Opinion ID: 2088765
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: is voccola disqualified from holding the office of councilman by virtue of his conviction in the federal court?

Text: The Attorney General has succinctly and accurately set forth the elements to be determined in answering the question posed by this issue. She states that under the provisions of article 38, in order to disenfranchise an individual, three elements must be established: 1. The conviction must be final. 2. The crime must be a felony. 3. The defendant must actually serve a term of imprisonment. We agree with the Attorney General that Voccola's conviction is final and that he has been sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment. Consequently, the only legal issue presented to this court is whether Voccola committed a crime that may be defined as a felony for the purposes of article 38. On this last issue we must disagree with the conclusion advanced by the Attorney General. We held in Bailey, supra, that in order to determine whether a crime constituted a felony, we would look to the law of the jurisdiction in which the conviction had taken place. In Bailey the petitioner had been convicted in Michigan of a crime described in that state as larceny from a building. This crime in Michigan carried a maximum penalty of four years' imprisonment. We stated that Rhode Island had no identical crime, but we determined that a conviction of a crime classified as a felony in another jurisdiction would under the provisions of article 38 disqualify a person from voting in Rhode Island. We summarized our holding as follows: Thus, we hold that persons otherwise qualified to vote who are convicted of felonies and have served time in prison in this or any jurisdiction (federal or state) are disqualified from voting by reason of amendment XXXVIII of the Rhode Island Constitution, unless and until the General Assembly restores that right. Bailey, 120 R.I. at 401, 394 A.2d at 1344. Applying the principles of Bailey to the case at bar leads us ineluctably to the conclusion that we must look to the law of the jurisdiction in which the conviction took place in order to determine whether the crime is a felony or a misdemeanor. It is undisputed that the crime of which Voccola was convicted, that of issuing a false odometer statement in violation of 15 U.S.C.A. § 1988(b) and 15 U.S.C.A. § 1990c (West 1982), has been determined by the Congress of the United States to be a misdemeanor by virtue of 18 U.S.C.A. § 1. In light of this determination, our inquiry must end. If the Congress has described the crime as a misdemeanor, it is not our function to attempt to determine whether this crime under Rhode Island law would have constituted a felony. [1] Since Voccola was convicted of a misdemeanor rather than a felony, the second question posed by the Attorney General in her brief must be answered in the negative. In view of the fact that Voccola has not been convicted of a felony, he is not disqualified as an elector under the provisions of article 38. Therefore, he is not ineligible to hold public office pursuant to article 39. He is consequently not disqualified to hold the office of councilman in the town of Johnston. There is some suggestion in the Attorney General's brief that the respondent here has vacated the office of councilman by reason of his inability to serve effectively in that capacity while incarcerated in a federal penal facility. Unfortunate though this may be, we are not authorized by the Rhode Island Constitution or by any statute to declare an office vacant because of the temporary disability of an incumbent to perform all of the duties of that office. If the people of the State of Rhode Island, through their constitution, desire to disqualify a person from holding public office if that person is convicted of any offense that results in incarceration for any period, they would undoubtedly have the power to do so. However, in reading articles 38 and 39 together, it is apparent that the people have determined that only one criterion is sufficient to disqualify a public office holder. That criterion is conviction of a felony. Such conviction has not occurred in this case. It may also be the case that the voters of the town of Johnston, in formulating their charter, might have been more stringent in their provision for holding public office. However, no provision of the charter of the town of Johnston is cited to us that would render Voccola ineligible in the circumstances of this case to continue to hold the office of councilman. For the reasons stated, the petition of the Attorney General is denied and dismissed. The respondent, Joseph Voccola, is legally entitled to retain the office of Councilman from the 4th District of the Town of Johnston. BEVILACQUA, C.J., did not participate.