1902 fistfight gave rise to arcane rule that silenced Warren

FILE - In this July 17, 2015 file photo, the statue honoring former South Carolina governor and U.S. senator "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman is seen on the grounds of the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. Rule 19 stems from a notorious 1902 incident in which two South Carolina senators got into a fistfight on the Senate floor. According to the Senate historian’s office, Sen. John McLaurin raced into the Senate chamber and said fellow Democrat Ben Tillman was guilty of "a willful, malicious, and deliberate lie." (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins, File) FILE - In this July 17, 2015 file photo, the statue honoring former South Carolina governor and U.S. senator "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman is seen on the grounds of the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. Rule 19 stems from a notorious 1902 incident in which two South Carolina senators got into a fistfight on the Senate floor. According to the Senate historian’s office, Sen. John McLaurin raced into the Senate chamber and said fellow Democrat Ben Tillman was guilty of "a willful, malicious, and deliberate lie." (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins, File)

By Associated Press February 8, 2017 3 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – A fistfight on the Senate floor involving two Southern “gentlemen” gave rise to Rule 19, the arcane Senate directive that Republicans used more than a century later to silence Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren. GOP lawmakers rebuked Warren Tuesday night for speaking against colleague and Attorney General-nominee Jeff Sessions.

She was silenced for reading the letter that Coretta Scott King wrote three decades ago criticizing the Alabama senator’s record on race. Senators barred Warren from speaking on the Senate floor until Sessions’ confirmation vote.

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CONDUCT UNBECOMING

Rule 19 states that senators may not “directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another senator or to other senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a senator.”