to the effect that the House will not expel a Member for reprehensible action prior to his election as a Member, not even for conviction for an offense.”
It is true that in 1876 Virginia House of Delegates member R.D. Ruffin was expelled for embezzling $30 from the House clerk but that was while Ruffin was a House member, unlike Morrissey, who is now just a member elect. So the Ruffin comparison is not a mirror image of the Morrissey case.
The comparison below between the US and Virginia Constitutions shows the language to be almost precisely the same. So should this matter end up in Federal court the likelihood is that the Powell vs. McCormack rationale would apply.
Virginia Constitution, Art. IV, Section 7. “Each house shall judge of the election, qualification, and returns of its members, may punish them for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of its elected membership, may expel a member.”
US Constitution, Article I, Section 5 ““Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member”
Morrissey is either a genius (highly dubious) or stumbled upon the truth. We shall see.
18 comments
I respectfully dissent, counselor. “Powell vs. McCormack” was a case that said it was illegal to exclude a duly elected member. I cite William Douglas’ concurring opinion saying that the 2/3 vote to expel was the only way for congress to get rid of a member by punishing its members for disorderly behavior.
I also stated you can’t expel a member for disorderly behavior that occurred prior to his term of office.
There might be a way to argue that Morrissey is subject to sanction from the House.
Morrissey’s resignation was effective once the new delegate that was elected from this district. Since that new person was him, there wasn’t any real “break” in service and he has served concurrent terms without any interruption. As long as the House doesn’t strip him of his seniority and treats it as if he is serving concurrent terms, his actions from his prior tenure are subject to sanction. My understanding is that the House is treating this as an interruption in service, but just as his resignation is now a “technicality”, that could be fixed with a technical adjustment as well.
Once that is resolved, the House could quite easily expel him and there’s plenty of support to do that, I understand. If Morrissey wants to go to court over it, which i’m sure he’d do, it wouldn’t be an easy argument to make as it depends on the fiction that some magical line was drawn on January 13th that had some practical effect, when it did not.
Had Morrissey’s resignation been effective earlier, he’d have a case. He decided to game the system, and that’s what could end up biting him in the butt.
Morrissey can certainly be expelled. The question is can he get that expulsion reversed in court. If Morrissey’s resignation wasn’t effective until yesterday’s election could Morrissey have continued to vote on matters in the General Assembly or introduce bills after he resigned on December 17, 2014.
I don’t think they will expel him, heck – I am not even convinced the democrats will even try all that hard to rid of him even in November.
The key was that his resignation wasn’t effective until yesterday,
You can’t hold a special election unless an office is vacant. What does it mean the resignation wasn’t effective until yesterday?
Just saw the resignation letter. I didn’t realize the effective date of the resignation was post-dated to January 13, 2015.
Joe Morrissey is the Marion Barry of Richmond…
The voters, in their wisdom, chose Morrissey. The House should seat him.
A $15.15 minimum wage is a pipe dream. It’s not happening if Morrissey is there or not.
I don’t believe much “wisdom” was involved but I agree with you he was elected as an independent so seat him and if expulsion is in the cards let it play out. Agree also the $15.15 minimum wage increase is a pipe dream but Virginia Republicans need to wake up and see the distress among working class families in the state in the face of declining wages and come up with some effective solutions to fight this debilitating trend. Just being against something ISN’T a solution to anything.
Being FOR something stupid doesn’t help either.
If that bill actually passed watch how many poor people lose their jobs from employers fleeing the state of Virginia.
So, if minimum wage goes up, all the fast food restaurants, major retailers, and lawn care employers would flee Virginia?
Wouldn’t be able to buy a cheap hamburger with a decent minimum wage?
You put Joe back in office. Now take responsibility for doing so.
As Dave notes, life is sometimes confusing. You might think that a minimum wage would be jim-dandy for folks who don’t make much money. But, we still have a market economy, so if an employer feels a pinch from having to pay the higher minimum wage, he or she might well reduce hours or employees, or both. Actually it is not all that easy to find good employees, so many, or most, employers pay higher than the minimum wage to keep those that they need. Unions like higher minimum wage rates because many labor contracts specify payment at a multiple of the minimum wage. It is not like any of those union folks receive anything close to the minimum wage.
A lawyer starting his argument with a hypothetical that even he doesn’t believe. Wow, never saw that one coming.
That $15.15 is really what this is all about isn’t it Dave?
What is it, afraid some poor person might get a raise, and Lord help us all, might be able to get off government assistance?
Get a life. Leave the poor alone. You people ought to be ashamed of yourself for picking on poor people and trying to make sure that they stay poor. But you are not.
And that is exactly why Joe got re-elected. Because of you people. You people put Joe back in office, just as if you had voted for him yourself.
If you rely on yourself, you get what you earn. If you rely on government, you get what you deserve. Enjoy.