The North Carolina legislature last kicked out a lawmaker in 1880.
House Speaker Joe Hackney has said that his staff is researching whether Rep. Thomas Wright could be expelled for campaign finance problems.
The practice has been rare in modern times, in part because many legislators choose to resign.
But it was common in the 18th and 19th centuries. The last legislator expelled was Josiah Turner Jr., a Hillsborough lawyer and editor of the Raleigh Sentinel.
After losing a Congressional race, Turner's behavior became "very erratic," according to one account:
He manifested a special antipathy to the speaker, Hon John M. Moring, whom he denominated as a "gander head," and his conduct was so obstreprous that at length the body, worn out by his unruly and unseemly proceedings, was driven to expel him as a member.
Hackney's staff is also trying to determine what a "gander head" is.
Hat Tip: The Insider
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Re: Kicked out
Thanks for that information. I had wondered about both the background and procedures for expelling a member who doesn't resign under such circumstances. Please continue to keep us abreast.