Reps. Justin Heap, David Marshall, and Lupe Diaz of Arizona filed a complaint against Rep. Stahl Hamilton, one of their fellow members of the Arizona State House of Representatives because she was caught on security camera footage hiding Bibles.
As background, Bibles in Arizona House members’ lounge went missing, so Republicans in the state installed security cameras to figure out who was stealing or moving them. The footage showed that it was Rep. Stahl who was moving the Bibles, hiding them in places like under couch cushions and in the refrigerator.
Rep. Hamilton, a Presbyterian minister, claimed that her hiding the Bibles was meant to be a bit of playful commentary on the separation of church and state, along with a protest against the weaponization of religion in politics.
Republicans, however, were not amused. So, they filed an ethics complaint against her. In the complaint, they wrote, “We, and other members of the Arizona House who cherish our faith and hold the Bible in reverence, do not see Representative Stahl Hamilton’s disrespect of scripture as playful in any regard.”
Republican Rep. Rachel Jones, commenting to a local Fox affiliate on the matter, said, “It is just very disturbing and offensive to me that I may have been sitting on a Bible, and I just want to say if it had been a Quran and a Muslim member sitting upon that I would be able to empathize with them about how that would be the same amount of disturbing to them. I believe many of the Christian members in here would be able to empathize with other members of different religions if that had occurred in this way.”
The three lawmakers who filed the complaint then accused her of disorderly conduct under the Arizona House rules, theft, and creating a hostile work environment by violating state and federal law forbidding religious discrimination. The House, following the ethics complaint, voted to censure her, with an expulsion vote coming up short. An ethics inquiry in the house can lead only to censure or expulsion, not criminal liability.
Republican Rep. Joseph Chaplik, the Arizona House Ethics Committee chair, said, before the vote, “Something of this magnitude that’s made national news, I think it’s only wise to allow the person that has the claim held against him to come and speak about it. Due process, let them talk and understand what happened and let’s figure out if this is a valid or invalid claim against them.”
Democratic Rep. Nancy Gilbert, pushed back on the outrage among the Republicans garnered by Rep. Stahl’s actions, saying, “Now they respect all religions when it’s only the Bible that I’ve ever seen in that lounge. It’s never been the Quran or the Torah or the Bhagavad Gita. And so the righteous indignation is misplaced. I wouldn’t like to speak to Representative Stahl Hamilton’s character. I have known her for many years. She has been a volunteer. She’s a mother. She’s a minister. And she is one of the most character people I know.”
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