Democrat war on women - Rep expelled after domestic assault

[Big Money]

DEMOCRAT​

The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to remove one of its own for the first time in nearly a century, expelling state Representative Carlos Henriquez, a two-term lawmaker convicted on two assault charges.


After an hour and a half of occasionally emotional debate and a personal appeal from Henriquez, lawmakers rejected a milder proposal to censure the Democrat and voted, 146 to 5, to strip him of his office.


“We cannot lose sight of the fact that there is a victim involved,” Ethics Committee vice chairman David Nangle told colleagues. “There is a victim of a violent domestic crime. We cannot sit idly by and ignore the severity of the charges against our colleague.”


House leaders, in laying out a case against Henriquez, argued for the integrity of the institution and insisted that Henriquez’s confinement would prevent him from discharging the duties of his office.


They urged colleagues to look at photos of the victim, which were available outside the House chamber. The photos, they said, showed multiple black-and-blue marks on her chest, torso, and arms.


“I was mortified when I saw the pictures,” Nangle told colleagues. “I had a sick feeling in my stomach. I can only imagine what might have been going through that young woman’s mind.”




http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/02/07/house-ejects-henriquez-for-assault-conviction/W4JaahKy5jax2WpgLKRjjP/story.html?rss_id=Top-GNP&google_editors_picks=true

 

[StormX]

But yesterday morning before the vote, the New England Area Conference of the NAACP released a letter urging the House not to expel the convicted lawmaker.

“Representative Henriquez was duly elected by the electorate, and there is no legal basis upon which the House of Representatives can properly act,” the letter said. “Delaying any decision on the House Ethics Committee’s recommendation at this time would allow for a fair process to take place, as required under the law.”

Delay would also have allowed a convicted criminal who held down and punched a girlfriend to stay in office. Is that really what the NAACP wanted?

So I called Juan Cofield, president of the New England conference, and asked him on Boston Herald Radio yesterday: Why shouldn’t the Massachusetts House expel Henriquez?

“He was convicted of two misdemeanors — not felonies—misdemeanors,” Cofield said. “Almost every day people commit misdemeanors. Jaywalking is a misdemeanor. Would you have a member expelled from the House for jaywalking?”

Really? Jaywalking?

“Would you really compare jaywalking to beating a woman who denied you sex?” I asked. “It’s a misdemeanor,” Cofield replied.

When the NAACP argues that Beacon Hill liberals seem a lot more eager to throw Henriquez under the bus than, say, ex-Speaker Sal DiMasi, that’s a fair point. Recall that many of these same Democrats overwhelmingly voted to re-elect him as their speaker, after the news of the DiMasi corruption investigation was well known.

But when defenders of Henriquez argue that the crime itself doesn’t warrant expulsion, they completely lose me.

This is a guy who votes on laws regarding sexual abuse and criminal punishment who was convicted by a jury of smacking a woman around after a hook-up gone wrong. This from the “Stop the War on Women!” party? It would be a scandal to allow him to continue.

The NAACP should have joined Gov. Deval Patrick and House Speaker Robert DeLeo in calling for his resignation. They didn’t.

It’s hard not to wonder how women, particularly black women, feel about that answer coming from a civil rights organization.

And I understand why Henriquez and his NAACP allies repeatedly mentioned that the jury was white. It’s despicable playing the race card so shamelessly, but it’s also to be expected.

But for a civil rights group to urge a woman-beater remain in the Legislature, for its president to compare a politician’s assault conviction to “jaywalking”—that’s beyond even what a cynic like me would expect.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinio...ham_rep_carlos_henriquez_crime_not_jaywalking

Looks like the NAACP has a war on women as well...

 

[Big Money]

Only conservative Blacks deserve to be punished, Stormy.

Notice that the JPP Sob Sisters were silent when this Democrat assaulted a woman, too.