In a first for the Colorado Assembly, Doug Bruce was censured for kicking a Rocky Mountain News photographer (background here.) The vote was 62 to 1. The incident is now in the New York Times.

The manager of library services for the Colorado Joint Legislative Library, Molly Otto, said she found no evidence of any public censure dating back to 1881, the oldest records she could locate. The General Assembly was first convened in 1876.

Bruce gave speech before the vote in which he compared himself to Jimmy Stewart in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” He said in the film, Smith was “hounded by the press until he physically attacks them.” Colorado legislators didn’t think much of the comparison:

“You’re not Jimmy Stewart,” responded Representative Al White, Republican of Hayden. “This is not a 1939 movie. This is today. Your actions were wrong.”

Here is the text of the censure resolution (pdf) and Doug Bruce’s response (pdf).