Impeachment

What is impeachment, exactly?




According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to impeach means...

the action of calling into question the integrity or validity of something.

"the prosecutor's detailed impeachment of the character witness"

• 
  

  BRITISH
  a charge of treason or another crime against the state.
  "the king cynically abandoned him, encouraging his impeachment"
• 
  

  US
  a charge of misconduct made against the holder of a public office.
  "the president is facing impeachment over the scandal" · "all impeachments shall be tried by the Senate"--

'Impeach' can also be considered the same as 'indict (prounounced in-Dite).' That means to accuse or charge someone of a serious crime.


Where in the Constitution does it address impeachment?
-Article 2, Section 2, Clause #5. "The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/2/essays/100/standards-for-impeachment
  
Impeachment is the process, not the result. Presidents have been impeached before, but none were removed from office:

• In the case of the first president to have impeachment attempted, John Tyler, the effort failed because in the midst of the process, the House changed majorities. https://potus-geeks.livejournal.com/315466.html
• Andrew Johnson (he was president after Abraham Lincoln) was impeached but was acquitted by one vote.
• Richard Nixon was in the process of being impeached, and resigned.
• Bill Clinton was impeached, and the effort failed. He was also re-elected for a 2nd term.
• Read why these people had impeachment proceedings against them: https://www.thoughtco.com/high-crimes-and-misdemeanors-definition-4140196

What are considered grounds for impeachment? What are 'high crimes and misdemeanors"?
According to constitutional lawyers, "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" are (1) real criminality—breaking a law; (2) abuses of power; (3) "violation of public trust" as defined by Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers. In 1970, then-Representative Gerald R. Ford defined impeachable offenses as "whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history."
Crimes considered to be impeachable offenses:

• Exceeding the constitutional bounds of the powers of the office.
• Behavior grossly incompatible with the proper function and purpose of the office.
• Employing the power of the office for an improper purpose or for personal gain.

Treason includes aiding our enemies. Perjury is lying.

What does 'quid pro quo' mean? When we hear news about a conversation between the president and that of another country, where our president asked the leader of another country to provide incriminating facts about a political opponent, we have often heard the term 'quid pro quo.' That's a term in Latin which means literally 'something for something', basically, you do me a favor and I'll do you one in return. In this case, the allegation is that funding to the other country was put on hold or withdrawn pending the leader's providing the information our president sought. In essence, the president was asking another government to tamper with our elections while withholding money until it happened. Here is what the law says about doing that:

Federal law prohibits a foreign national from directly or indirectly making a “contribution or donation of money or other thing of value” in connection with a U.S. election, and prohibits a person from soliciting, accepting or receiving such a contribution or donation from a foreign national. Federal law defines “contribution” to include “any gift … of money or anything of value made by any person for the purpose of influencing any election for Federal office.” And the FEC by regulation defines “solicit” to mean “to ask, request, or recommend, explicitly or implicitly, that another person make a contribution, donation, transfer of funds, or otherwise provide anything of value.”

What are the steps involved in impeachment? It begins in the House of Representatives.

• 1. The members of the House of Representatives raise the proposal that the president has acted in a way that demonstrates treason, bribery, or other "High crimes and misdemeanors(See above)." This phrase is thought to be deliberately vague and open to interpretation, to include many dishonest or illegal acts by a president.
• 2. The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee calls for a formal inquiry.
• 3. The members of the Committee look into the alleged crimes
• 4. After gathering and examining evidence of the crimes, the full House, all 435 members, debate and vote about whether the crimes are enough to possibly remove the president from office.
• 5. If the majority of the House votes in favor of impeachment, the articles are sent to the Senate. This is a 'simple majority,' or 218 votes.

When the articles of impeachment are sent to the Senate, this is what they do:

• 6. They receive the articles of impeachment from the House.
• 7. They determine the rules for the trial
• 8. They hold a trial
• 9. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides over the trial.
• 10. They meet in private to determine a verdict
• 11. They then vote to remove the president from office or not.
• 12. If 2/3 of the Senate votes to remove the president (67 votes out of 100), then it becomes official. A simple majority is not enough in this case; 2/3 is required. That is referred to a s 'super-majority.'.

Here is the process in the form of a table:

How long does all of this take? Gathering evidence to support an impeachment can take many months, although the actual trial may not last more than 2 or 3 months. For Nixon, the investigation took a little over 2 years. In his case, he was charged with perjury, obstruction of justice, and of using the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies illegally.  Articles of Impeachment against him were filed  in July 1974, and he resigned less than a month after that. With Clinton, who was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice, the process began in December 1998 and was completed, with a vote that did not find for removal, in February 1999.


