Article: Welcome To Coffin Corner, Va.; Where Lawmakers Start, Learn, Play

The Virginia House of Delegates had just begun its noontime session Friday when a dozen members in the northeast corner of the chamber pushed their desk buzzers on cue to summon a page.

A swarm of blue-jacketed youngsters rushed over in a panic, only to hear from delegates doubled over with laughter that the summons was a hoax.

Coffin Corner had struck again.

To outsiders and many a Republican, the pranks that the all-Democratic corner has pulled for most of the 1980s may seem like foolish child's play. But the 24 delegates who sit there take their fun seriously, and the camaraderie it has bred has made the corner a voting bloc cherished by at least two governors, one state attorney ...

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