Bill Text: CA SR29 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relative to the expulsion of Senator Roderick D. Wright.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 3)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-27 - Referred to Com. on RLS. (Ayes 21. Noes 13. Page 2838.) . [SR29 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SR29-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: SR 29 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senators Knight, Anderson, and Vidak
FEBRUARY 26, 2014
Relative to the expulsion of Senator Roderick D. Wright.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST
WHEREAS, On January 28, 2014, by eight unanimous votes of a jury
of his peers, Senator Roderick D. Wright was found guilty of eight
felonies; and
WHEREAS, The felonies Senator Wright was found guilty of included
five counts of fraudulent voting, two counts of perjury, and one
count of filing a false declaration of candidacy; and
WHEREAS, Section 8 of Article VII of the California Constitution
provides as follows:
"(a) Every person shall be disqualified from holding any office of
profit in this State who shall have been convicted of having given
or offered a bribe to procure personal election or appointment.
(b) Laws shall be made to exclude persons convicted of bribery,
perjury, forgery, malfeasance in office, or other high crimes from
office or serving on juries. The privilege of free suffrage shall be
supported by laws regulating elections and prohibiting, under
adequate penalties, all undue influence thereon from power, bribery,
tumult, or other improper practice"; and
WHEREAS, The oath of office that state Senators swear to uphold
upon taking office reads as follows: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm)
that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States
and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies,
foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to
the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the
State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any
mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and
faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter"; and
WHEREAS, Section 1021 of the Government Code provides as follows:
"A person is disqualified from holding any office upon conviction of
designated crimes as specified in the Constitution and laws of the
State"; and
WHEREAS, Subdivision (a) of Section 5 of Article IV of the
California Constitution provides as follows: "Each house shall judge
the qualifications and elections of its Members and, by rollcall vote
entered in the journal, two thirds of the membership concurring, may
expel a Member"; and
WHEREAS, The California State Senate convenes in a chamber under a
portrait of George Washington - a symbol of dedication and
integrity; and
WHEREAS, The practices, traditions, and standards of the Senate in
previous cases involving Senators convicted of felonies have led to
swift and decisive actions by Senate leaders of the recent past; and
WHEREAS, Democratic Senator Joseph B. Montoya was convicted on
February 2, 1990, of committing seven felonies; and
WHEREAS, Soon thereafter Senator Montoya was given an ultimatum by
the Senate Committee on Rules to resign by February 9, 1990, or face
expulsion by a vote of his colleagues; and
WHEREAS, Senator Montoya resigned from the Senate on February 9,
1990; and
WHEREAS, Senate President pro Tempore David Roberti (D-Los
Angeles) thanked Senator Montoya for bowing out and not forcing the
Senate to expel a Member for the first time since 1905; and
WHEREAS, Senate President pro Tempore Roberti said at the time,
"Senator Montoya is helping us conduct the business of the Senate
without the rancor and disruption that a more radical process would
have caused. Senator Montoya could have held on to a bitter
conclusion. He chose not to. I thank him for that"; and
WHEREAS, Republican Senator Frank C. Hill was convicted on June
16, 1994, of committing three felonies; and
WHEREAS, Senator Leroy Greene (D-Carmichael), chairperson of the
Senate Committee on Legislative Ethics, urged members of the Senate
Committee on Rules to put aside their personal affection for Senator
Hill and to vote to oust him as the ethically and morally correct
course of action; and
WHEREAS, Senator Greene told colleagues, "The people of this state
have a right to expect that we will judge convicted criminals in
this house by the same standards by which we judge others"; and
WHEREAS, The Senate Committee on Rules voted on June 30, 1994, to
expel Senator Hill; and
WHEREAS, The four members of the Senate Committee on Rules who
voted to expel Senator Hill were Senate President pro Tempore Bill
Lockyer (D-Hayward), Senator Ruben Ayala (D-Chino), Senator Bill
Craven (R-Oceanside), and Senator Bob Beverly (R-Manhattan Beach);
and
WHEREAS, Senator Hill resigned from the Senate on July 8, 1994;
and
WHEREAS, Senator Wright has had, since being found guilty on
January 28, 2014, the option of resigning from the Senate but has not
done so; and
WHEREAS, The Senate leadership has had, since January 28, 2014,
the option of requesting Senator Wright to resign from the Senate but
has not done so; and
WHEREAS, Under the power and authority conferred by the California
Constitution, the full Senate can, by a two-thirds vote of the
membership, expel a Senator found guilty of a felony; now, therefore,
be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, two-thirds of
the membership concurring, That pursuant to the authority conferred
by Section 5 of Article IV of the California Constitution, Senator
Roderick D. Wright, representing the 35th Senate District, is hereby
expelled from the California State Senate for his eight felony guilty
verdicts, effective immediately.