If an impeachment results in removing the person from office, it still does not in itself provide for any type of criminal punishment such as fines or imprisonment. However, the person may be tried separately for crimes both on a state and federal level. An impeached person who is found guilty and removed, will not be able to run for public office from then on.

Here is an excellent explanation of how impeachment works: https://www.thoughtco.com/impeachment-the-unthinkable-process-3322171


And this specific situation: https://www.businessinsider.com/laws-trump-could-have-broken-ukraine-whistleblower-case-2019-9

The ERA: It's Taking More Than An Era, Why?

The proposed Equal Rights Amendment is really quite simple. It has three sentences--the first is the statement that requires equal rights, the second assures that Congress will enforce it, and the third is simply a deadline for when it would take effect:


Section 1. Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the
date of ratification.


The ERA was first proposed in 1923 by the National Women's Party.

You read that right: We are on Year 96 of trying to get the ERA passed.

Women won the right to vote in 1920, but that did not guarantee any further rights.


It took until 1972 for the ERA to be close to passing. 38 states were supposed to ratify the amendment by 1982. In 2017 Nevada ratified it, in 2018 Illinois ratified it, and in January 2019 Virginia came close but failed to ratify. But even today, there are 11 states that haven't ratified it. They are: Alabama, Arizona, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia, Louisiana, Utah, Mississippi, and Missouri. Has your state ratified the ERA? Check here: https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/era-ratification-map/ Some states have attempted to rescind (take back) their ratifications, but it appears that is not an option.

                               Women demonstrating for equal rights, picture taken c. late 1960s


Amending the Constitution is a two-step process. First, the Congress must propose the amendment by a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate. After proposal, it must be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures. Organizations like the National Organization of Women (NOW) began a hard push for the ERA in 1970. And, at the same time, there was enough pushback from some women (yes, from women) to stop it from going through the ratification system.




Why would women deny themselves equal rights? Good question. In the 1970s, while there were strong women and men who advocated for the ERA, some women at that time raised concerns that women would be drafted into military service (in the 1970s, there was a draft, or a required time in our armed services), that there would be no more male or female only public toilets, that it would undermine women who chose not to work for pay, that it would would weaken families, that women would be required to do traditionally male dominated careers, or be forced to undergo unwanted abortions, and none of this was true. If you read the wording of the amendment, all it does is require that women and men have equal rights.


Today, there are still women who campaign against the ERA. But these women are often wealthy, privileged, and comfortable, have always been and will always be. They may or may not have well-paying jobs or have husbands or parents who support them financially, and think they don't need any amendment that assures them of their rights. They can't identify with women who have faced discrimination, harassment, or violence, because they can't imagine themselves in a similar situation. Here is an example of someone fighting the ERA:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/this-woman-just-derailed-the-equal-rights-amendment-yet-again/2019/01/31/9e32ec22-2551-11e9-90cd-dedb0c92dc17_story.html?utm_term=.9bbec9abf851


How long will it take to pass the ERA? It's hard to believe we've been waiting so long. Maybe this is the year. Let's hope so.                                                                                                       

Changes: New(er) Faces in Washington

The 2018 midterm elections are over, with a lot of interesting results. Some of the races still do not have a confirmed winner because voting was so close. Some facts:
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/2018-midterm-elections-results-polls-us-races-live-updates-today-2018-11-06/

There were some remarkable winners among women, women of color, and other minorities gaining office: the youngest woman elected at age 29, 2 Muslim women elected, 2 Native American women elected, and a number of first women governors, some of them also minorities, in several states.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/11/06/election-results-2018-women-minority-candidates-history-firsts/1912048002/
After this week's election, there will be some changes in our local, state, and national government. Let's brush up on who does what at the federal level:

What is the President's Cabinet?
It is a group of people who head up different departments and advise the president as to the status of those departments. But, did you know that in theory, these department heads could take over (succeed) if the president and others were removed or died in office? Below you see all the different department heads, and the order in which they could possibly become president.

What is the order of presidential succession?

