Can the House Impeach a Justice?

-

The house impeached Justice Samuel Chase in 1805. Chief Justice William Rehnquist in a scholarly book, Grand Inquests: The Historic Impeachments of Justice Samuel Chase and President Andrew Johnson, details the charges against Chase. “He conducted himself in a manner highly arbitrary, oppressive and unjust” details are set out that critique his performance in a trial. Like the stacking of the court by leader McConnell, the impeachment of Chase had a political tone. The scenario to consider is:

1. Biden wins the presidency.

2. A majority of the court gives the presidency to Trump.

3. The Democrats retain the house = impeachment of one or more justices who ignore the traditional role of the states in governing elections.

4. The Democrats take the Senate = possible conviction of one or more justices.

 See: Grand Inquests: The Historic Impeachments of Justice Samuel Chase and President Andrew Johnson



Copyright 2020 James J Brosnahan

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The American Establishment Wants to Stop Voter Theft

-
       The business community and the legal community have had enough of the public vote theft. There is a full-page advertisement in the  New York Times  today listing approximately 100 major American corporations and almost all of the large law firms (including Morrison Foerster LLP) in the United States, in opposition to the public voter theft being enacted in several states.      Senator McConnell has overplayed his hand and is now in political trouble. It is often the American establishment that has to step forward and save our democratic form of government. Forty-seven states have pending or enacted statutes with the aim of reducing the vote. Those statutes eviscerate our democratic form of government. The immediate and widespread reaction of citizens was to stop doing business with any company that tolerated voter reduction or theft, and so it should be.      A bill pending in the congress now would establish a bipartisa...
Read more

Senator McConnell Has Inverted the Process of Democratic Discussion by Telling His Base of American Business to Stay Out of Politics

-
  Senator McConnell’s lecturing of American business to stay out of politics was hastily followed by his statement he was not talking about contributions . That lecture represented a reversal of normal political dialogue. In a democracy it is the voters who tell the office holders what they need and what they want. It is not the office holders who instruct the voters as to what they’re allowed to do. Under the First Amendment as declared by the US Supreme Court on several occasions, corporations have a right to express political opinions. Efforts to reduce the vote is among the most important subjects for public discussion. There’s something more important about what McConnell did. He took an axe to the republican base. For a number of years the republican hierarchy has been trying to manage a joining of American business with right-wing groups, some of them with extreme positions. It has been effective at times. But the recent praise by Senator Johnson of Wisconsin, lavished o...
Read more

John F. Kennedy's Speech on Religion - September 12, 1960

-
On Sept. 12, 1960, presidential candidate John F. Kennedy gave a major speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, a group of Protestant ministers, on the issue of his religion. At the time, many Protestants questioned whether Kennedy's Roman Catholic faith would allow him to make important national decisions as president independent of the church. Kennedy addressed those concerns before a skeptical audience of Protestant clergy. The following is a transcript of Kennedy's speech: Kennedy: Rev. Meza, Rev. Reck, I'm grateful for your generous invitation to speak my views. While the so-called religious issue is necessarily and properly the chief topic here tonight, I want to emphasize from the outset that we have far more critical issues to face in the 1960 election: the spread of Communist influence, until it now festers 90 miles off the coast of Florida; the humiliating treatment of our president and vice president by those who no longer respect our power; the hun...
Read more