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choosing to deliver an impassioned speech lasting more than an hour, in which he defended the veracity of his charges and severely criticized the investigative committee for the limitations it placed upon his testimony. A vote on
Comerford's expulsion immediately followed and the newly elected Senator was expelled by a vote of 121 to 13.
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Following his expulsion, a special election was held in the 2nd Senate
District to replace Comerford. Unbowed by his previous experience, Comerford ran for the seat again — this time as an independent — and was re-elected by his constituents. He was unsuccessful in an effort to win re-election in the
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On
Wednesday, February 8, 1905, the report of the special committee was made before the House and Comerford was called before the bar to show cause as to why he should not be expelled for the accusations which he had levied. Comerford waived the right to a delay for preparation of a defense, instead
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The
Illinois legislature reacted forcefully, quickly passing a resolution which asserted Comerford was spreading "assertions, slanders, insinuations and incriminations" which called into question "the honor and integrity of the Illinois General Assembly." A special committee of the Illinois House of
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In the afternoon of August 29, 1929, Frank
Comerford complained of chest pain while at the Chicago home of his brother. Two of his nephews, both medical doctors, were summoned, but neither found anything obviously wrong, however, and he was not hospitalized. At 8:55 pm, Comerford was stricken by a
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in
Chicago at which he claimed that body was merely "a great public auction, where special privileges are sold to the highest corporation bidders." Rather than limiting himself to a generalized statement, Comerford continued to make specific accusations of wrongdoing, including names, dates, and
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in
February 1905 for allegedly besmirching the name of the legislature when he made specific charges of corruption in that institution at a Chicago lecture. Comerford thus became the first elected official expelled from the Illinois legislature.
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in the spring of 1917, Comerford attempted to enlist in the military. He was rejected from service due to an unspecified physical infirmity, however, and therefore spent the wartime years as a public speaker selling bonds on behalf of the
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In 1919, following the termination of the war, Comerford traveled to London and Paris for six months, where he examined that rapidly changing social and political situation at first hand and contributed news accounts to the
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as a "practical machine politician" and an "oracle-dictator" and observed that legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government had been concentrated in a single set of hands, with no right of appeal.
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Following the end of the Dunne administration in
January 1917, Comerford left government service to launch a private attorney practice. This interlude was brief, however, as with the outbreak of
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Representatives was hastily established and convened, which took extensive testimony before declaring
Comerford's allegations to be unfounded.
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Plea of Frank
Comerford in Defense of Carl E. Person's Life: Made at Lincoln, Illinois, October Fourth, Nineteen Hundred Fourteen.
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Richard Allen Morton, "A Man of Belial": Roger C. Sullivan, the Progressive Democracy, and the Senatorial Elections of 1914,"
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Comerford was twice married — first from 1915 to 1921 to the former Jean Cowgill and then to Lyela Brandeis, widow of an
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Comerford's political views and legal expertise made him a logical choice as the special prosecutor in the 1920 case of
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Frank D. Comerford was born in September 25, 1879 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the son of Isaac Comerford, a tradesman.
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massive heart attack while still being attended by one of his nephews. Comerford died five minutes later. He was 49.
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financial details, attempting to shield himself by calling these "stories in common circulation at the Capitol."
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183:, which he characterized as a new form of minority rule. In this book Comerford characterized Soviet leader
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Although only a member of the Illinois legislature for a few weeks, Comerford made a public speech at the
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After losing re-election, he accepted a position as police attorney of Chicago under Democratic mayor
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Argument of Clarence Darrow in the Case of the Communist Labor Party in the Criminal Court, Chicago.
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206:. Comerford won convictions of the defendants in that case, who included millionaire heir to the
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the reform Democrat Comerford tested the water with a view of making himself a candidate for the
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In June 1926, Comerford was elected to the bench as a Superior Court judge in Chicago.
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Comerford vehemently advocated the acceptance by the United States of the proposed
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139:. The Democratic party came together around Cook County Democratic Party boss
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318:"Expel Senator for Libeling Them: Illinois Solons Repudiate Bribery Charges,"
293:"Judge Comerford Dies; Heart Attack: Death Comes Unexpectedly; 49 Years Old,"
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For Darrow's closing speech to the jury in the case, see Clarence Darrow,
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74:. Following graduation he was admitted to the Illinois State Bar in 1904.
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Upon his return to the United States he published a book on the subject,
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Chicago: Person Defense League of Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, 1915.
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45:. Comerford is best remembered as the victim of expulsion from the
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338:"Standing in Judgment: Derrick Smith, Meet Frank D. Comerford,"
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Comerford ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary of the
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in November 1904 from the 2nd district, representing part of
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Not to be confused with the power official after whom the
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Tenure as police attorney and pursuits of higher office
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People expelled from United States state legislatures
354:"Expel Senator For Libeling Them, Los Angeles Herald"
388:New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1920; pp. 133-134.
371:Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society,
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359:. chroniclingamerica.loc.gov. February 9, 1905.
214:, despite the best efforts of defense attorney
127:1912 Illinois lieutenant gubernatorial election
519:University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni
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41:politician, and author from the state of
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455:Chicago: Charles H. Kerr and Co., 1920.
323:vol. 32, no. 131 (Feb. 9, 1905), pg. 1.
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373:vol. 91, no. 3 (Autumn 1998), pg. 143.
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70:in Chicago and attended law school at
30:Judge Frank D. Comerford (1879–1929).
480:New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1920.
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37:(1879–1929) was an American judge,
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514:Northwestern University alumni
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554:19th-century American lawyers
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66:Comerford was a graduate of
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129:, placing a narrow second.
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110:1906 election, however.
509:Politicians from Chicago
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298:Aug. 30, 1929; pp. 1, 4.
120:Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne
539:Illinois state senators
95:Illinois College of Law
72:Illinois College of Law
68:Northwestern University
78:Election and expulsion
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21:Frank D. Comerford Dam
529:Illinois Independents
159:Anti-Communist author
88:Cook County, Illinois
84:Illinois State Senate
47:Illinois State Senate
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549:Writers from Chicago
504:Lawyers from Chicago
177:Bolshevik Revolution
137:United States Senate
321:Los Angeles Herald,
212:William Bross Lloyd
202:and members of the
200:William Bross Lloyd
16:American politician
524:Illinois Democrats
316:Associated Press,
35:Frank D. Comerford
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382:Frank Comerford,
222:Election as judge
193:League of Nations
141:Roger C. Sullivan
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499:1929 deaths
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410:Comerford,
397:Comerford,
185:V. I. Lenin
148:World War I
59:Early years
488:Categories
233:merchant.
39:Democratic
23:was named.
246:Footnotes
155:program.
54:Biography
427:pg. 153.
414:pg. 151.
401:pg. 135.
210:fortune
43:Illinois
440:pg. 60.
133:In 1914
462:Works
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