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The Democratically controlled California Senate has voted to suspend three Democrats who face charges in separate criminal cases, after the latest lawmaker to be hauled into court refused to step down.

Friday's 28-1 vote in the 40-member chamber came amid one of the most severe ethical crises in modern times for the Legislature in the nation's most populous state.

The resolution prevents Democratic Sens. Ron Calderon, Leland Yee and Rod Wright from exercising any power of their office until the pending criminal cases against them have been resolved. Even so, they will continue receiving their $95,291 annual salaries.


Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento acknowledged the public criticism of the chamber but defended his leadership and the integrity of the 37 senators who have not run afoul of the law. Nevertheless, he said he has been shocked by having 7 percent of the chamber face felony charges this year, which will be his last as leader.

"One is an anomaly, two a coincidence, but three? That's not what this Senate is about," Steinberg said to his fellow lawmakers before the vote.

Yee, who had championed gun control legislation and bills targeting violent video games sold to minors, is the latest of the three senators to be charged. The San Francisco Democrat was indicted this week on federal charges that included accepting bribes and coordinating an international gun-running operation.

Yee's attorney, Paul F. DeMeester, issued a statement immediately after the Senate vote saying suspension was "the right step for now" because it acknowledges the presumption of innocence.

Steinberg noted that the Senate already has "intensive" ethics training for its lawmakers and staff.

"But there are some things, members, that you just can't teach," he said. "I know of no ethics class that teaches about the illegality or the danger of gun-running or other such sordid activities."

He called the allegations against Yee unfathomable.

Steinberg also announced an unprecedented step of cancelling a Senate floor session in April for a mandatory ethics review, with Senate officials going office-by-office to emphasize ethical conduct and to ask staffers to come forward if they are aware of any unethical or potentially criminal activity by lawmakers or Senate staffers.

The lone lawmaker to vote against the resolution, SR38, was Republican Sen. Joel Anderson of Alpine. He argued that all three should be expelled outright and said it was wrong that they should continue receiving their salaries when facing such serious charges.

"If you reward bad behavior, you will get more of it," Anderson said.

Calderon and Wright previously took leaves of absence, which also let them keep their pay. The California Constitution says lawmakers can lose their pay only if they are expelled or resign.

The three suspensions drop Senate Democrats below the two-thirds majority they won in the last election, a supermajority that allowed them to act in all matters without needing support from Republicans in the 40-member chamber.

The vote comes just days after federal authorities arrested Yee as part of a broader corruption probe centered on San Francisco's Chinatown district.

Steinberg was under intense pressure to take tough action with three members of his own party facing criminal charges. Both the state's U.S. senators, Democrats Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, weighed in.

Feinstein, in a statement Thursday, called the allegations against Yee "shocking."

"It has become clear he has lost the confidence of his colleagues and for the good of his constituents should step down," she said.

Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, said in a statement calling for Yee's suspension that the three arrests are "tarnishing the California State Senate."

Yee was arrested and released on bond Wednesday following a series of raids in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. According to an affidavit, he is accused of accepting more than $42,000 to provide introductions, influence legislation and for introducing an undercover FBI agent to an arms trafficker.

Investigators said Yee discussed helping the agent get weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles, from a Muslim separatist group in the Philippines to help pay off campaign debts.

Wright was convicted of voter fraud and perjury and faces sentencing in May. Calderon faces federal charges for allegedly accepting $100,000 in bribes for friends and family in exchange for pushing certain bills.

Democratic Sen. Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles, who will succeed Steinberg as Senate leader later this year, defended the chamber's reputation and noted that none of the bills Calderon pushed as a favor to those who were giving him cash passed the Senate.

He said that shows that the legislative system actually worked.

"This is the best legislative institution in the country, hands down," he said. "And we're going to get past it."

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Study Reveals Four New Man-made Gases in Atmosphere

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Originally posted by Niki2:
Senator Leland Yee Charged in Gun Trafficking Scandal

In an ironic twist, Senator Leland Yee was arrested on Wednesday and today charged with arms trafficking and conspiring to commit wire fraud. The FBI arrested a total of 26 people; all connected to the arms trafficking scheme which included a well-known Chinese criminal by the name of Raymond Chow. Mr. Chow is connected to the Wo Hop To gang.

Senator Leland Yee is known for co-authoring the micro-stamping bill for semi-automatic firearms for ballistic information, and he was honored by the Brady Campaign for his role in gun violence prevention. While Senator Yee was receiving honors, he was selling firearms illegally to those who may be contributing to actual firearms crimes.

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Originally posted by FREMDFIRMA:
Also worthy of note, and take a lesson from this - is that unlike when a rightwingnut is caught out, most of the liberal end of the spectrum is calling for their heads just as quick or worse, instead of rushing to find excuses and defend them.
Because right and wrong are fundamentally more important than "side", and I really wish y'all would learn and internalize that lesson.

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Originally posted by Geezer:
Just to make Sen. Lee's story more sordid, seems the money he was going to pay for the guns he sold would have gone to a Philippine Muslim insurgent/terrorist group that wanted to establish an independent Muslim homeland and enforce Sharia law.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregorymcneal/2014/03/28/senator-yee-knew-
conspiracy-would-send-money-to-islamic-militants-and-arms-to-north-africa/#./?&_suid=139628711040902276933797212845


"When your heart breaks, you choose what to fill the cracks with. Love or hate. But hate won't ever heal. Only love can do that."

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