World Book 99 Impeachment

True History of Impeachments with reasons, World Book 99 content IBM incorporated

Impeachment occurs when an authorized legislative body votes to bring a charge of serious misconduct in office against a government official. The impeached person may continue to perform the duties of office until he or she has been tried and found guilty of the charges. The term impeachment may also refer to the entire process by which a government official is removed from office. In this article, the term is used in the more restricted sense.

In the United States

Procedure. The House of Representatives has the sole power to bring charges of impeachment against the President, Vice President, or other civilian officials of the United States government except members of Congress. A majority vote of the House is required for impeachment. The Senate then sits as a court to hear the charges against the impeached official. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required for conviction. The Vice President generally presides over the Senate. But when the Senate hears charges against the President, the Chief Justice of the United States presides. The Constitution makes this provision because the Vice President would succeed to the presidency if the President were found guilty.

The Constitution specifies that officials shall be removed from office after impeachment for, and conviction of, "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." Some people argue that these words mean an official may be discharged only for criminal conduct. Others claim that an official may be dismissed if he or she has displeased most of the Congress or most of the people. Congress has rejected both views. It has refused to limit the grounds for impeachment to criminal acts. However, it has refused to discharge officeholders merely because they have lost the confidence of Congress or of the people. Instead, it considers impeachable offenses to include criminal actions, serious abuse of power, and grave misconduct in office. Some scholars believe Congress requires more serious grounds to remove a President than to dismiss a judge. The President is elected for a limited term, but judges are appointed for as long as they maintain "good behavior."

Officials found guilty by the Senate may be punished by more than being removed from office. The Senate may also prohibit them from ever again holding office in the U.S. government. Conviction of impeachment charges does not involve imprisonment or a fine. However, the official may be tried in a regular court of law.

Federal judges can be tried in court for a crime while still in office. But legal scholars do not know if a President or Vice President can be. One Vice President, Spiro T. Agnew, was charged with a federal crime. But he resigned in 1973 after refusing to contest the charges (see AGNEW, SPIRO T.). In 1974, in the case of United States v. Richard M. Nixon, the Supreme Court ruled that the President could not withhold evidence demanded by a federal court. This decision meant that federal courts have jurisdiction over the President. But scholars remain undecided as to whether a President or Vice President can be tried for a crime while in office.

S T A T E

In general, the state governments follow the same rules for impeachment as the federal government does. The lower house of the legislature votes the impeachment charges, and the upper house tries the individuals. Few states have used their impeachment power.

Some H I S T O R Y

The House of Representatives has voted articles of impeachment only 15 times in the history of the United States. The Senate has convicted only seven people. Only one President, Andrew Johnson, has been impeached. Another President, Richard M. Nixon, resigned before the House voted on articles of impeachment recommended against him by the House Judiciary Committee. A few officials have resigned to avoid impeachment. However, the House can impeach a former officeholder even after he or she has resigned.

Twelve of the 15 people who have been impeached were judges, and all of the 7 convictions involved judges. The 15 cases in which the House of Representatives voted articles of impeachment were the following:

(1) Senator William Blount of Tennessee was impeached in 1797 and charged with conspiring to help British and Indian forces attack the Spanish territories of Florida and Louisiana. However, the Senate ruled that it lacked jurisdiction and dismissed the charges. This ruling established that Congress would discipline its own members rather than use impeachment. Either house of Congress can expel one of its members by a two-thirds vote, and the Senate had expelled Blount the day after his impeachment. See BLOUNT, WILLIAM.

(2) John Pickering of New Hampshire, judge of the United States District Court, was impeached in 1803 for drunkenness and profanity on the bench, and for unlawful decisions. It was generally agreed that the cause of his misconduct was insanity. He was found guilty and removed from office.

