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Dem lawmaker who hid Bibles guilty of disorderly behavior, Ethics Committee says • Arizona Mirror [1]

['Gloria Rebecca Gomez', 'More From Author', '- June']

Date: 2023-06

The Democratic state representative caught hiding two Bibles in what she claimed was a protest should be punished for disorderly behavior, according to the final report released on Friday by the House Ethics Committee.

In April, Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, D-Tucson, was videotaped placing two Bibles underneath couch cushions in the lounge of the state House of Representatives. The camera that captured the footage was installed at the direction of GOP leadership, after weeks of confusion over the often displaced texts, which have been in the lounge since at least the 1990s. Stahl Hamilton’s actions elicited outrage from Republican lawmakers and spurred a formal investigation by the Ethics Committee.

The five member committee, made up of three Republicans and two Democrats, unanimously decided that Stahl Hamilton’s behavior merited punishment from the full House of Representatives, which reconvenes June 12. What form that punishment should take, however, is left up to the full House to decide. The committee could have chosen to recommend either a censure or an expulsion but ultimately advocated for neither in the final report. It’s unlikely, however, that an expulsion will occur, as doing so requires a two-thirds supermajority vote, while a censure needs only a simple majority and Republicans currently outnumber Democrats by only one vote in the House.

The complaint against Stahl Hamilton, filed by a trio of Republican lawmakers, including two pastors, accused her of theft, disorderly conduct and creating a hostile work environment. While disorderly conduct isn’t well-defined in the state constitution, it was broadly explained in the complaint as behavior that “scandalizes the community and is offensive to the public sense of morality” or is contrary to decorum or state law.

Stahl Hamilton, a Presbyterian minister, explained her actions as both a joke and a lighthearted protest of what she viewed as a violation of the separation of church and state. But Republican lawmakers were unconvinced and the committee report echoes that skepticism.

“She did not provide further explanation for the proposition that the mere presence of Bibles in the Members’ Lounge violates the separation of church and state or any of her constitutional rights,” it reads.

Committee members emphasized the offense felt by Christian lawmakers, some of whom said in the hearing that they were uncomfortable with the realization that they may have inadvertently disrespected a text they hold sacred.

“Representative Stahl Hamilton could have placed the Bibles on a bookshelf or even placed them on the Sergeant at Arms’ desk after removing them from their usual places and still accomplished her stated goal,” they wrote. “Her choice was not only disrespectful to the Bible itself, but was deeply offensive to those Members who revere the Bible as their holy text.”

Stahl Hamilton also irked Republican lawmakers when she failed to attend the formal Ethics Committee hearing regarding the complaint against her on May 25.

Democrats in the state House of Representatives have been critical of the proceedings against Stahl Hamilton, accusing Republicans of engaging in political retribution. Stahl Hamilton filed the complaint earlier this year against former state Rep. Liz Harris, a Republican who was ousted from elected office for facilitating the dissemination of unfounded criminal allegations against numerous state officials at a legislative hearing and then lying about it. In an emailed statement, Minority Leader Andrés Cano said Democrats accepted the committee’s decision and advocated for moving on to more pressing issues.

“Our leadership team has seen the Ethics Committee report and we accept its findings. However, we also accept the apologies delivered by Representative Stahl Hamilton to her colleagues when this issue first came to light, and subsequently,” Cano said. “She has owned her actions. We will not engage in any further divisive rhetoric or political opportunism that this incident has inspired. It is time to focus and devote our attention to the important work we have left at our Capitol.”

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[1] Url: https://www.azmirror.com/blog/dem-lawmaker-who-hid-bibles-guilty-of-disorderly-behavior-ethics-committee-says/

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