(By Bill Banta) The Constitution provides standards for impeachment. Constitutional standards are strict and nowhere does the Constitution provide carte blanche.
The President, Vice President, and other civil Officers of the United States may only be removed from office upon “Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” In other words, there must have been a serious crime for there to be impeachment.
Crimes that qualify as impeachable offenses are catalogued by Sir William Blackstone, whose Commentarieswere the preeminent legal authority for English and American lawyers at the time our Constitution was proposed, debated, and ratified. The American lawyers responsible for the Constitution included James Madison, John Jay, John Marshall, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton.
Editor: Of related interest, attorney and legal scholar Rob Natelson explains in a Christmas Eve commentary why impeachment is valid and immediately actionable by the Senate even though not yet transmitted by the House Speaker. More constitutional illiteracy!
As noted, high Crimes and Misdemeanors were not trivial, nor were they merely political. High Crimes and Misdemeanors discussed in Blackstone’s Commentarieswere variously punished by banishment, death, deportation, fines, imprisonment, perpetual infamy, or having both ears nailed to the pillory. While banishment, perpetual infamy, and pillories are out, the constitutional requirement of a serious crime (for example, a felony) remains.
On December 10, 2019, American newspapers published “articles of impeachment” against President Trump. Article I charges the President with abuse of his office and article II charges him with obstruction of Congress.
As we know, and as Judge Blackstone wrote, a crime is an act committed in violation of a public law. Because there is no law against abuse of the office of the President nor a law against obstruction of Congress, there is no Crime stated. Therefore, no impeachable offense has been charged under the Constitution.
The Constitution is definite – what is not stated is not allowed. So, if any member of the House of Representatives votes to impeach the President, Vice President or any other civil Officer of the United States for a reason other than Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors, the Congressman is out on a limb. Such action is unauthorized under the Constitution.
Bill Banta is an attorney in Denver. Contact: billbanta@msn.com
