Impeachment

November 13, 2018|Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Bill Clinton, Clinton v. Jones, Impeachment, Paula Jones, prosecution, Richard Nixon, U.S. v. Nixon

Does Holding Federal Office Confer Immunity from Prosecution?

by Michael Stokes Paulsen|2 Comments

Special Counsel Robert Mueller

A sitting President may be criminally indicted, tried, and convicted—all without having first been impeached and removed from office.

November 12, 2018|Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Bill Clinton, Clinton v. Jones, Impeachment, Paula Jones, prosecution, Richard Nixon, U.S. v. Nixon

The Constitutional Propriety of Prosecuting the President

by Michael Stokes Paulsen|6 Comments

Special Counsel Robert Mueller (Alex Wong/Getty Images).

All civil officers constitutionally can be indicted, tried, and even sentenced for commission of federal crimes, whether they have been impeached or not.

October 11, 2018|Impeachment, Living Constitutionalism, Twenty Fifth Amendment

Objections to Impeachment: “This Hasn’t Been Our Practice,” Part 2

by Michael Stokes Paulsen|1 Comment

Image: zimmytws/shutterstock.com

The argument that popular understanding alters constitutional meaning is really just another form of the argument against written constitutionalism.

October 10, 2018|Andrew Johnson, Impeachment, Liquidation, Richard Nixon, Samuel Chase

Objections to Impeachment: The Protest that “This Hasn’t Been Our Practice,” Part 1

by Michael Stokes Paulsen|6 Comments

President Andrew Johnson consulting with his lawyers about impeachment, 1868. Hand-colored woodcut (North Wind Picture Archives / Alamy Stock Photo).

Impeachment practice tells us almost nothing – and nothing at all clear or authoritative – that would “settle” the Constitution’s meaning.

September 20, 2018|Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, Constitutional Convention, Democracy, Impeachment, Richard Nixon

Objections to Impeachment, Part 3: Overturning the Result of An Election

by Michael Stokes Paulsen|1 Comment

Protest outside the White House, July 18, 2018 (bakdc / Shutterstock.com).

To object that the use of impeachment power is “anti-democratic” is to miss the point: democracy yields to the Constitution, not the other way around.

September 14, 2018|Andrew Johnson, Benjamin Wade, Impeachment, no confidence

Objections to Impeachment, Part II: The Specter of the “No Confidence” Vote

by Michael Stokes Paulsen|3 Comments

Rep. Henry Hyde swears in Kenneth Starr to testify during Judiciary Committee impeachment hearings, November 19, 1998 (Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly / Alamy Stock Photo).

Has our system degenerated to the point that a president, once in office, can do whatever he wants as long as thirty-four senators support him?

September 13, 2018|Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 37, Federalist 66, Gouvernor Morris, Impeachment, James Madison, Supermajority

Objections to Impeachment, Part 1: The Specter of Abuse

by Michael Stokes Paulsen|6 Comments

House Judiciary Committee hearings on whether impeachment proceedings should begin against President Bill Clinton October 5, 1998 in Washington, DC (Richard Ellis / Alamy Stock Photo).

Abuse is bound to happen with any government power, but that isn't a real objection against providing the power to impeach federal officials.

August 30, 2018|Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 51, Federalist 65, high crimes and misdemeanors, Impeachment, James Madison