THE PARTY OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

After Rep. David Graves was charged with drunken driving for a second time, he and his lawyer offered a surprising defense:

As a lawmaker, Graves cannot break the law -- at least not while the Legislature is at work.

The Macon Republican is using an obscure provision in the state constitution to argue that he should not be prosecuted for a DUI he received in Cobb County in February, during the 2005 session of the General Assembly.

The centuries-old provision holds that a lawmaker cannot be arrested during sessions of the General Assembly, legislative committee meetings or while they're "in transit," except in cases of "treason, felony, or breach of the peace." ...

Graves -- chairman of the House committee overseeing laws governing the alcohol industry -- has said that on Feb. 15, he and other committee chairmen went from the Capitol to a dinner meeting, where they conferred about the status of legislation and plans for the next legislative day. His lawyer, William C. "Bubba" Head, argues Graves should have been granted immunity from arrest because he was leaving a gathering that was tantamount to a committee meeting, according to legal filings....

--Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A somewhat related story from 2003:

...To push its message that Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue's alcohol-tax proposal should be defeated in the state legislature, the Georgia Alcohol Dealers Association stocked hotel "hospitality suites" for lawmakers. In addition, the state's beer wholesalers association held a $4,700 luncheon for the General Assembly....

The lobbying was successful, as Georgia House of Representatives Speaker Terry Coleman sent the governor's bill to a committee run by a former liquor storeowner. Even Perdue acknowledged that the liquor tax proposal wouldn't pass.

"They have a strong lobby group. Their numbers are few, but they are very involved," said Rep. David Baugh Graves (R-Macon), a member of the House Regulated Industries Committee, which handles liquor bills. "It was dead when it got there."

The governor's proposal would have raised the tax on a six-pack of beer by 14 cents, a bottle of wine by 15 cents, and a bottle of liquor by 50 cents....

I'm not automatically in favor of "sin taxes," but it occurs to me that that tax money might have helped keep Georgia school buses running this week....