MORIARTY CAUTION IS OF UTMOST CONCERN

If this is the week of Oct. 3, then we must be back in the Judi Moriarty impeachment hearings. The committee chairman having returned from his Caribbean honeymoon, the sad and bizarre Moriarty saga can resume.

Recall that lawmakers were summoned to Jefferson City for an impeachment special session beginning Sept. 22. When it became clear that Moriarty wouldn't accommodate Democratic leaders by resigning and that House Speaker Bob Griffin was greasing the skids for a quick impeachment vote, cooler heads became alarmed. Thankfully, they prevailed, a majority having heeded those who cautioned against such extreme haste.

When it transpired that committee chairman Gary Witt was getting married on the last Saturday in September, followed by a week's honeymoon in the Bahamas, everything had to be shelved for 10 days. So here we are.

The subject is, after all, one involving vital and deadly serious issues. The secretary of state, duly elected by a majority of voters, is one of six constitutional officers of state government. Impeachment is a rare and gravely serious matter, and for that reason it is an extraordinary remedy that must not be undertaken for "light and transient causes" (the phrase is from the Declaration of Independence). Crucial procedural issues are at stake involving the rights -- not just of Judi Moriarty -- but of all Missourians.

Of Moriarty herself, it can be said that although she stands convicted of a misdemeanor, no judge has sentenced her, nor will this happen until next month. What if she receives a suspended imposition of sentence, a common fate for first-time offenders with no prior record of any sort? Persons who receive a suspended imposition have the slate wiped clean -- no record at all -- if they toe the line and complete a prescribed period of probation. What then?

And what of the misdemeanor itself? Her defenders say, "Who among us has not committed a misdemeanor?" It must be conceded, they have a point. In any case, the longer the committee hearings drag on, the less likely the full House will actually vote an article of impeachment, at least until Moriarty is sentenced.

All these legal and procedural issues are one thing. The proper functioning of the secretary of state's office is quite another. When her problems first arose, Moriarty convened an extraordinary three-member panel and charged it with conducting a sort of management inquiry into how her office had functioned, and how that functioning might be improved.

This panel's hearings have shattered, utterly and probably irretrievably, any remaining confidence most Missourians had in our chief election official. What has emerged is a portrait of a distracted chair warmer, in far over her head, serenely unconcerned with the details of running an office that has more than 200 employees. Undisputed testimony has described a boss who wanders in on weekday mornings as late as 11 a.m. When she can be bothered to deal with business at all, she favors delegating vast authority to petty and autocratic subordinates who bear all the characteristics of the hack politicians they are. The office pros, such as former Missouri librarian Monteria Hightower, have either departed already, or they are looking for a new job or desperately hoping for a new boss.

In due course, Moriarty has begun swiftly implementing the proposals of her unprecedented review panel by firing her top deputy. The damage, however, has been done. Not to put too fine a point on it, Missouri is in a fix. Here we are, a little over four weeks out from a general election, and our secretary of state is a laughing stock.

If the impeachment must proceed, it must do so with strict regard for Moriarty's rights in all particulars. House leaders acted properly in postponing action two weeks ago and will be well-advised to proceed deliberately. They are making history, and it is crucial that they get it right.