An Arizona state lawmaker was seen telling a sheriff's deputy he sometimes drives as fast as 130 or 140 mph after he was pulled over for speeding. The deputy said in a report later that the driver claimed to have legislative immunity. [More]
That hardly seems like what speech or debate clauses were set up for. And it certainly raises character questions, particularly about the way this character handles limited power.
It recalls for me a story I read as a child about a politician with far more clout who handled things with far more humility and far less arrogance.
2 comments:
He may have been trolling Johnny Law. Not sure about Arizona, but, aren't congressmen exempt from arrest while the respective house or senate is in session?
Got this from a self proclaimed law site:
Congressional immunity refers to a special immunity that is granted to members of Congress. The following are the exemptions granted to the members of Congress under congressional immunity :
1. A Congress member is exempted from arrest while attending a session of the body to which the member belongs, excluding an arrest for treason, breach of the peace, or a felony, or;
2.A Congress member is exempted from arrest or interrogation for any speech or debate entered into during a legislative session.
In In re Grand Jury, 821 F.2d 946 (3d Cir. Pa. 1987), it was held that congressional immunity is an evidentiary privilege that is applied broadly to evidence or testimony about all acts that occur in the regular course of the legislative process. It therefore applies to activity taken in the course of legislative fact-finding.
I'm pretty sure driving 140 in a 70 zone would be considered a breach of the peace.
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