Rep. Earl Jones says the voters should decide on Rep. Thomas Wright.
Introducing an amendment to censure Wright, he said that expelling a legislator would subvert the democratic process. He said expulsion is not "practical, just or fair."
He argued that "clear and convincing evidence" is a lower standard than "beyond a reasonable doubt" — the standard in criminal trials — or "high crimes and misdemeanors" — the standard in the U.S. Constitution for impeachment of federal officials.
"Expulsion of a dulty elected official in this House should require the highest burden of proof," he said.
He also argued that expulsion would unfairly taint the jury pool for Wright's upcoming criminal trial.
He also offered a particularly poetic paean to democracy, from the "mountains of Asheville to the green pastures in the East" and "on the sea coast of North Carolina."
"Expulsion disenfranchises those voters, censure does not," he said.
After the jump, Jones' paean.
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"On May 6 of this year, American democracy will play out here in North Carolina. On that day of the Democratic and Republican primaries, from the mountains of Asheville, N.C., to the green pastures in the East, in Greenville and Rocky Mount, to the bright lights and busy and crowded streets and sidewalks of Charlotte, N.C., to the rolling hills and the Carolina blue skies of Winston-Salem, Durham, Chapel Hill and Greensboro, and yes, on the sea coast of North Carolina, the citizens and voters in Wilmington and New Hanover County will go tot he polls and decide Rep. Wright's fate."
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