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

What is the EPA?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency, established in 1970, says this about its mission:
Our Mission
The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment.

EPA works to ensure that:

• Americans have clean air, land and water;
• National efforts to reduce environmental risks are based on the best available scientific information;
• Federal laws protecting human health and the environment are administered and enforced fairly, effectively and as Congress intended;
• Environmental stewardship is integral to U.S. policies concerning natural resources, human health, economic growth, energy, transportation, agriculture, industry, and international trade, and these factors are similarly considered in establishing environmental policy;
• All parts of society--communities, individuals, businesses, and state, local and tribal governments--have access to accurate information sufficient to effectively participate in managing human health and environmental risks;
• Contaminated lands and toxic sites are cleaned up by potentially responsible parties and revitalized; and
• Chemicals in the marketplace are reviewed for safety.

Visit their website for more info: https://www.epa.gov/

Keeping the environment clean and safe includes...

• Cutting down on dangerous emissions from vehicles, from cars to buses to trains to planes
• Eliminating substances such as lead from drinking water, and updating old underground infrastructure of pipes as well as water processing plants
• Setting standards for monitoring and removing mold from homes
• Encouraging testing for Radon in homes
• Making sure soil is safe for growing food
• Prohibiting waste emissions from businesses that pollute the air we breathe
• Promoting alternate energy such as electric-powered cars, large windmills, or solar energy for homes

 

We can thank the EPA for....

• A ban on lead in paint, and standards to remove lead paint from existing homes
• A ban on the pesticide DDT
• Protection of the Great Lakes from pollution
• Removing lead from gasoline
• Clamping down on factory pollution
• The Clean Air Act
• Safer storage of toxic chemicals
• Studying the efffects of second-hand smoke

There are some areas not covered by the EPA but by other agencies, such as workplace environments (handled by OSHA) or testing of cosmetics (handled by the FDA). Here are some further examples: https://publicaccess.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/212071687-Does-EPA-handle-all-environmental-concerns-


Possible career paths with the EPA

• Science: Biology/Marine Biology, geology
• EPA Law
• Education
• Statistics/trends
• Engineering - finding ways to combat pollution with technology
• Alternative energy
• Communications
• Meteorologist
• Public affairs
• Budget management

https://www.epa.gov/careers This part of their website also talks about student internships!


Did you know they have a Pinterest page? They do, and it's called Green Your Dorm or Your Home https://www.pinterest.com/epagov/green-your-dorm-or-your-home/

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Everyone's life is a story, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg's is one of determination and persistence.


She was named Joan Ruth Bader when she was born on March 15, 1933, in New York City. Her father was an immigrant from the Ukraine, and her mother was born in New York. Her mother worked to put her brother through school, but wasn't able to get a degree herself. So, she wanted her daughter to have as much education and as many opportunities as possible.

                                          

When Joan was beginning school, there were several other girls named 'Joan' in her class, so her mother suggested she started going by her middle name, and thus she became 'Ruth.' Her mother, who sadly died before Ruth graduated from high school, was hoping that Ruth would become a history teacher. Little did she know where her daughter would go with her education!


Ruth met her husband, Martin Ginsburg, when she was 17 and beginning college. They were married in 1954, when she was 21. Their marriage was somewhat unconventional in that there were few 'traditional roles' in the relationship, and they agreed to pursue their careers together, both in law. She helped her husband achieve his degree, and then after the birth of their first child, Ruth enrolled in law school at Harvard. She was 1 of only 9 women in a class of 500 men. She transferred from Harvard to Columbia to complete her law degree and tied for first in her class.

Ruth Ginsburg and her daughter, Jane. Jane is currently an attorney and a professor at Columbia. Ruth's son, James, owns a classical record company called Cedille. 

                            

Early in her career she did research on international procedures in Sweden. She admired the progress Sweden had made concerning womens' rights and equality with men. Her major concern has been gender equality, and she experienced discrimination a number of times in her life. A couple of examples: when she became a professor at Rutgers Law School, she was told she would be paid less than a man because she had a husband who could support her. When she was a professor at Columbia, layoff notices were served to 25 people--all of them women. Ms. Ginsburg took the matter up with the college and found a way to lay off no one.

                       Ms. Ginsburg and her husband, daughter, son, son-in-law (w. glasses), and grandchildren. Martin Ginsburg died in 2010.

Ruth founded the Womens Rights Project with the ACLU, is the first ever woman Jewish Supreme Court Justice, and she is currently the oldest person serving on the Supreme Court. She began as a Supreme Court Justice on August 9, 1993.

