ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 22, 1997 TAG: 9702240053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
Democrats are putting Bedford Del. Lacey Putney's political independence to the test.
On Thursday, senior Democrats heaped scorn on Putney - the assembly's lone independent - for bucking them on two controversial bills.
House Speaker Thomas Moss referred to Putney as "Judas" for his role in a Republican-orchestrated plan that led to the passage of parental notification.
Hours later, Petersburg Del. Jay DeBoer angrily accused Putney of undercutting his pharmaceutical bill.
The two incidents had Putney fuming for hours. He retold the encounters to Republican colleagues, who lent a sympathetic ear.
Asked if the Democrats were trying to push him into the GOP camp, Putney replied, "Darn if they aren't trying."
The Virginia way?
Salem Del. Morgan Griffith was so riled he was choking on his words.
"They talk about the Virginia way," Griffith sputtered Friday. "There is no Virginia way. It's been killed here today."
Griffith - a self-described parliamentarian wonk - was upset over the lack of clear House procedures in electing judges.
For weeks, the Republican had been waiting to challenge the reappointment of three judges from the western tip of Virginia. The basis of his challenge was a House rule that states the chamber cannot consider an identical matter twice in a year. Because the House had voted on the same three judges earlier this month in an aborted judicial appointment, Griffith took the position that the House could not reconsider the matter.
Griffith expected House Speaker Thomas Moss to rule the earlier vote was nullified because the Senate could not agree on the appointments.
But Griffith was surprised when Moss declared that long-standing House rules do not apply during the election of judges.
A stunned Griffith asked Moss, if that was the case, what rules did apply during judicial elections.
Moss cited a procedural resolution, which sets out the date and time of judicial appointments but does not contain any detailed procedural guidelines.
The speaker's patience wore thin as Griffith continued to press the point in a series of parliamentary inquiries.
"Does the gentleman wish to block the vote? Is that what he wants?" Moss asked.
Finally, Moss said that Griffith would be free to challenge the rules in court.
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is an appropriate remedy."
Later, Griffith warned that someone could challenge the validity of sitting judges on the grounds that proper procedures were not followed.
"It's a shame to me that here, in the oldest continuous legislative body in the New World, we don't have any rules to elect our judges," Griffith said.
What's next
The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn today.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Griffith KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB