A Tough Choice on Her First Day in the Legislature
by Karl Kurtz
The Chicago Tribune has this story about an Illinois legislator on her first day in office:
Mell, the daughter of Chicago Ald. Richard Mell (33rd) and sister of first lady Patricia Blagojevich, declined to talk to reporters but issued a statement saying she could not "in good conscience" vote for impeaching Blagojevich.
"Given my unique relationship to the governor, this is a vote to which I have given a great deal of consideration," Mell said in the statement. "I have known the governor for more than 20 years and the charges in the impeachment were difficult to reconcile with the man and brother-in-law I know."
"I could not in good conscience vote for his impeachment," she wrote. "I regard him as innocent until proven guilty and many of my constitutents have expressed this view."
The second impeachment by the House was necessitated by today's seating of a new legislature reflecting the results of the Nov. 4 general election. It was a procedural vote, but one needed to start the impeachment process during the new legislative session.
In a later story, the Tribune adds:
The readers' comments on this story are often vitriolic, many of them saying that Rep. Rell should have recused herself. But I don't think this is an open and shut case. As our web page on conflict of interest points out, the rules about recusal for conflict of interest on legislative votes vary widely from chamber to chamber. The most widespread agreement is that members should not vote on issues in which they have a direct financial stake. In this case Rep. Rell voted against impeachment because of her knowledge of her brother-in-law, not because she would benefit personally.
I agree more with Rich Miller's comments in The Capitol Fax Blog:
She could’ve abstained, but members are not barred from voting on issues where they have a conflict of interest. But hitting the “yellow” button would’ve been the easy way out. Frankly, I appreciated her guts....