Censure

Representative Charles Rangel is ready to make a last stand to salvage his reputation and tell the House that a censure should be reserved for politicians who are crooked. He will argue that he is not one of them. The 80-year-old Democrat from New York’s Harlem neighborhood wants his punishment for ethics violations downgraded to a reprimand, according to congressional and nongovernment sources who are in touch with Rangel but are not authorized to be quoted by name. Rangel will ask the House ethics committee chairman, Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, for time to plead his case on the...

Representatives of dozens of West Coast Presbyterian churches are defying their denomination's highest court by refusing to censure a retired minister who married same-sex couples in 2008. The Presbyterian Church's highest court found the Rev. Jane Spahr of San Francisco guilty of misconduct in 2010 for officiating at same-sex weddings when they were legal in California. The court previously ruled that clergy could only bless same-sex unions, but not perform weddings. Spahr appealed the decision but lost the battle before the church's General Assembly Permanent Judicial...

WASHINGTON -- Only two Democrats in the Senate have embraced Senator Russ Feingold's call for censuring President Bush, but the idea is increasing his standing among many Democratic voters as he ponders a bid for the party's presidential nomination in 2008. Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, insists his proposal has nothing to do with his political ambitions. But he does challenge Democrats who argue it will help energize Republicans. "Those Democrats said that within two minutes of my announcing my idea," Feingold said last week.

A retired Presbyterian minister who officiated at 16 same-sex weddings during the brief period they were legal in California has been censured by her denomination's highest court. The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ruled in a 9-6 verdict issued Tuesday that the Rev. Jane Spahr of San Francisco deliberately violated church law when she conducted the marriage ceremonies in 2008. Spahr, 69, who was ordained two years before she came out as a lesbian during the 1970s and subsequently went on to lead a national ministry that lobbied...

NORFOLK, Va. — The secretary of the Navy issued censure letters yesterday to four high-ranking officers over a series of raunchy videos shown to thousands of sailors aboard the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier, including the captain who produced and starred in many of them. A letter of censure does not end a military officer’s career, but it makes it unlikely that the officer will be promoted. Captain Owen P. Honors Jr. was the aircraft carrier’s number two officer when he helped produce and appeared in the series of videos that aired on the ship’s closed-circuit TV station on...

VIENNA — A 151-nation meeting of the UN nuclear agency narrowly defeated an Arab push yesterday to censure Israel for shielding its nuclear programs from inspection in a closely watched result that the United States said was a positive signal for ongoing Mideast peace talks. The Israeli Atomic Energy Agency expressed hope that the Arab League “will refrain from raising the proposal again next year.’’ But Iran vowed it would be reintroduced. “The US and Israeli allies have confronted . . . the whole world, and this is a dark page in history for their foreign...

Representatives of dozens of West Coast Presbyterian churches are defying their denomination's highest court by refusing to censure a retired minister who married same-sex couples in 2008. The Presbyterian Church's highest court found the Rev. Jane Spahr of San Francisco guilty of misconduct in 2010 for officiating at same-sex weddings when they were legal in California. The court previously ruled that clergy could only bless same-sex unions, but not perform weddings. Spahr appealed the decision but lost the battle before the church's General Assembly Permanent...

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina state representatives formally reprimanded a governor for the first time yesterday, admonishing Governor Mark Sanford for secret trips to see his Argentine mistress and improper use of state aircraft. The lawmakers voted 102 to 11 to censure Sanford for bringing “ridicule, dishonor, disgrace, and shame’’ to himself and the state. The rebuke says the two-term Republican was derelict in his duty and abused his power. The issue came up a few hours later in the Senate, but was sidelined when a legislator said the resolution needed...

PHILADELPHIA - The law school at Villanova University has been censured for submitting falsified admissions data for several years to the American Bar Association, allegedly at the behest of onetime administrators at the school. The action comes months after Villanova first disclosed publicly that staff members inflated the school's median grade-point averages and scores on the Law School Admissions Test. Both data sets often factor into law school rankings. "I think this group of individuals, they were very careful to keep it secret, not to draw any sort of red flags," law school...

BEIRUT -- Several thousand anti-Syrian protesters took to Beirut's streets late yesterday in defiance of a government ban, while a visiting US official kept up Washington's pressure on Syria by calling on it to withdraw its 15,000 troops from Lebanon following the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri earlier this month. In Lebanon, the pro-Damascus government of Prime Minister Omar Karami -- which is under intense pressure to find Hariri's killers -- is scheduled to give him a vote of confidence today.

