Posted on 08/30/2002 8:06:11 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) - Former Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. will stay on the Nov. 5 election ballot, even though he has been expelled from the House and is housed in federal prison, elections officials said Wednesday.
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The Trumbull County Board of Elections said it won't act to remove the expelled congressman from the ballot.
Prosecutor Dennis Watkins told the board it didn't have the authority to remove Traficant because the U.S. Constitution grants citizens the right to vote for and elect whomever they choose.
The only limits set by the Constitution for House members are that they be at least 25 years old, U.S. citizens and an inhabitant of the state from which they are elected.
Watkins said Traficant could be considered an Ohio resident because his wife lives there and his stay in a Pennsylvania prison is involuntary confinement.
Traficant, 61, was expelled from the House last month and sentenced to eight years in prison for bribery, racketeering and tax evasion. The nine-term congressman is an inmate at the minimum-security Allenwood federal prison in White Deer, Pa.
He petitioned to be on the ballot as an independent in Ohio's recently redrawn 17th District and vowed to run from jail.
Nope. W honors the office too much. Unlike his twisted predecessor, the Rats and the Clymers....
It would be a rather unique situation. If he walks out of the gate to go to a session, I believe this would apply.
They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place
At least it would be a strong argument for a furlough.
Nice typo. Could be the basis for a campaign slogan.
See #82
Wow! Are you showing your age, or what?
Petra Verkaik---the PERFECT woman!!!
Heheheheh....
Regardless of what Traficant may or may not have done, the fact remains that he was nothing more then a convenient scapegoat for Congress to use to convince the ignorant masses that they have good morals and ethics, just like the president. They didn't boot Torricelli, and though the guy who bribed him is in prison, Torricelli is still free.
Get 'em Traficant...BE a pain in the collective backsides of Congress. They deserve it.
That's one new law that I could agree with.
Yes. Captain Kirk's rug needs representation in Congress.
...OR the idiot Buchannan.
I had higher expectations of President Bush than yours, obviously...but I can still honestly say he has lived up to my expectations. I really get tired of the "Bush is not conservative enough"....he never billed himself as ultra right wing. I doubt that many of the posters who say "I voted for Bush, but never again" actually voted for Bush...more likely they voted Buchanan.
I was thinking video conferencing. If he wins, he'll demand it...and he'll probably get it too.
Everybody that is embarassed by GWBs performance so far makes this statement. I wonder if they really believe it. Unfortunately there is no way to prove it.
But we are where we said we would be if algore had been elected, bigger government, more government spending, more restrictions on our freedoms and direct assaults on the constitution and an ongoing coverup for the clintons.
Uhhh...wasn't Traficant convicted on felony charges?
Well. . . that answers it then. :) Sorry, I mean Indiana - 2.
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