NEWS

Legislatures full of bad behavior

Dave Boucher and Joel Ebert
The Tennessean

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - “As legislative clerk Jane Doe #12 explained, when she told Rep. Durham that his requests for drinks with her in 2013 were inappropriate because he was married and she was engaged, she said his response was, ‘Welcome to Capitol Hill.’ ”

The actions of powerful men in the workplace, whether it’s lawmakers in the Tennessee Legislature or Roger Ailes in the corner office at Fox News, keep sexual harassment issues in the national spotlight.

Powerful institutions and harassment at times go hand in hand. State capitols are sometimes hotbeds of sexual harassment. Most legislatures are largely male, part time and require members to travel away from home, creating a fraternity atmosphere.

Exhibit A is Tennessee, which is reeling from the case of state Rep. Jeremy Durham, who was found in a report by state Attorney General Herbert Slatery to have preyed on 22 women during his four years in office. The report, from which the quotation above is taken, said Durham, 32, had sex in his legislative office with a 20-year-old female college student after drinking beer with her.

The investigation, spurred by a Tennessean report that showed he sent late-night text messages to three women, found rampant harassment and sexual conduct by Durham. Another Jane Doe quoted in the report said his nickname among some female staffers at the legislative offices was Pants Candy.

“The lobbyists’ perception that they could not complain about Rep. Durham’s inappropriate behavior is not without support,” the report from the attorney general says. “For example, a senior male lobbyist expressed his view during an interview that enduring a legislator’s sexual advances is merely part of a female lobbyist’s job.”

Tennessee is hardly alone. In 2007 a state senator in South Dakota was censured by the Legislature after he was accused of fondling a legislative intern. In 2015 a Vermont state senator was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting three women, including one who was his intern. (Some charges have been dropped, and he pleaded not guilty to the others.) The same year, the Missouri speaker of the House resigned after exchanging sexually charged text messages with a 19-year-old intern, and a state senator resigned amid sexual harassment allegations by at least two former interns.

“When it comes to sexual violence in general, we know that very often, people are using positions of power and authority to give license to their actions,” said Laura Palumbo, communication director at the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

Nationally, women make up less than a quarter of all state lawmakers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. That puts many female lobbyists, staffers and interns at the professional and political mercy of mainly male lawmakers.

“Women make good lobbyists because they get a man’s attention and hold it,” said Douglas Henry, a Nashville Democrat who served in the Tennessee Legislature from 1954 to 1956 and again from 1970 to 2014, a span longer than anyone in state history.

In Tennessee, where 22 of 132 lawmakers are women and 85 percent are white, the political culture is steeped in the same history and booze that make the Nashville honky-tonks that are less than a mile from the state Capitol a popular tourist attraction for millions. At Legislative Plaza, historically, that culture includes limited policies and safeguards, leaving women with few options. Even under a new policy, women are skeptical.

Tennessee’s Capitol Hill culture dates back more than 200 years, when wives and children were sent away from Nashville during the annual legislative session, state Sen. Frank Niceley said. The longtime Republican lawmaker said that when he started serving at the Legislature in the 1980s, there was little ethical oversight.

“The lobbyists were handing out credit cards and staying out all night,” he said.

At the time, the political elite would meet at “the Kremlin,” the nickname for a few hotel rooms across the street from the Statehouse, said former longtime House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh. The West Tennessee Democrat said the hotel hot spot across the street from the Capitol allowed for “free-flowing conversations” among lawmakers, lobbyists and others.

“The liquor lobbyists brought the liquor, and the beer lobbyists brought the beer. The grocery people brought the bologna and cheese,” said Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains.

Rep. Bill Dunn, a teetotaler Republican from Knoxville, said that if he were giving advice to new lawmakers, he would tell them to avoid drinking while they’re in Nashville.

“If you look throughout the history of where legislators have gotten themselves in trouble, in almost every case, if not every single one, alcohol was involved. People don’t make good decisions when they’ve taken things that alter their perception of reality,” said Dunn, a lawmaker for 22 years.

The attorney general found Durham relied on alcohol as a way to ingratiate himself with many of his victims.

Durham was dogged by controversy before he was elected in 2012. During his first campaign, he called his arrest for burglary and vandalism while attending the University of Tennessee “college shenanigans.” As Durham’s political star quickly began to rise, more problems surfaced. In 2013 Durham was investigated for alleged prescription drug fraud, although the grand jury did not indict him. Then he admitted to writing a reference letter to a federal judge in 2014 — on official legislative letterhead — for a former youth pastor who was convicted on statutory rape and child pornography charges.