(3) Samuel Chase, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, was impeached in 1804 for malfeasance in office. In the background of the Chase impeachment, and possibly that of Pickering, was the fact that most of the judges of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts had been appointed by Federalist Presidents. Some of the anti-Federalist congressional followers of President Thomas Jefferson felt that impeachment was a proper means of keeping the courts in reasonable harmony with Congress and the executive branch of government. Some believed that a judgment holding an act of Congress unconstitutional indicated that the judge opposed the course of government, and so gave cause for impeachment.

Chase was acquitted in March 1805. His acquittal provided a significant rejection of the theory that the tenure of judges should depend on the political climate of the times. See CHASE, SAMUEL.

(4) James Peck of Missouri, judge of the U.S. District Court, was impeached in 1830. A Missouri lawyer named Luke Lawless had published a newspaper article criticizing one of Peck's decisions. Peck summoned Lawless to court, committed him to prison for 24 hours, and suspended him from law practice for 18 months. Peck was acquitted in January 1831, but the case aroused concern for the freedom of the press. Congress promptly passed a statute limiting the power of judges to punish for contempt of court except when it consists of misbehavior in the presence of the court, or so near it as to obstruct the administration of justice.

(5) West H. Humphreys of Tennessee, a judge of the U.S. District Court, was impeached in 1862 for supporting the secession movement and unlawfully acting as judge of the Confederate District Court. He was found guilty and removed from office.

(6) Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States, was impeached in 1868 for violation of the Tenure of Office Act, corrupt use of the veto power, interference at elections, and other high crimes and misdemeanors. The votes in the Senate were one short of the two-thirds needed to convict, so he was acquitted. In the background of the impeachment lay a bitter difference of opinion concerning the proper treatment of the defeated Confederate states. Johnson favored a much milder policy toward the South than the one proposed by a strong group in Congress. See JOHNSON, ANDREW.

(7) William W. Belknap, U.S. secretary of war, was impeached in 1876 for accepting bribes. Belknap resigned. The Senate later acquitted him.

(8) Charles Swayne of Florida, judge of the U.S. District Court, was impeached in 1904 for misconduct in office. He was acquitted.

(9) Robert W. Archbald, associate judge of the United States Commerce Court, was impeached in 1912 for entering into corrupt alliances with coal-mine owners and railroad officials while in office. Archbald was found guilty in January 1913 and was discharged.

(10) George W. English of Illinois, judge of the U.S. District Court, was impeached for misdemeanors in April 1926. He resigned before the trial.

(11) Harold Louderback of California, judge of the U.S. District Court, was impeached, but was acquitted on May 24, 1933.

(12) Halsted L. Ritter of Florida, judge of the U.S. District Court, was impeached and, on Apr. 17, 1936, was removed from office.

(13) Harry E. Claiborne of Nevada, judge of the U.S. District Court, was impeached for filing false income tax returns. He was found guilty and removed from office on Oct. 9, 1986.

(14) Alcee L. Hastings of Florida, judge of the U.S. District Court, was impeached in 1988. In 1989, the Senate convicted him of perjury and of trying to obtain a bribe, and he was removed from office. In 1992, a federal court ruled that Hastings may have been improperly tried by the Senate. Later that year, Hastings won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1993, a higher federal court upheld Hastings' conviction.

(15) Walter L. Nixon, Jr., of Mississippi, judge of the U.S. District Court, was impeached in May 1989. Nixon had been convicted of perjury by a regular court of law and was serving a five-year sentence for the crime at the time of his impeachment. In 1989, the Senate convicted Nixon and removed him from office.

In other countries Canada and Australia provide that judges are to be removed by the governor-general on an address, or resolution of both houses of the federal legislature. The Canadian constitution gives parliament the right to impeach federally appointed judges. Judges who are found guilty are removed from office. Other nations use impeachment in various forms. The tendency in Europe and South America is to confine impeachment to officers of ministerial rank, but to extend it to all offenses against the constitution or laws. In most nations, impeachment proceedings begin in the lower house of the legislature, and the upper house handles the trial and sentence. Contributor: Roger H. Davidson, Ph.D., Prof. of Government and Politics, Univ. of Maryland, College Park.

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