State House Votes to Expel Convicted Rep, First Since 1916

Garballey & Donato Vote Yes; Sciortino, No

In a vote of 146-5, the state House of Representatives moved Thursday, Feb. 6, to oust Rep. Carlos Henriquez of Dorchester, who had been sentenced to serve six months in prison in a case involving an Arlington woman. Reporting the vote and the Democrats’ declaration of innocence was Boston.com. It was the first such ouster since 1916. The Feb. 7 Globe reported this lengthier update.

Rep. Sean Garballey, Democrat of Arlington, and Rep. Paul Donato, Democrat of Medford, voted with the majority. Rep. Carl Sciortino, Democrat of Medford, was among the five who voted no.

Garbelley told YourArlington:

“The House Committee on Ethics recently conducted an independent investigation on the actions of Representative Carlos Henriquez. After reviewing 1,000 pages of trial testimony, reviewing 11 police reports, and 78 exhibits, the committee made a recommendation to the House of Representatives to expel the Representative. With a jury convicting Representative Henriquez of two serious charges I supported the recommendation of the House Committee on Ethics.”

Rep. Sciortino said he felt conflicted about his vote.

“What Representative Carlos Henriquez did is reprehensible, he will serve his time, and I wish he had resigned. I voted today to censure Representative Henriquez, which I believe is the strictest punishment the House has the authority to impose on a duly elected member,” said Sciortino in a statement. “I do not believe Representative Henriquez should be serving in the House, but I also do not believe we have the constitutional authority to permanently expel a sitting member with a simple majority vote. I would have voted to impeach Representative Henriquez, as provided for in Article 6 of Chapter 1 Section 3 of the Massachusetts Constitution, but that was not an option before us today.”

– YourArlington.com and InsideMedford.com