Still, Durham gained power as the Republican House whip until a Tennessean investigation early this year detailed inappropriate, late-night text messages to women asking for pictures. The three women told The Tennessean they didn’t feel comfortable telling anyone about the harassment for fear it could ruin their careers.

After The Tennessean published its investigation, Durham resigned from his leadership position and left the House GOP caucus, but he refused to resign.

Some lawmakers stood by him when Slatery labeled Durham a “continuing risk to unsuspecting women” in a report released in April by the attorney general midway through his investigation. That prompted the speaker to banish Durham’s office to a different building. Even after the report, some of Durham’s Republican colleagues called the investigation a witch hunt or unwarranted.

In June, after Slatery released information from a source who said Durham used campaign funds for his personal business, his staunchest allies finally spoke out against him. By the time the attorney general’s final report came out in July, detailing Durham’s repeated sexual misdeeds during the past four years, former supporters were silent.

Durham denied the sexual allegations in the report. He suspended his re-election campaign while refusing to give up his seat. By remaining a legislator until the end of his term in office, he’ll be eligible for an annual $4,100 lifetime pension and health benefits.

Examples of legislative sexual misconduct

• 1. Tennessee, 2016: State Rep. Jeremy Durham sexually harassed or had inappropriate sexual contact with 22 women during four years in office, according to a Tennessee attorney general report. Durham denied most of the allegations.

• 2. South Carolina, 2016: State Rep. Edward Southard resigned days after a female page filed a sexual harassment complaint. The state ethics commission’s report outlined allegations of inappropriate behavior by the lawmaker toward two pages and a lobbyist.

• 3. Michigan, 2015: State Reps. Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat tried to cover up a sexual affair by leaking a fabricated email intended to make it appear the two were victims of a smear campaign. Courser resigned, and Gamrat was expelled.

• 4. Missouri, 2015: State Sen. Paul LeVota resigned in 2015 after sexual harassment allegations by former interns.

• Missouri, 2015: Speaker of the House John Diehl resigned after exchanging sexually charged messages with a 19-year-old intern.

• 5. Vermont, 2014: State Sen. Norm McAllister was arrested after he was accused of sexually assaulting three women. One case has been dismissed. He faces a second trial this winter.

• 6. Wisconsin, 2014: State Rep. Bill Kramer was sentenced to five months in jail. Kramer reportedly shoved a woman into a car, tried to kiss her, touched her indecently and made inappropriate comments to her outside a Republican Party event.

• 7. Kentucky, 2013: Kentucky paid $400,000 to settle two sexual harassment claims brought by several legislative staff members against three lawmakers. The lawmakers denied the charges, which included harassment and retaliation. One lawmaker, Rep. John Arnold, resigned.

8.New York, 2014: Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak was accused by seven former aides of making repeated inappropriate comments. One aide said she saw photos of naked women on his iPad. He resigned Jan. 12, 2014.

• New York, 2013: A state ethics commission report showed state Rep. Vito Lopez had sexually harassed at least eight staffers. He resigned ahead of a vote to expel him. The state paid hundreds of thousands in settlements.

• New York, 2013: Assemblyman Micah Kellner acknowledged making suggestive remarks to a female staffer during online games of Scrabble and telling her he “wouldn’t mind falling asleep with you.” He did not seek re-election.

• 9. Idaho, 2012: State Sen. John McGee resigned after he allegedly sexually harassed an aide. He eventually pleaded guilty to “disturbing the peace,” a charge related to the sexual misconduct, and spent 39 days in jail.

• 10. Utah, 2010: House Majority Leader Kevin Garn resigned from the Utah Legislature, two days after revelations of a nude hot-tubbing incident with a minor 25 years ago and a payment to keep it quiet came to light.

• 11. California, 2009: Assemblyman Michael Duvall resigned after discussing sexual conquests picked up by an open microphone at the statehouse. The FBI investigated whether he had an affair with a lobbyist but ultimately didn’t charge Duvall with any crimes.

• 12. South Dakota, 2006: State Sen. Dan Sutton was censured in 2006 for fondling a legislative intern. Sutton denied the allegations but settled a lawsuit brought by the intern in 2010.

• 13. Hawaii, 2004: State Rep. Galen Fox resigned in 2005 after being convicted of a federal misdemeanor for fondling a woman on plane. He spent 90 days under house arrest.