ON THE PRIVILEGES OF A SENATOR

DIFFERENT STROKES

Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, of the "Internet is a Series of Tubes" fame, got some bad news on the legal front today.  As the Wall Street Journal reports:

"A federal jury found Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens guilty today of accepting and concealing tens of thousands of dollars in free home renovations and other gifts, a felony conviction that likely spells the end of a legendary Senate career..."

"The jury convicted Stevens on all seven counts brought by federal prosecutors..."

"Stevens is only the fifth sitting senator ever to be convicted of a crime, and the first since 1981. The verdict comes just eight days before Election Day."

What happens to Senator Stevens in the context of a tight upcoming election for him, and his fate in the Senate should he be re-elected for a seventh term, is an interesting question:

"If Stevens is re-elected and chooses not to resign, the Senate eventually will hold hearings to decide if he should be expelled. Traditionally, however, the Senate has not initiated that process until a lawmaker has exhausted his legal options on appeal, a process that could take several years.

The verdict further damaged Senate Republicans’ prospects to hold onto Republican-held seats when voters head to the polls next Tuesday. Democrats currently hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate, which is expected to grow by at least three to four seats."

This New York Times article adds more detail:

"Despite being a convicted felon, he is not required to drop out of the race or resign from the Senate. If he wins re-election, he can continue to hold his seat because there is no rule barring felons from serving in Congress. The Senate could vote to expel Stevens on a two-thirds vote."

Which of course, is not likely to happen any time soon.

We all know if something like this happened to the CEO of a major public company.  He or she'd be gone in the blink of an eye.

The rules do seem to be different for our elected leaders in Congress, regardless of party.

Comments

[Alex Tolley]

You would think the honorable thing to do would be to resign, but politicians of all colors seem to regard felony convictions as a just another piece of negative news to overcome.

CEOs are gone for even relatively minor internal code infractions, like Condit at Boeing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Condit