The federal lawsuit filed by the Senator objects to their January criticism
Released
February 15, 2021
by
Kate Andrews
In response to Senator Amanda Chase’s lawsuit alleging that her civil rights were violated by her political criticism last month, attorneys representing the Virginia Senate and its employees filed documents on Monday in support of dismissal to initiate the lawsuit under the protection of the sovereign and legislative immunity of the accused.
Chase’s attorney, Tim Anderson, of Virginia Beach filed a lawsuit on February 1 on behalf of the Republican gubernatorial candidate in the US District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to prevent Senate clerk Susan Clarke Schaar from publishing the no-confidence decision passed around the clock last month in the official Virginia Senate journal.
Chase, R-Chesterfield County, argued that the resolution violated her right to freedom of expression and the equal treatment clause in the 14th Amendment, having been censored for her speech and actions, including participating in one, for the past two years Pro – Trump rally in Washington, DC January 6, hours before supporters of the former president violently violated the U.S. Capitol. The lawsuit also seeks to force Schaar to erase records of an earlier version of the criticism, which argued that Chase was “stirring up rioting.”
In Monday’s filing, Attorney General Toby J. Heytens of the Attorney General argues that the two named defendants – the Virginia Senate and Schaar – are immune to the lawsuit and should therefore be dismissed. Heytens argued that the Senate and the clerk cannot be sued under sovereign immunity because she was serving in her official capacity during the censorship resolution – a principle of Virginia law that essentially protects the state from civil claims.
Schaar is also protected by “absolute legislative immunity,” argues Heytens, because she acted in her professional capacity as an “agent” of the state. If Chase had sued individual senators, the answer said, they too would be protected by legislative immunity under Virginia law.
The motion also states that “the Senate acted completely consistently according to its own rules when examining and approving the no-confidence resolution”. Attorney General Mark Herring issued an advisory opinion that both the Senate and the House of Representatives “have broad disciplinary powers and, where appropriate, exclude members’ legislators”. Del. Lee Carter, D-Manassas, and a Democratic gubernatorial candidate asked the attorney general if the General Assembly could discipline lawmakers who participated in the January 6 takeover of the Capitol.
Oral disputes will take place in federal court in Richmond on March 19, according to a February 3 ruling by Judge Robert E. Payne.
Chase has also sued the Republican Party of Virginia in the Richmond Circuit Court for an injunction against their May 1 nomination convention to determine candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general who it claims represent voters among the present pandemic executive regulations fail. A hearing is scheduled for Friday, four days before Virginia’s political parties are due to submit their nomination method to the State Board of Elections on February 23. The State Democratic Party has announced that it will hold a primary in June.
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