S03 - Ep. 1 - Nov 25, 2019
Impeachment
- A genuine curiosity
- Hear a word enough times
- Not possible to have a cosmic view of everything
- Dinosaurs on Christmas day
- Mold on your bread
- A spider on your desk
- We want things to move faster
- We forget quickly
- My family in florida every year says tickets are cheapest in September
- We can talk about history
- You may win an water cooler arguemetn but thats not what today is about.
- Today is for those geniuniely curious individuals who want to know what impeachment even is
Current and Past Politics
- Impeachment is a global practice
- Large part of constitutional law
- Currently, the process is kicking up around the US’ current president
- What is it?
- The process used when a legislative body (a group that can make laws) addresses misconduct performed by a public official
- What this involves varies from country to country
- During the trial, some have the individual removed during, others allow them to stay in power during
- Once impeached, they then potentially face conviction
- Conviction process is seperate from impeachment
- Because this overturns the typical flow of things, it’s only pursued when it is believed there has been a serious abuse of power
Origins
- Way to begin criminal proceedings based on “clamour”, or outcry from the public
- The Good Parliament of 1376
- first recognized case of impeachment
- William, 4th Baron of Latimer
- guilty of oppression in Brittany
- sold the castle of Saint-Sauveur to the enemy, and impeded the relief of Bécherel in 1375
- taken bribes for the release of captured ships
- retained fines paid to the king and the city of Bristol
- had obtained money from the crown by the repayment of fictitious loan
- charges were proven and he was removed from his positions, fined and imprisoned
- pardoned one year later and returned to favor in the court
- Falls out of use by the mid-15th C
- Revived in the 17th C
- means by which Parliament could get rid of unpopular ministers, usually court favourites protected by the king
- 1678 - decided that the king’s pardon could not stop an impeachment against his minister
- Wanes throughout the 18th C
- proved too blunt a political instrument by which to attack the king’s ministers
- Impeachment unnecessary
- Falls into disuse until the trial of Lord Melville in 1806
How It Works - US Edition
- “impeachment is the process set out in Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution for Congress to remove from office the president, vice president, and ‘all civil Officers of the United States’ for ‘Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.’”
- First
- The House of Representatives passes articles of impeachment
- Passes by a majority vote of those present to vote
- This is the formal write up of the allegation or allegations
- If it passes, the offender is considered impeached
- If it’s the president, this is presided over by the Chief Justice of the United States
- If it’s anyone else, this is presided over by the Vice President
- Conviction can only pass if there is a two-thirds vote
- Conviction means removal from office
- Senate does not have to do this
- Purposely made a difficult process by founding fathers
- Designed to punish serious offenses, not simply opposition to policies
- Have been attempts to amend the process
- Failed due to this process seen as a cornerstone of the checks and balances system of the US Government
Impeachment History in the US
- Only two presidents have been formally impeached
- Begun February 24, 1868
- Story
- Lincoln’s Vice President
- Takes office after Lincoln’s assassination
- Clashes with Radical Republican desires, refuses to compromise
- Inparticular: Secretary of War is Edwin M. Stanton - staunch Radical Republican supporter
- Undermines Johnson’s decisions
- Tenure of Office Act (1867)
- restricted the power of the President to suspend an officer while the Senate was not in session. If, when the Senate reconvened, it declined to ratify the removal, the President would be required to reinstate the official
- Vetoed by Johnson but passed anyway
- Johnson decides to move against Stanton, firing him while Senate was not in session and appointing Ulysses S. Grant
- Senate refuses to ratify this and moves to impeach
- Impeachment trial yields eleven articles of impeachment
- Many were petty but the majority centered around Johnson purposefully violating the Tenure of Office Act
- “Another article, proposed by Massachusetts representative Benjamin Butler, charged Johnson with making speeches ‘with a loud voice, certain intemperate, inflammatory, and scandalous harangues’ with the intent to disgrace Congress”
- This article was initially rejected, but later adopted as Article 10.
- Trial (step 3) was a public spectacle
- Tickets were sold, limited to 1,000 per day to control the numbers
- Senate orators got to show off their speaking acumen
- 3 of the 11 articles were voted on, best chance of securing a conviction and getting Johnson out of office
- Each of the three did not pass the two-thirds requirement by one vote
- Johnson finished term as president
- 1994, Paula Jones files sexual harassment lawsuit
- Her attorneys wanted to prove he had other behavior patterns that could support this claim
- 1997, conversations with Monica Lewinsky about Lewinsky’s affair with Clinton are secretly recorded
- 1998, Clinton publicly denies any sort of sexual relationship with Lewinsky
- Found guilty of two things - lying under oath and obstructing justice
- Not convicted during part 3
- Ends February 12, 1999
- Carried out presidential term
- Only two others faced with formal impeachment
- Stepped down before impeachment proceedings began
- Currently under investigation
- No presidents ever removed from office due to impeachment
- Amendment to how it is carried out has been deterred because it is regarded as an integral part of the system of checks and balances in the U.S. government
References