Have you noticed that Justice Ginsburg wears various fancy collars with her robe? They're called a 'Jabot' (pronounced zha-BO) and some of them are worn to indicate different things https://www.bustle.com/articles/81407-all-of-ruth-bader-ginsburgs-jabots-from-her-statement-making-dissent-collar-to-her-sassy-beaded-accessories She has also worn different types of robes instead of the traditional ones.

                                          A supporter of hers made this lace collar for her; she sent a thank you note and wears it proudly

                                                      Justice Ginsburg says this mesh-like jabot is her favorite. It was made in South Africa.

                                                                                      This one is worn when she agrees with a ruling

                                                                                                   This is worn for dissent (disagreement)


Read more about Ruth Ginsburg here: https://www.oyez.org/justices/ruth_bader_ginsburg

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.

Civics Lesson: The United States Supreme Court

What do you know about the Supreme Court of the United States, or SCOTUS? Here's a crash course:

 

Who can be a Supreme Court Justice? There is no written requirement that a justice must have a law degree, any particular level of education, or be of a certain age. In fact, in 1941, James Byrnes became a Supreme Court justice even though he never finished high school but had taught himself law. He only served for one year. However, it is rare now for a person without a law background to become a SCOTUS justice.

Names are put forward as nominees by the President to the Senate. The Senate Judicial Committee then reviews the nominee, which can be a long process and includes in-depth interviews commonly televised for anyone to follow. When the Senate is done investigating the person, they have a simple majority vote as to whether they approve this person as a Justice.


It's important to note that the United States Supreme Court is not meant to be political, only to decide legal matters without regard to party affiliation.

 

How many judges serve on the SCOTUS?
The number of judges has increased over the years and currently, there is Chief Justice, John Roberts, and 8 Associate Justices. These are:

• Anthony Kennedy
• Clarence Thomas
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the oldest at age 84
• Stephen Breyer
• Samuel Alto
• Sonia Sotomayor
• Elena Kagan
• Neil Gorsuch, the youngest at age 50

Are there term limits for Supreme Court Justices? No, Supreme Court Justices are able to serve for the rest of their lives, or until they resign, retire, or are impeached. While only one justice had impeachment proceedings begun on him, they did not result in his being removed. Thus, openings for these positions do not come up often.


Why do judges wear robes? They aren't required to wear them, it's just a tradition that began in England. Wearing a robe for study was a way to set scholars apart from non-scholars (this is also why people wear robes upon graduation from school, as a traditional distinction). Initially, robes were brightly colored, but eventually people went to an all-black robe. In England, judges and attorneys still wear curled wigs as part of their 'uniform,' but American attorneys wear suits, judges wear robes, and none of them wear wigs.

A rare look inside the Supreme Court building, which is around the corner from the Library of Congress:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unyswl36q8w

Does the SCOTUS hear all cases presented to it? No. The Supreme Court receives requests to hear between 7,000 and 8,000 cases every year. Of these, they typically hear less than 100. The people involved want the Supreme Court to offer their opinion as the "Court of Last Resort," and their ruling is final, and cannot be appealed any further.


Each state also has a State Supreme Court. In Minnesota, there are currently 6 Supreme Court justices who are appointed by the governor and serve 6 year terms. They have a mandatory retirement age of 70. The State Supreme Court's main function is to hear appeals of court decisions, sometimes involving Worker's Compensation or tax claims, in addition to criminal cases. They review about 700 cases per year but only hear about 70 of those. In Minnesota, you must have a law degree in order to be a Supreme Court Justice. The State Supreme Court also officiates the Bar Exam for people seeking to become attorneys. http://mncourts.gov/About-The-Courts/SupremeCourt.aspx

 

Here are the steps in having a case heard by the Supreme Court:

• 1. The case has to have already been tried in a lower court
• 2. The side that has lost its case may file an appeal to SCOTUS.
• 3. The odds of the case being heard by the SCOTUS are low (less than 100 of several thousand applicants). If 4 of the 9 justices think the case has merit, and the lower courts have had conflicting opinions, then the court will hear it.
• 4. If accepted, the requestor has 45 days to file reasons for appeal. The opposing side has 30 days to file its response.
• 5. The oral arguments for the case are limited to 30 minutes for either side.
• 6. Then the SCOTUS deliberates and gives their decision.

Often, the justices vote unanimously as to their opinion, but when they are divided, this can sometimes indicate their political leadings (conservative or liberal).

