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Judge dismisses group's effort to remove Black Virginia state senator, Louise Lucas
Source: Associated Press
Judge dismisses group's effort to remove Black state senator
By BEN FINLEY
July 2, 2021
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — A judge in Virginia swiftly rebuked a conservative group’s effort Friday to remove a Black state senator from office over her role in a protest that ended with heavy damage to a Confederate monument.
Few expected the petition of 4,600 signatures gathered by members of the Virginia Tea Party to succeed against Sen. Louise Lucas, a longtime Democratic legislator and a key Statehouse power broker. The judge quickly ruled that, under Virginia’s Constitution, only the state Senate can expel one of its members.
“There is a process for that,” Chesapeake Circuit Court Chief Judge John W. Brown said from the bench. “This is not that process.”
The courtroom briefly served as a battleground for the nation’s culture wars over race, history and policing that intensified last year after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody.
-snip-
By BEN FINLEY
July 2, 2021
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — A judge in Virginia swiftly rebuked a conservative group’s effort Friday to remove a Black state senator from office over her role in a protest that ended with heavy damage to a Confederate monument.
Few expected the petition of 4,600 signatures gathered by members of the Virginia Tea Party to succeed against Sen. Louise Lucas, a longtime Democratic legislator and a key Statehouse power broker. The judge quickly ruled that, under Virginia’s Constitution, only the state Senate can expel one of its members.
“There is a process for that,” Chesapeake Circuit Court Chief Judge John W. Brown said from the bench. “This is not that process.”
The courtroom briefly served as a battleground for the nation’s culture wars over race, history and policing that intensified last year after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody.
-snip-
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/va-state-wire-george-floyd-race-and-ethnicity-government-and-politics-7dc5c13b773b80527f6e5f08ae391e65
FILE - In this March 8, 2020 file photo, Senate President Pro Tempore, Sen. Louise Lucas speaks during a debate on the Senate floor at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. judge in Virginia swiftly rebuked a conservative group’s effort on Friday, July 2, 2021, to remove Lucas from office. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)