From the New York Times:
The State Senate on Tuesday expelled a senator convicted of domestic assault, the first time in nearly a century that the Legislature has forced a member from office.
The Senate voted 53-to-8 to immediately oust the senator, Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democrat convicted last fall of a misdemeanor for dragging his companion down the hallway of his apartment building.
The expulsion leaves the fragile balance of power in the Senate divided between 31 Democrats and 30 Republicans. Because legislation requires 32 votes to pass, Democrats will be unable to approve bills with just the support of their own conference. In an effort to minimize the disruption, Gov. David A. Paterson late Tuesday called a special election for March 16.
Monserrate claims that the Senate does not have the power to expel a member and plans to challenge the action in court, but, according to Elizabeth Benjamin in The Daily Politics, the snowstorm is hampering his efforts:
Monserrate's attorney, Norman Siegel, told me this morning he has prepared a 45-memo on why last night's vote was unconstitutional. But he hasn't been able to file anything today because the courts are closed."It's a unique situation," Siegel said. "We're ready to file, but we can't file because of the alleged blizzard of 2010. I don't have the keys to the courthouse door. When the court opens, we will file."
"Alleged blizzard?" Spoken like a lawyer.
According to NCSL's Brenda Erickson, this is the 35th expulsion of a lawmaker from office by a state legislature in American history.
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