oracle
07-26-2002, 06:03 PM
Traficant may return to his old House seat (http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020726-323037.htm)
By Frank J. Murray
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The House of Representatives likely could not keep former Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. from reclaiming a seat in Congress if voters elect him again in November.
Wednesday night's 420-1 vote to expel the Ohio Democrat relied on the House's constitutional authority to expel unruly members.
But a 1969 Supreme Court opinion would bar Congress from punishing him a second time for what the court considers an offense against a previous Congress, either by expulsion or by the exclusion process applied in 1967 against Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., New York Democrat.
"I am running as an independent, don't be surprised if I don't win behind bars," Mr. Traficant said after becoming the second member to be expelled since the Civil War. He has filed to run in the newly drawn 17th District, despite his federal conviction for bribery, racketeering and tax evasion.
Any action by a later Congress would be barred by the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Mr. Powell's "exclusion" from the 90th Congress. The leadership had refused to administer the oath of office to Mr. Powell based on charges leveled in the previous session.
The court ruled 8-1 that Congress can only exclude an elected member who fails to possess the constitutional qualifications of being 25 years old, a U.S. citizen for seven years and an "inhabitant" of the state that elects him. It did not consider commission of a crime a disqualifying factor.
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Click here to read more (http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020726-323037.htm)
By Frank J. Murray
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The House of Representatives likely could not keep former Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. from reclaiming a seat in Congress if voters elect him again in November.
Wednesday night's 420-1 vote to expel the Ohio Democrat relied on the House's constitutional authority to expel unruly members.
But a 1969 Supreme Court opinion would bar Congress from punishing him a second time for what the court considers an offense against a previous Congress, either by expulsion or by the exclusion process applied in 1967 against Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., New York Democrat.
"I am running as an independent, don't be surprised if I don't win behind bars," Mr. Traficant said after becoming the second member to be expelled since the Civil War. He has filed to run in the newly drawn 17th District, despite his federal conviction for bribery, racketeering and tax evasion.
Any action by a later Congress would be barred by the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Mr. Powell's "exclusion" from the 90th Congress. The leadership had refused to administer the oath of office to Mr. Powell based on charges leveled in the previous session.
The court ruled 8-1 that Congress can only exclude an elected member who fails to possess the constitutional qualifications of being 25 years old, a U.S. citizen for seven years and an "inhabitant" of the state that elects him. It did not consider commission of a crime a disqualifying factor.
...
Click here to read more (http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020726-323037.htm)