Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That adage has more application than usual in California, where Democrats hold all of the statewide offices and supermajorities in the legislature. They can enact any policies they want, with only the judicial branch offering belated checks on their power. And when I say belated, that’s literally the case with state Senator Rod Wright, whom a jury found guilty in January of committing eight felonies regarding his residency and eligibility for the office he held.

Normally, politicians who get that kind of a verdict have the decency to resign. If not, the body in which they serve would almost assuredly eject them — but not California Democrats:

Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a move to expel their Democratic colleague Sen. Rod Wright by sending a Republican proposal to the Rules Committee, where it could permanently stall. Sen. Steve Knight, a Republican from Palmdale, introduced a resolution to expel Wright from the Senate because a jury found him guilty of eight felonies last month for lying about living in the district he represents. “This will be precedent-setting,” Knight said as debate on his measure was being quashed on a 21-13, mostly party-line vote.

Democrats insist that Wright does not need to resign until after sentencing, because the judge could overturn the verdict. That’s a possibility, but it’s rare. Judges almost always abide by the verdicts of juries in criminal cases, especially because they have the opportunity themselves to dismiss charges if they determine that the state has not met its burden of substantiating the charges for a jury to find a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

In the past, a jury verdict of corruption has been enough to press for resignations from the California legislature. Democrats insisted yesterday that a resignation wasn’t necessary because Wright has been stripped of his committee assignments, and — I’m not making this up — he’s on paid leave, and apparently only since Tuesday. Democrats want taxpayers to pay his salary after a jury convicted him of corruption in the office he now refuses to leave.

Is this for some arching principle of justice? Er, not exactly. Democrats hold their supermajority in the Senate by only two seats, and another Democrat just got indicted on twenty-four counts of corruption. Setting this precedent would force Democrats to push both out of office — and that would also force them to work with Republicans on policy. Quelle horreur!

Oh, and Jesus would have kept the corrupt and powerful in government too, claims Senate Majority Leader Darrell Steinberg:

Steinberg said that several Republican senators face allegations that they do not live in the districts they represent. He looked toward Senate Republicans as he quoted a passage from the New Testament in which Jesus says, “Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone.”

There simply are no words.