The Cabinet is crucial to the presidential line of succession that determines the order in which officials succeed to the presidency following the death or resignation of the President. The Vice President tops the order, followed by the Speaker of the House, then the President pro tempore of the Senate. The Cabinet officers succeed to the presidency in the following order: (from https://www.dummies.com/education/politics-government/what-is-the-presidents-cabinet/)

• Secretary of State, Department of State
• Secretary of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury
• Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense
• Attorney General, Department of Justice
• Secretary of the Interior, Department of the Interior
• Secretary of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture
• Secretary of Commerce, Department of Commerce
• Secretary of Labor, Department of Labor
• Secretary of Health & Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services
• Secretary of Housing & Development, Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Secretary of Transportation, Department of Transportation
• Secretary of Energy, Department of Energy
• Secretary of Education, Department of Education
• Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs
• Secretary of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security

The House of Representatives now has a Democrat majority, so the Speaker of the House will change to a Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, who was Speaker of the House from 2007 to 2011. She is a representative from California (San Francisco) and, by the way, she was the first woman Speaker of the House. Here is the role the Speaker plays:

The Speaker of the House exercises duties as a Member of Congress, as presiding officer of the House of Representatives, and as leader of the majority political party in the House.
These responsibilities include voting on legislation, administrative duties such as maintaining order within the House chamber, and other tasks such as appointing special committees
                           -from Government For Dummies,


The day after the election, our Attorney General stepped down at the request of the president. There is an acting AG at present. What is the role of Attorney General?
The Attorney General of the United States is the main legal advisor to the federal government. This person provides legal advice to the various department heads, deals with litigation against the government, and also can be involved in death penalty court cases.

Here is an in-depth explanation from Free Dictionary/Legal
The attorney general is head of the u.s. justice department and chief law officer of the federal government. He or she represents the United States in legal matters generally and gives advice and opinions to the president and to other heads of executive departments as requested. In cases of exceptional gravity or special importance, the attorney general may appear in person before the U.S. Supreme Court to represent the interests of the government.
As head of the Justice Department, the attorney general is charged with enforcing federal laws, furnishing legal counsel in federal cases, construing the laws under which other executive departments act, supervising federal penal institutions, and investigating violations of federal laws. The attorney general also supervises and directs the activities of the U.S. attorneys and u.s. marshals in the various judicial districts. (U.S. attorneys prosecute all offenses against the United States and prosecute or defend for the government all civil actions, suits, or proceedings in which the United States is concerned; U.S. marshals execute all lawful writs, processes, and orders issued under authority of the United States.) The Attorney General, then, represents the government, and is not the President's personal legal counsel.

The branches of government and what they do, the concept of the Constitution, the first 10 Amendments:

https://www.dummies.com/education/politics-government/u-s-constitution-for-dummies-cheat-sheet/ 

It's our government. We need to know how it runs and who does what.

First Amendment Rights, Part 2: Freedom of the Press

Freedom of the press  is worded like this in the Constitution, September 25, 1789:


This is the entire First Amendment.


Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

If we're only talking about the freedom of the press, here is some food for thought:


"The last right we shall mention regards the freedom of the press. The importance of this consists, besides the advancement of truth, science, morality, and arts in general, in its diffusion of liberal sentiments on the administration of Government, its ready communication of thoughts between subjects, and its consequential promotion of union among them, whereby oppressive officers are shamed or intimidated into more honorable and just modes of conducting affairs."

 

Read the entire excellent essay here:  
http://www.heritage.org/constitution#!/amendments/1/essays/140/freedom-of-speech-and-of-the-press

 

The words 'Diffusion' and 'ready communication of thoughts' is still a valid way to say it. Today, this sharing is magnified greatly by the use of the phone, internet, television, and social media. These things also make it almost impossible to monitor every thing that's shared, from artwork and music to readable information. While the First Amendment intends to allow expression without censorship, there are those who seek to suppress these freedoms, to compel others to agree with their concept of 'appropriate'.


Definition of Censorship: the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security

The question is, who has decided they are unacceptable? The First Amendment is put in place to uphold your freedom but also to limit it, so that certain communication is blocked. What do you think of any kind of censorship? Is there danger in not having censorship? Is there danger in having it?

 

 

Freedom of the press, the right to "Gather, publish, and distribute ideas without government restriction." means:

• Published written work: Books, magazines, flyers, posters, signs, advertising
• Music such as CDs
• Art
• Research (medicine, science)
• Again, this freedom includes the right to not have your work censored.
• Censoring, definition: the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security

Journalists can refuse to disclose their sources. This confidentiality can protect the informant from being harassed (or worse)


Here is a judge's decision to a challenge to the disclosure rule:




Justice Stewart's dissent in Branzburg urged the Court to find that a qualified journalistic privilege exists unless the government is able to show three things: (1) Probable Cause to believe that the journalist possesses information that is clearly relevant; (2) an inability to obtain the material by less intrusive means; and (3) a compelling interest that overrides First Amendment interests.

 

This post is about Freedom of the Press in the United States. Check out this map giving areas of the world and where they also have it, and where they do not:
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/freedom-press-2016