Ethics complaint filed vs. Tucson lawmaker for hiding Bibles

PHOENIX — Three lawmakers filed a complaint Monday that Tucson Democratic Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton violated House ethics rules by her admitted action of hiding Bibles.

The complaint filed by three first-term Republican lawmakers says Stahl Hamilton moved Bibles and placed them under seat cushions in the Arizona House of Representatives lounge, “potentially causing Christian members of the House, staff, and guests to unknowingly sit on their own holy text.’’

They said her placement of one in a refrigerator is “disrespectful in the extreme.’’

Stahl Hamilton publicly apologized last week, saying her actions were meant to make a “playful’’ point about the separation of church and state.

Reps. Justin Heap of Mesa, David Marshall of Snowflake and Lupe Diaz of Benson said her statements “did not provide sufficient justification or excuse for her conduct.’’

“These public comments came only after the representative was aware that her actions had been caught on camera and the incident became a matter of national concern,’’ they wrote.

“Had a camera not been installed, these deeply inappropriate actions could have continued indefinitely to the detriment of other members,’’ Heap, Marshall and Diaz wrote. “The people of Arizona deserve a higher standard of decorum and respect from their elected representatives.’’

They want the Ethics Committee to investigate her actions.

Stahl Hamilton said Monday evening she was aware of the complaint and had no immediate comment.

Disorderly behavior, theft claimed

Any lawmaker can file an ethics complaint. Any move to proceed with any sanction against the legislator — which can range from censure to expulsion — requires that the Ethics Committee pursue the complaint and also that the House finds there was a rules violation.

Heap, Marshall and Diaz say there are several ways Stahl Hamilton broke the rules.

The first fits under a section of the Arizona Constitution allowing lawmakers to punish members for “disorderly behavior.’’

They acknowledge there is no Arizona case defining what that means. Instead, they cite a 1910 edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, printed around the same time as the 1912 Arizona Constitution, saying it can include conduct contrary to rules of good order and decorum, contrary to law, or that “scandalizes the community and is offensive to the public sense of morality.’’

“Rep. Stahl Hamilton’s conduct was all three of these things,’’ the three GOP lawmakers wrote.

On a more concrete note, they contend her action constitutes theft under state law based on the definition that includes controlling the property of another “with the intent to deprive the other person of such property.’’ That “other person’’ can include the Arizona House, they said.

“It is unnecessary for the Ethics Committee to make a determination as to whether Rep. Stahl Hamilton intended to permanently or only temporarily deprive the House and fellow members of the use of the property to determine if her actions constitute a theft,’’ the three filing the complaint said.

They said the only reason the Bibles were found after multiple incidents of hiding was they were located by other House members.

“If the Bibles hadn’t been located, Rep. Stahl Hamilton would likely have been pleased,’’ they wrote. “The repetition of the theft after the Bibles were replaced further supports that assumption.’’

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Finally, they said removal of the Bibles violates state and federal laws prohibiting religious harassment in the workplace. Stahl Hamilton’s actions created a “hostile work environment,” they said.

“By requiring co-workers and staff to unwittingly desecrate their sacred texts, Rep. Stahl Hamiltin appears to have violated these laws as well,’’ the complaint reads.

Past tweet cited

Beyond the actions this session, the three lawmakers also point in the complaint to comments Stahl Hamilton made in a Twitter post in 2020.

There, she used a picture of Donald Trump posing for a photo in front of the parish house of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., holding a Bible aloft in his right hand.

Stahl Hamilton, an ordained Presbyterian minister, said in the post she “got into politics because I was so angered by the number of Bibles on desks at the Arizona State House.’’

“Holding a Bible — or any religious text — doesn’t make you a good person,’’ she posted. “Nor should you use this (as) a political photo op. This is disgusting.’’

The complaint filed against Stahl Hamilton says “her comments demonstrate a strong disdain for Bibles placed by individual members of the House on their own personal desks, and suggest the presence of Bibles in the House angered her so much that she chose to enter public service. Consistent with their constitutional rights, many members keep a Bible on their desks as a reminder of their faith, commitment to personal integrity, or for other reasons.’’

In her apology last week on the House floor, Stahl Hamilton said, “The intent was never to be destructive, to never desecrate or to offend.’’

Hiding the books from being easily found, she continued, was not the best way to raise the issue of Bibles in the House lounge. “I acknowledge that a conversation about the separation of church and state should have began with a conversation,’’ Stahl Hamilton said.

She said she has the “utmost respect’’ for people of all faiths and for those who have no religious beliefs. “And because of that respect, I recognize my actions could have been seen as something less than playful, and (as) offensive,’’ Stahl Hamilton said.

In hands of ethics panel

Ethics Committee chairman Rep. Joseph Chaplik, R-Scottsdale, has given Stahl Hamilton until 5 p.m. Friday, May 5, to file a written response to the complaint.

The committee can but is not required to make recommendations to the full House. It is then up to the chamber to decide whether to pursue the matter.

It takes a simple majority to censure a member. Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote.

That last happened last month when the House voted 46-13 to oust Rep. Liz Harris, R-Chandler.

Lawmakers accepted the Ethics Committee’s findings that Harris she knew that someone she invited to testify at a hearing on election integrity was going to present not just false but libelous accusations against lawmakers, judges and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, accusing them without evidence of being involved in a scheme to rig elections and other crimes.

The committee members also found Harris was not truthful with them about what she knew ahead of time that Scottsdale insurance agent Jacqueline Breger planned to say at the hearing.

Following state law, precinct committee members submitted three names to fill the vacancy — including Harris herself. So far, Maricopa County supervisors, who have the final word, haven’t chosen from that list, leaving the Republican majority with 30 members, one short of the 31 needed to pass any bill that Democrats don’t support.