In Wisconsin, one legal issue regarding the GOP's contempt resolution was the state constitutional legislative privilege that protects members from arrest or civil process except for criminal cases that I discussed in this diary recently. Some lawyers stated that this legislative immunity rendered the threatened arrest of Democratic senators unlawful.
Now, Scott Bundgaard, the GOP Majority Leader of the Arizona State Senate, used a similar Arizona Constitutional provision as immunity from arrest when he hit his girlfriend, who also hit him, but not having immunity, she was arrested for domestic violence and sent to jail overnight. It is not clear whether he invoked the privilege, or perhaps accepted the use of the privilege after police determined it was applicable to avoid his arrest.
Update: In 1988, the police released now Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer when she was involved in car accident where police at the scene said she was intoxicated, which she denied, but admitted she had been drinking. It appears that Brewer did not invoke the privilege, yet after this accident, she has increased penalties for DUI offenders, saying "I believe no one should be drinking and driving":
Brewer was placed in handcuffs and taken to a DPS station, where she was supposed to undergo a test to determine her blood-alcohol level. But no test was ever performed. After a discussion with a DPS lieutenant, two officers drove Brewer home.
At the scene, Brewer told officers she had "one scotch." Later, at the station, she said she had had two. At the time, she denied being drunk.
…The DPS, after learning that Brewer was a state senator, told her that she had immunity from arrest. No charges were filed in the case. Brewer, who says she remembers the crash vividly, maintains that she was not impaired.
Bundgaard and his girlfriend had an argument on the side of the road recently, and, according to the police, "he hit her and she hit him." Being an upstanding GOP lawmaker, he quickly whipped out this constitutional legislative privilege to avoid arrest while watching his girlfriend be arrested:
The majority leader, Scott Bundgaard, told Phoenix police officers that he was a state senator, and he cited a provision of the Arizona Constitution that gives lawmakers limited immunity from arrest, the police said. Police Department lawyers were consulted, and they ordered that Mr. Bundgaard be uncuffed and released.
Aubry Ballard, Mr. Bundgaard’s girlfriend of about eight months, on the other hand, was arrested for domestic violence and spent the night in jail.
These constitutional legislative privileges exist in our federal Constitution and many state Constitutions and were "designed to protect lawmakers from civil matters that would interfere with their legislative duties."
Bundgaard used as a get-out-of-jail card.
People in Arizona are not pleased that he received this special treatment. Women's groups are demanding his resignation or removal from Senate leadership. Bundgaard responds that he did not invoke legislative immunity to avoid arrest for hitting his girlfriend:
Intent on holding onto his job, Mr. Bundgaard, 43, denied that he invoked legislative immunity after the police responded to his roadside brawl with Ms. Ballard on Feb. 25. He said that Ms. Ballard, 34, hit him after accusing him of dancing the rumba too closely with another woman in a local charity version of “Dancing With the Stars.” He said that he did not hit Ms. Ballard at all and that he passed a polygraph.
Bundgaard "passed a privately contracted lie-detector test."
The police essentially call him a liar:
Sgt. Tommy Thompson, a police spokesman, said in an interview that the senator specifically invoked Article 4 of the State Constitution, which says lawmakers are “privileged from arrest in all cases except treason, felony and breach of the peace, and they shall not be subject to any civil process during the session of the Legislature, nor for 15 days before the commencement of each session.”
Bundgaard says he is "not above the law."
Now, after denying he invoked this immunity, essentially calling the police liars, the police plan to present his case to the prosecutors. Looks like charges will be filed against slimy Bundgaard, who should also be removed from his leadership position.
The police will release more information next week after their investigation is completed:
The cops aren't talking, except to say that further information may be released late next week. “The investigation is still ongoing,” Sgt. Tommy Thompson said. “When it's completed I think you will see some interesting things.”