NYCLU challenges Monserrate expulsion- The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed papers in federal court supporting Senator Hiram Monserrate’s lawsuit challenging his recent expulsion from the New York State Senate.
The NYCLU’s amicus brief, filed Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, maintains that the Senate was wrong to expel Monserrate, effectively nullifying an election, when the more “narrowly tailored” remedy of censuring him was available. Additionally, it argues that the lack of any standards governing the expulsion of a senator endangers New Yorkers’ voting rights and First Amendment rights to support a candidate and have that candidate serve is elected.
While Monserrate was an NYCLU Board Member from 1998 to 2001, that in no way influenced the NYCLU’s position.
Here's what he did to get expelled:
- Between his election and swearing in to office, he was charged with slashing his girlfriend Karla Giraldo's face with a broken glass and then forcibly pulling her down the hall of his Queens apartment building on the way to the hospital.
Yeah, I can see why the NY Chapter of the American Criminal Lobbying Union jumped in to save his job.