PHILADELPHIA - The law school at Villanova University has been censured for submitting falsified admissions data for several years to the American Bar Association, allegedly at the behest of onetime administrators at the school. The action comes months after Villanova first disclosed publicly that staff members inflated the school's median grade-point averages and scores on the Law School Admissions Test. Both data sets often factor into law school rankings. "I think this group of individuals, they were very careful to keep it secret, not to draw any sort of red flags," law school dean John Gotanda...

NORFOLK, Va. — The secretary of the Navy issued censure letters yesterday to four high-ranking officers over a series of raunchy videos shown to thousands of sailors aboard the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier, including the captain who produced and starred in many of them. A letter of censure does not end a military officer’s career, but it makes it unlikely that the officer will be promoted. Captain Owen P. Honors Jr. was the aircraft carrier’s number two officer when he helped produce and appeared in the series of videos that aired on the ship’s closed-circuit...

NEW YORK — US Representative Charles Rangel returned to his home turf in the city’s Harlem neighborhood yesterday, saying he still loves Congress, despite a showdown with colleagues over ethics violations that led to his censure by the House. “I have not lost my ability to love the Congress and to love this country,’’ the Democrat, 80, told reporters at Harlem Hospital, where a crowd at a town hall meeting gave him a standing ovation as he entered. Dapper in a dark suit and tie, Rangel appeared confident and as defiant as ever about the allegations that led to his...

Representative Charles Rangel is ready to make a last stand to salvage his reputation and tell the House that a censure should be reserved for politicians who are crooked. He will argue that he is not one of them. The 80-year-old Democrat from New York’s Harlem neighborhood wants his punishment for ethics violations downgraded to a reprimand, according to congressional and nongovernment sources who are in touch with Rangel but are not authorized to be quoted by name. Rangel will ask the House ethics committee chairman, Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, for time to plead his...

VIENNA — A 151-nation meeting of the UN nuclear agency narrowly defeated an Arab push yesterday to censure Israel for shielding its nuclear programs from inspection in a closely watched result that the United States said was a positive signal for ongoing Mideast peace talks. The Israeli Atomic Energy Agency expressed hope that the Arab League “will refrain from raising the proposal again next year.’’ But Iran vowed it would be reintroduced. “The US and Israeli allies have confronted . . . the whole world, and this is a dark page in history for their foreign...

ROME — Premier Silvio Berlusconi survived his first test in parliament yesterday since the breakup with a powerful ally, a victory that leaves his conservative government safely in place at least until after the summer. But the vote also exposed the erosion of Berlusconi’s majority after the split with a longtime ally, Gianfranco Fini, possibly giving the Italian leader a taste of troubles to come after the holiday break. In a highly anticipated vote in the lower house of parliament, Berlusconi’s lawmakers defeated an opposition censure motion against a government...

BANGKOK — Thailand’s prime minister defended himself against a censure motion in Parliament yesterday and said there would be an independent investigation into whether the army used undue force to clear antigovernment protesters from Bangkok’s streets. The opposition Puea Thai Party says the army’s use of live ammunition and armored personnel carriers to break up the two-month-long protest was excessive and resulted in civilian casualties. The thousands of Red Shirts had been calling for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve Parliament immediately and call new elections.

NEW YORK — US Representative Charles Rangel returned to his home turf in the city’s Harlem neighborhood yesterday, saying he still loves Congress, despite a showdown with colleagues over ethics violations that led to his censure by the House. “I have not lost my ability to love the Congress and to love this country,’’ the Democrat, 80, told reporters at Harlem Hospital, where a crowd at a town hall meeting gave him a standing ovation as he entered. Dapper in a dark suit and tie, Rangel appeared confident and as defiant as ever about the allegations that led to his...

BANGKOK — Thailand’s prime minister defended himself against a censure motion in Parliament yesterday and said there would be an independent investigation into whether the army used undue force to clear antigovernment protesters from Bangkok’s streets. The opposition Puea Thai Party says the army’s use of live ammunition and armored personnel carriers to break up the two-month-long protest was excessive and resulted in civilian casualties. The thousands of Red Shirts had been calling for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve Parliament immediately and call new elections.

SEOGWIPO, South Korea — Pressure was rising on China to support efforts to punish North Korea over the sinking of a South Korean warship — the issue that was dominating a three-nation weekend summit. China publicly showed no signs yesterday of joining South Korea and Japan in rebuking Pyongyang, but Premier Wen Jiabao said he hoped their summit would help achieve peace. Officials said yesterday’s discussions focused on trade issues and the ship sinking was on today’s agenda for the meeting on the South Korean resort island of Jeju.