The Missouri Democratic Party has refused to place Herschel Young on its primary ballot as a candidate for U.S. House on the grounds that he was once convicted of a felony. See this story. The Missouri Democratic Party does not understand case law about congressional qualifications. The party says if he were elected, Congress would not seat him. This is incorrect.

The U.S. Supreme Court settled this issue in 1969 in Powell v McCormack, 395 U.S. 486. The U.S. House had refused to seat Adam Clayton Powell after he was re-elected in November 1966. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that Congress does not have the power to refuse to seat someone who was elected and who meets the Constitutional Qualifications. Congress may expel a member who has already been seated, but Congress has never expelled anyone for doing something before the election; the expulsion power has only been used to expel someone for something done after he or she was elected. Young’s felony conviction was in 1995, for assault.