 

Here is the website for the SCOTUS:  https://www.supremecourt.gov/


Some examples of important ("Landmark") cases decided by the Supreme Court, both good and bad:


Dred Scott vs. Sanford     1857
Dred Scott was a slave whose owner brought him to Illinois and later to Minnesota territory. When his owner died, he argued that he was free because he now lived in a free state. The court disagreed:
" . . . We think they [people of African ancestry] are . . . not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word "citizens" in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States. . . ." — Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, speaking for the majority


Miranda vs. State of Arizona     1966
Ernesto Miranda was arrested, but not informed of his 5th Amendment rights not to incriminate himself. The court decided that he should have been better informed: ". . . the prosecution may not use statements, whether exculpatory or inculpatory, stemming from custodial interrogation of the defendant unless it demonstrates the use of procedural safeguards effective to secure the privilege against self-incrimination." —Chief Justice Earl Warren, speaking for the majority  *This led to the expression: Read him his Miranda Rights. These rights are always spoken to a person arrested. "You have the right to remain silent..."


Roe v. Wade        1973
This was a suit brought by a woman wishing not to use her real name, so she used the name "Roe." Wade was the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas. Ms. Roe held that laws against abortion violated her right to personal liberty and privacy, and went against the 1st, 4th, 5th, 9th, and 14th amendments. The Supreme Court agreed and thus made abortions legal in the United States, negating any state laws that said differently. “We … acknowledge our awareness of the sensitive and emotional nature of the abortion controversy, of the vigorous opposing views, even among physicians, and of the deep and seemingly absolute convictions that the subject inspires.” — Justice Blackmun (1973), majority opinion in Roe v. Wade


Brown vs. Board of Education          1954
The Brown family children, from Topeka, Kansas, had to walk a far and dangerous distance to catch a bus to their all-black school. The State of Kansas claimed that their school was equal to the white schools which were closer to their home, but the Supreme Court ruled that "Separate" automatically means "Not Equal," and that the practice of segregation violated the 14th Amendment.  "We conclude that the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." —Chief Justice Earl Warren


United States against Richard Nixon      1974
President Nixon installed a tape recorder in his office to record conversations he had about having people break in to a room in the Watergate Hotel in Washington and by other means spy on Democratic goings-on. He then refused to share all the recordings that had been made in an attempt to cover himself from incrimination. The Supreme Court argued that he needed to release all the recordings in their ruling.                    

". . . Absent a claim of need to protect military, diplomatic, or sensitive national security secrets, we find it difficult to accept the . . . [absolute] confidentiality of presidential communications." — Chief Justice Warren Burger

For other landmark cases decided by the SCOTUS:  http://landmarkcases.org/en/Landmark/Cases

 

 

 

 

 

Civics 101: What Are the House of Representatives and the Senate? And What is Congress?

Remember, there are three branches to our government:

 

 

Legislative--The Senate and the House of Representatives, which discusses the laws of the country and can pass new laws

 

Judiciary-- The Supreme Court, which decides matters of legality according to the way the law is written in the Constitution

 

Executive-- The President, Vice President, the Cabinet, and different agencies of our government.

Congress-the combined Senate and House of Representatives- meets in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

The Senate...

• Is made up of 100 representatives, two per state, and that does not vary. They serve a 6 year term. There are various positions up for re-election every 2 years.
• Has to approve the people appointed for the Cabinet, Supreme Court judges, the secretaries of various agencies and military officers.
• Has to work with the House of Representatives when passing legislation
• Our 2 senators from Minnesota are Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken. You can get in touch with them, and find out your district, here:

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/MN

The Senate. Notice the observers up in the balcony.

 

The House of Representatives....

• Has members based on the population of each state. Some states have just 1 representative: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming. California, the most populous state, has the most at 53.
• Minnesota has 8 Representatives: Here are their names alphabetically with their districts:
• Keith Ellison (D) Website - Minnesota 5th
• Tom Emmer (R) Website - Minnesota 6th
• Jason Lewis (R) Website - Minnesota's 2nd
• Betty McCollum (D) Website - Minnesota 4th
• Rick Nolan (D) Website - Minnesota 8th
• Erik Paulsen (R) Website - Minnesota 3rd
• Collin Peterson (D) Website - Minnesota 7th
• Tim Walz (D) Website - Minnesota 1st
• To serve in the House, a person must be 25 years of age, a US citizen for 7 years, and must live in the state he/she represents.
• Representatives serve a two year term.
• In the House there are also delegates from American-held territories, including Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas, and a Commissioner from Puerto Rico.
• Any legislation that involves raising taxes starts in the House but must be approved by the Senate as well.
• The President has the power to pass or veto a bill ONLY when the House and Senate have voted and come to a 2/3 consensus; that is, if 2/3 of the votes were in favor of passing a law, the President can sign it into law. If 2/3 of the votes were to not pass it, then the President can finish it by veto and it will not become law.

More people, bigger space: House of Representatives. This is a State of the Union address by President Obama.

The Senate and House of Representatives, together, form the Congress or just Congress. Think of it as a 'congregation' of people--both combined make one Congress.

 

Here is a really good and simple explanation:


http://www.diffen.com/difference/House_of_Representatives_vs_Senate