Kathleen Kane’s Hearing Response
“Presently, this Senate proposes to strip me of my duly elected position and superimpose the will
of the voters based upon an argument that a temporary suspension of a license to practice law allows them authority for direct removal. I will point out that the license suspension was also imposed without the basis of a conviction and without the opportunity for a hearing to determinate the truth of the matters asserted.
This Senate’s reliance upon this administrative proceeding does not relieve them of their constitutional duty to follow the Articles of the Pennsylvania Constitution related to proper removal of an elected official and the historical significance of the precedent long set in this Commonwealth. It is clear that this Senate committee is subverting the process of impeachment and/or trial by jury and attempting direct removal based upon an administrative action that largely relied upon newspaper articles, with no rules of evidence imposed, and an allegation of a crime to create an impressionable argument for incompetency to hold office as means for removal. The actual effect of this Senate action is to circumvent the proper procedure and deprive the citizens, and the office holder, of the constitutional guarantees adopted by voters.”
