You Can Be a Felon and Still Serve in the Capitol--No Surprise There
There can be no doubt that we are consumed with the standards of ethics and conduct of our Senators and Representatives, as well as Presidents. However, the Constitution does not restrict felons from running for these national offices, nor does it restrict them from office if they are found guilty while in office. Yes, of course, one can be censured, or expelled after such acts as lying to a Grand Jury (which may or may not lead to impeachment, but by then it is throwing the horse way behind the cart.)
A colleague sent me one of those inflammatory e-mails recently that are supposed to push us to some imagined action out of indignity. It of course grabs us as we know the headlines about sports and its bevy of illustrious down falls:
Which League is the Most Guilty of Felonies—the NBA OR NFL ?
36 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad checks
117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
3 have done time for assault
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 currently are defendants in lawsuits, and
84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year
Can you guess which organization this is?
NBA or NFL?
Give up yet? ... Scroll down,
Neither,
It's the 535 members of the United States Congress.
AND THEY JUST VOTED THEMSELVES $15,000 PER MONTH PENSION FOR LIFE AFTER SERVING ONLY ONE TERM IN CONGRESS!
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Well, whether those are facts or not, I'm sure that some may be true, in part, but is it relevant? So what does the constitution say? Simply this, to run for these highest offices one must be (as summed up so nicely at About.com at http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa081402a.htm):
What the Constitution says
Let's review the minimum qualifications for the only three elected political offices established by the U.S. Constitution:
Representative - Persons elected to and serving in the House of Representative must be: At least 25-years old, U.S. Citizens for seven years and must be inhabitants of the state from which they are elected at the time of the election. (Article I, Section 2)
"Under these reasonable limitations," wrote Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers No. 52, "the door of this part of the federal government is open to merit of every description, whether native or adoptive, whether young or old, and without regard to poverty or wealth, or to any particular profession of religious faith."
Senator - Persons elected to and serving in the Senate must be: At least 30-years old, U.S. Citizens for nine years and must be inhabitants of the state from which they are elected at the time of the election. (Article I, Section 3)
President - Persons elected to and serving as President of the United States must be: At least 35-years old, natural-born U.S. citizens and have resided within the United States for at least 14 years at the time of the election. (Article II, Section 1)
The Constitution does not exclude or disqualify persons accused of crimes, convicted or jailed for crimes, or paroled from prison from running for and serving in the U.S. Congress or as President of the United States, as long as they are otherwise qualified to do so.
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So, what are the protections we have beyond the ethics committees and censure? Why of course, that old dog, so seldom used, impeachment. It is a very labor intensive and dangerous pathway. To see how difficult that road is to establish let's look at a summary of the process (from Think Quest at http://library.thinkquest.org/25185/impeach.htm):
WHAT IS IMPEACHMENT ?
Impeachment is the removal of a high ranking official in the United States government. The Constitution states that any official articles it be a member of the President's cabinet or a member of the Senate or House of Representatives. The Process proceeds as follows.
The process begins when formal charges are brought against the official in question. These are examined by an independent prosecutor designated by a House judiciary committee and the Attorney General of the United States. They are then presented to the House of Representatives in a report. If the impeachment process continues to a hearing then this evidence is then called "The Articles of Impeachment".
An impeachment proceeding can begin with a direct impeachment resolution or an inquiry of impeachment resolution. An inquiry of impeachment resolution differs from a direct impeachment resolution in that an inquiry constitutes a preliminary investigation. While a direct impeachment resolution simply call for a vote to impeach the official, an inquiry resolution commences an inquiry into whether an impeachment resolution would be appropriate. It is a prudent first step in the impeachment process.
If the Judiciary Committee finds the grounds for resolution if impeachment exists. It may then submit the articles of impeachment to the House for a vote. The House votes on each article separately and any articles that pass by a majority vote are sent to the Senate for trial.
The Constitution gives to the Senate "the sole power to try impeachment." Like the House, the Senate has also adopted rules for its impeachment proceedings. Once the House has approved the articles it requests that the Senate "order the appearance of the accused to answer the charges and demands a conviction and appropriate judgment, and presents the articles of impeachment." The Senators then try the case according to the Rules of Procedure and Practice in the Senate When Sitting on Impeachment Trials. A conviction requires a 2/3 majority of the Senate to find that the accused official committed reason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. The Constitution also prescribes the consequences for an impeachment conviction, including removal from Office and the possible disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office, Trust or Profit under the United States.
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So, you see, the felon really is in the driver's seat. It takes, literally, an Act of Congress to take actions strong enough to remove the most odious of characters. Even Nixon walked away before he faced a final gavel, after long, painful hearings that drug the American flag through the mud.
We can be upset all we want at the what seem to be the felonious acts of a Congress gone mad, but don't expect any cleaning of the house (or the Senate) anytime soon. And for those loony enough to believe that President Bush is going to be tried for War Crimes after this election...please, quit smoking that stuff that still has paraquat sprayed on the leaves.
From the eaves....rick tobin
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