Arizona lawmaker who hid Bibles at the Capitol is censured by the House after expulsion vote fails

The Arizona House of Representatives disciplined Democratic Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton with a censure vote Tuesday following an Ethics Committee finding last week that her repeated hiding of two Bibles in a House lounge was "disorderly behavior."

A vote to expel Stahl Hamilton, motioned by Ethics Committee member Rep. Travis Grantham, R-Gilbert, failed because of a lack of Democratic support. Expulsion requires the backing of two-thirds of members. Four Republicans also voted against expulsion.

But Republicans carried off the censure, which needed just a simple majority, with a vote of 30-28, with two Democratic members not voting due to excused absences. Rep. David Cook, R-Globe, voted against both the expulsion and the censure. The final vote caused some Democrats to complain that approving the censure should have taken 31 votes.

The House Code of Conduct requires a majority of the House (for censure)," said Democratic Leader Andrés Cano, R-Tucson. "That would be 31. This seems to be a flagrant exercise of power."

Stahl Hamilton, D-Tucson, an ordained Presbyterian minister, hid the two Bibles from the lounge under seat cushions on two occasions and put one in a refrigerator as a prank. She apologized in a House floor speech the day after she was caught in the act by a security camera placed in the lounge, saying it was a "simple little prank" and a "peaceful, playful protest."

But three Republican members — Reps. Justin Heap, R-Mesa, David Marshall, R-Snowflake, and Lupe Diaz, R-Benson — later filed a complaint against Stahl Hamilton, accusing her of violating House rules as well as committing theft and creating a hostile workplace.

Stahl Hamilton skipped a May 25 Ethics Committee hearing concerning the complaint, instead sending two lawyers — and former Democratic House representatives — to speak on her behalf. The seven-page ethics report said the panel would have preferred if she had come to the hearing.

Some Republicans on the five-member Ethics Committee didn't fully accept her apology. All five, however, including the two Democrats on the panel, found that she violated the House rule against disorderly behavior, a term that's not defined in the Arizona Constitution.

What lawmakers said during expulsion, censure debate

Stahl Hamilton listened patiently on the House floor on Tuesday as many of her fellow lawmakers argued for or against expulsion and censure. Some compared the process to the expulsion vote against former Rep. Liz Harris in April, who was booted from the Legislature after the Ethics Committee found that she had lied about her knowledge of the false testimony that her guest aired in a February hearing on Republican election concerns.

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Several Republicans felt that the House should show consistency by expelling Stahl Hamilton as they had expelled Harris.

"How we operate while we are here depends greatly on our leadership and our consistency while we're in session," said Ethics Committee Chair Rep. Joseph Chaplik, R-Scottsdale. "I vote yes."

Cook said before voting against the expulsion measure that he had worked previously with Stahl Hamilton — whom he called a friend — and found her to be a help to rural Arizonans. He called the expulsion motion "overkill." He also spoke — and voted — against the censure.

"This should have all been taken care of by leadership and the members involved," he said. "I wanted good legislators behind me when I leave this place."

Democrats defending Stahl Hamilton included Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, D-Tucson, who noted that only Bibles are kept in the lounge, not the Quran or other religious texts.

"The righteous indignation is misplaced," she said. "I've known her for many years. ... She has never failed to stand up for the people she represents."

Stahl Hamilton sent a statement via text message when asked for a comment after the censure vote, but would not answer questions.

"The body has spoken," she wrote. "It's time to move on. I appreciate my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who voted against excessive punitive measures beyond the turmoil and attacks I've weathered the last seven weeks."

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Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on Twitter@raystern.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton censured for hiding Bibles