Illinois House expels Democrat indicted for bribery (the first expulsion since 1905)

Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 8/17/12 | James B. Kelleher

[NormsRevenge]

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - The Illinois House of Representatives on Friday expelled a Democratic lawmaker indicted for bribery, the first member to be booted from the chamber since 1905.

State House Representative Derrick Smith, who represents a staunchly Democratic district in Chicago, was arrested in March and charged with accepting a $7,000 bribe in exchange for endorsing a daycare center's state grant application.

He has denied the charges.

Days after his arrest and indictment, Smith won the Democratic Party primary to contest the November 6 election, in part because some Democrats hoped he would resign and be replaced on the ballot.

But Smith refused to bow out, and on Friday the full Illinois House voted 100 to 6 to expel him.

"I'm sad that my colleagues did not wait to hear all the evidence before voting against me," a choked-up Smith said at a news conference at his Chicago lawyer's office.

"I intend to remain on the ballot and intend to run for office in November," he added.

Smith's lawyers said the move to oust him was a pre-arranged political power grab of his seat by the House leadership.

[TXBlair]

Days after his arrest and indictment, Smith won the Democratic Party primary to contest the November 6 election, in part because some Democrats hoped he would resign and be replaced on the ballot.

Riiiiight. Like any Rat voters cared whether or not he resigned. Or was indicted for a crime, for that matter. Voting for Rat thugs = standard operating procedure.

[MasterGunner01]

The IL House was 118 Reps split 64 Donkeys to 54 Repubs. Now its one Chicago Donkey, who took bribes, less. If we could put all the IL Donkeys from Chicago, Cook County, and the collar counties around Cook in prison, it would be a significant improvement here.

[Lancey Howard]

This guy had to be flat-out brazen in his corruption to get ousted by Democrats!
Yikes!

[tcrlaf]

This guy had to be flat-out brazen in his corruption to get ousted by Democrats!
Yikes!

Even worse, ILLINOIS DEMOCRATS
They’re kinda like Illinois Nazi’s (It’s a Blues Brothers reference, for those that don’t know)

[lowbridge]

” the first member to be booted from the chamber since 1905.”

And how many in between 1905 and now deserved the same punishment, but didn’t get it? Was his punishment for getting expelled really for bribery or getting caught?

[apoliticalone]

Any public official that is convicted of straying from their oath and commits felonies needs to lose their pensions, benefits and be ostracized from ever being in government employ, and then they need to face a major prison sentence that is twice as severe as what an average citizen not in government would face.

These staunchly one sided districts need to be minimized (not sure how). Big city politics needs decontaminated and flushed out. When one party has total control of a district it is never good for honest government. Term limits would help keep the government from going putrid.