PA house sanitizes their criminal memberships

Plaques about the crimes of former Pa. House leaders disappear from their Capitol portraits

By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com
Updated 8:08 AM; Today 5:15 AM
Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives has taken the state’s Clean Slate law, which automatically seals the criminal records of some ex-offenders, and applied it to its former House speakers’ gold-framed portraits.

Without any fanfare or public notice last month, the House removed the shiny gold plaques that hung below the stately portraits of former Speakers John Perzel, Bill DeWeese and Herbert Fineman that explained the corruption-related convictions that sent them to prison.

Replacing them were the plaques that hung under the portraits until 2014. They are now similar to those plaques under the portraits of other former House speakers hanging in the Capitol hallway. Those plaques list only the years the other speakers served in the House and the years they served as speaker.

House Chief Clerk Dave Reddecliff said the plaques were changed at the request of former House Speaker Mike Turzai in early June, before he resigned from office to take a position in the private sector.

Turzai “said it’s my understanding that the prior speaker put them up. I’m making a decision to take them down. So I’m asking you to remove them,” Reddecliff said, recalling the conversation he had with Turzai. “So we removed them.”

Fortunately, he said the House parliamentarian’s office had saved the old plaques, so they didn’t have to buy new ones.

Turzai, reached on Tuesday, declined to comment for this story.

A source close to the House said neither DeWeese nor Perzel requested the plaques’ removal. Instead, the source said the plaques were removed because including the list of convictions was considered unbecoming to the institution.

DeWeese confirmed that he didn’t ask for his plaque to be sanitized of any reference to his conviction. He added he had no reason to believe Perzel or Fineman’s family had made such a request either. DeWeese said he learned of the removal of “that melancholy tab under my portrait” from Turzai himself on the day Turzai left office.

“I was very gratified,” said DeWeese, who continues to maintain that he is innocent of any criminal wrongdoing. “I think it was the right thing to do institutionally.”

Attempts to reach Perzel were unsuccessful on Tuesday.

Plaques under former Pa. House speaker portraits
The plaques noting the criminal convictions were placed on the portraits in response to mounting pressure on House and Senate leaders from their legislative colleagues to take down the portraits. Former Sen. Scott Wagner, a Republican from York County, even offered a non-binding resolution calling for their removal.

Sam Smith, who was serving as House speaker at the time, told PennLive on Tuesday that the placement of the plaques that included the conviction information was the compromise reached with those who wanted the portraits removed. Smith said he was opposed to doing that.

“To put it in today’s terms, that’s like trying to rewrite history by tearing down a statue,” he said. “To me, history is what it is. And if there’s elements to it that are wrong or distasteful in terms of what’s publicly acceptable morally, ethically or generally, you shouldn’t erase it. You should remember it for what it was.”

Adding a mention of their convictions to plaques “kind of struck a balance or was some kind of middle ground consistent with what I thought,” Smith said. “Why not allow some remembrance of the good and the bad that goes on in a building like that. So putting the footnote was an acceptable compromise.”

So wording was added to Perzel’s plaque to note his pleading guilty to a variety of corruption -related charges relating to diversion of taxpayer funds to a high-tech campaign machine to benefit GOP candidates. DeWeese’s notation referred to his conviction for using state resources for campaign purposes. And state-paid employees on his election campaigns. Fineman’s plaque referenced his obstruction of justice convictions for accepting payments from parents seeking admission for their children to professional schools.

Smith said he also has no problem with Turzai’s decision to revert back to the plaques that state just the former speakers’ years of service either.

“It’s not unreasonable. It doesn’t change the history of what actually took place. I wasn’t crazy about putting the little footnote placards up but at that time with whatever pressures and this and that going on, that was the decision that at least ended that little drama,” he said.

Meanwhile, over at the Senate end of the main Capitol hallway, Mellow’s portrait still has the little plaque hanging under it indicating he pleaded guilty to political corruption and tax evasion.

A spokeswoman for President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, said the senator said at the time that plaque was hung, it was put there “to ensure history was accurately depicted.” Spokeswoman Kate Flessner said as far as she knows, there is no move afoot to replace or remove the plaque on Mellow’s portrait.

Since it is the House speaker and president pro tempore’s prerogative about what to do about the plaques, it remains unclear what the future holds.

Scarnati is not seeking re-election to another term this year.

As for recently elected House Speaker Bryan Cutler and what his preference is, his spokesman Mike Straub said, “At this time Speaker Cutler is focused on his role leading the chamber to a successful end of the legislative session. Any updates or changes beyond his duties to the body won’t be considered until the end of the legislative session.”

But just in case, Reddecliff, the House’s chief clerk, said the ones that list the criminal convictions of the three former speakers will remain in House Parliamentarian Clancy Myer‘s safekeeping.

Additionally, he pointed out the removal of the conviction information was limited to the plaques. References to their convictions remain in the “Gallery of Speakers’ Portraits” booklet available for free outside the House Speaker’s office door.

*This post was updated to include House Speaker Bryan Cutler’s spokesman Mike Straub’s comment.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

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