By Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First
The Vermont House Ethics Panel has apparently agreed to take no public action against longtime State Rep. Mary A. Morrissey, R-Bennington for dumping water into a tote bag of another local legislator at the Statehouse.
In a joint press statement issued Thursday, Rep. James T. Carroll, D-Bennington, owner of the tote bag, Rep. Morrissey and the Ethics Panel of the Vermont House of Representatives said they have met during the summer to clear the air between the two legislators.
Carroll later told the Bennington Banner there is more work to be done and he is leaving his legal options open.
Morrissey, reached by phone, said she was unable to comment because the process is considered confidential.
The press release noted the parties agreed to use a Restorative Justice process to deal with the complaint. Restorative Justice sessions in Vermont are held behind closed doors.
The Restorative Justice process is designed for impacted persons to summarize the harm they believe they have suffered and for persons who are at fault for such harm to take accountability, apologize, and make amends, the release said.
Morrissey, who has served in the legislature for 28 years, has offered multiple apologies to Carroll, including during a floor speech at a special veto override legislative session in June in Montpelier.
During the summer meetings Carroll said the intentional and repeated actions by Morrissey caused distress and disrupted his life over several months, according to the press release.
The House Ethics Panel said in the release it plans to monitor Morrissey’s compliance with her commitments to repair the harm she caused. It did not identify the commitments or offer any elaboration.
In addition, the five-member Ethics Panel said it will consider how to provide training to the 180-member body so individual legislators can learn from the situation and will be prepared to treat each other with greater respect and civility in the future.
Vermont legislators have been known to do pranks under the Golden Dome over the past decades and the Statehouse has been dubbed “The High School on the Hill.”
In the middle of the fight with Morrissey, Carroll found himself arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated while headed to work at the Statehouse about 8:30 a.m. Feb. 21.
Carroll, 62, has denied the criminal charge and the prosecution has agreed to drop the charge if he completes both a safe driving course and the Restorative Justice Program.
He has a status conference for his DUI charge on Sept. 30 a court spokesman said Thursday.