Bishop says he expects discipline

MONTGOMERY - State Sen. Charles Bishop said Wednesday he expects to be disciplined by a Senate committee that meets today to consider the complaint lodged against him after he punched Sen. Lowell Barron in the head on June 7.

The five-member Senate Ethics and Conduct Committee is to meet at 10:30 a.m. in a State House meeting room.

Senators said the committee could start considering the formal complaint filed by five senators against Bishop, R-Arley.

He punched Barron, D-Fyffe, on the last day of the 2007 legislative session, ending a controversial session in the state Senate.

The punch was caught on videotape by Alabama Public Television and broadcast around the world. The incident was a topic on news programs as well as comedy shows nationwide.

Bishop said it was wrong, but he punched Barron because he said Barron called him an SOB during a heated discussion. It's a claim Barron has denied.

"I hope what happens is they come up with a warning to me and other senators who would strike another senator and to Lowell, who uses that type of language,'' Bishop said.

"I don't support fighting; it doesn't make it right and I would give anything that I wouldn't have done it."

Bishop said he plans to file a complaint against Barron for using the language.

Barron has said he is withholding filing a criminal complaint against Bishop until he sees the Senate's action. He has a year to file a complaint with law enforcement authorities.

Among ethics committee members are Sen. Zeb Little, D-Cullman, the Senate Majority Leader. He is a Barron ally.

Sens. Kim Benefield, D-Woodville, and Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, also serve on the committee. They are members of the Senate majority that includes Barron.

The two committee members who are in the dissident Senate minority are Sens. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, and Sen. Jim Preuitt, D-Talladega.

Little said the committee will "for sure organize'' today, but after that is anyone's guess.

"This is new ground and I certainly expect us to organize and elect a chair, and we'll see where the committee wants to go from there,'' Little said.

Under the rules, the committee has several options.

It can decide no action is necessary. The committee could issue a warning to Bishop, but it would take four votes to recommend harsher action to the full Senate.

Unless the Senate meets in special session this year, it won't meet again until early 2008.

The four-vote requirement may stymie any serious recommendation because two committee members are from Bishop's faction.

The committee must meet in private when discussing the good name and character of an individual, but Beason, Little, and Singleton say they want an open organizational session.

"The public deserves to know what happens before we do anything,'' Beason said. "Can punching a state senator be tolerated? No, it can't.''

Singleton said he thinks the committee will be able to call witnesses.

"Once evidence is presented, we'll go and see what is fair and just and see what happens,'' Singleton said. "Something needs to be done.''

One of the witnesses could be Senate assistant secretary Pat Harris, who said in an interview that he heard the exchange between Barron and Bishop immediately preceding Bishop's punch.

Harris declined to reveal what he heard.

"I'm going to tell the truth, if I get called,'' Harris said. "I heard the exchange. They were going at each other and there was a lot of cursing at each other.''

Bishop said where he comes from in rural Arkansas it's an insult to your mother when someone calls you an SOB.

Bishop admitted he used profanity to Barron twice, saying he was going to ".... him'' over the next three years.

After the incident, Sens. Bobby Denton, D-Muscle Shoals, and Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville, said they didn't hear Barron use that word. On Wednesday, however, Denton said he now isn't sure.

"I don't think I heard him say that. There was so much profanity there,'' said Denton, who helped wrestle Bishop away from Barron. "I don't want to say either way.

"Charles is high strung, but just because he was raised in Arkansas doesn't make him able to do that to a colleague.''

Harris and Denton both said the atmosphere and disrespect between senators, as evidenced by cursing, must be addressed.

"The anger of the individuals and parties driving them has gotten out of hand,'' Denton said.

Dana Beyerle can be reached at (334) 264-6605 or dtb12345@aol.com.