General Assembly Retains Former Delaware Supreme Court Justice To Consider McGuiness Case

Yes, we were spared the Alphonse-Gaston back-and-forth that had inexplicably taken hold in Leg Hall over L’Affaire(s) McGuiness:

House and Senate leadership announced jointly they’ve retained former Supreme Court Justice Randy J. Holland for guidance on the General Assembly’s powers under Article III of the Delaware Constitution. The never-before-used provision, created in 1897, permits the General Assembly to petition the governor to remove an elected official for “any reasonable cause.”

The move to use the General Assembly powers first came in a bipartisan push from state Reps. Mike Smith and Madinah Wilson-Anton after McGuiness, who’s the first sitting elected official to be indicted on felony charges, refused to take a leave of absence pending the outcome of the criminal case; however, legislators from both chambers have had questions about their authority and the process. They’ve also reiterated their request for McGuiness to step aside to avoid conflicts of interest in her elected watchdog role.

“Leadership on both sides of the building have asked–several times–that the auditor take a leave of absence pending the resolution of the criminal charges. We just think that is fundamentally what’s an odds right now–the ability to execute the duties of the office while also facing criminal charges for abuse of power of the office,” said Townsend.

I guess that McGuiness could argue that, because she hadn’t been carrying out her duties prior to her arrest on multiple charges, there wouldn’t be any change to how she carries out her duties post-indictments.  Besides, if she weren’t there, who would have reminded us to turn our clocks back on Sunday morning?  That’s irreplaceable public service, right there.

Y’know, I’ve been blogging here since 2009.  It’s getting near time to put together a list of the most Batshit-crazy public officials and candidates who have graced these e-pages since then.  Maybe do an NCAA bracket-style tournament where the readers vote on who advances.  I mean, in a hypothetical match-up between McGuiness and the Sheriff Of Nuttingham, who would you vote for?