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Here is an extract from the brochure High Crimes and Misdemeanors written by Robert Barr:
Rep. Barr (R., Ga.) serves on the House Judiciary and Government Reform Committees. He was the U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Georgia under Presidents Reagan and Bush.
The American Constitution provides that the «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». Thus, impeachment is the constitutional remedy – the only one, addressed to serious offenses against the system of government and the public trust. The impeachment procedure, outlined in the Constitution, has been given content over the two centuries since its adoption. What conduct justifies impeachment has been the subject of some controversy among legal scholars. One cause of the controversy is the political nature of impeachment. As constitutional scholar Michael Gerhardt has noted, «Impeachment is by nature, structure, and design an essentially political process». Our Founding Fathers adopted this view of impeachment from English law and made it uniquely their own. Its a scope confined to political officials; it charges only «political crimes» and imposes purely «political punishments».
Thus, impeachment is not a criminal proceeding dependent on proof of a criminal infraction. An inquiry of impeachment examines the «undermining of the integrity of office, disregarding of constitutional duties and oath of office, arrogation of power, abuse of governmental process, and adverse impact on the system of government».
Impeachment was intended to be a «safety valve, a security against an oppressive or corrupt President and his sheltered ministers». Our Founding Fathers were familiar with the despotic rule a too-powerful executive could impose. Consequently, they constructed a safeguard against the executive abuse and usurpation of power that might occur in the separate executive branch they fashioned. James Wilson, a member of the Pennsylvania ratifying convention, noted that the President is «placed high, and is possessed of power far from being contemptible, yet not a single privilege is annexed to his character; far from being above the laws, he is amenable to them in his private character as a citizen, and in his public character by impeachment».
James Madison noted that impeachment was «indispensible» to protect the state from «the incapacity, negligence or perfidy of the chief Magistrate» and «as a supplementary security for the good behaviour of the public officers».
Our Founding Fathers conceived of impeachment as a device to preserve constitutional government, designed to address actions by an official that subvert the structure of government and impugn the integrity of office.
There are three major duties imposed on the President by the Constitution and his oath of office. His first duty is «to take care that the laws be faithfully executed». The other two duties – «to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States» and to «preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States» – are included in the oath of office. The power of impeachment serves as a guarantee that these duties are performed.
§ Vocabulary notes
| impeachment | [im'pI:tSm@nt] | 1) порицание; 2) обвинение; 3) привлечение к суду (особенно за государственное преступление) | ||||||||
| misdemeanor | [,misdi'mi:n@] | судебно наказуемый проступок, преступление | ||||||||
| Rep. = representative | член палаты представителей в Конгрессе США | |||||||||
| R. = Republican | член Республиканской партии | |||||||||
| Ga. = Georgia | Джорджиа, один из южных штатов США | |||||||||
| treason | 1) измена, предательство; 2) государственная измена | |||||||||
| syn. high treason bribery | [‘braIb@rI] | подкуп | ||||||||
| remedy | средство судебной защиты, средство защиты | |||||||||
| trust to have/put/ repose trust in smb a position of trust breach of trust | права 1) доверие, вера; 2) ответственность доверять кому-либо ответственный пост нарушение доверенным лицом своих обязательств | |||||||||
| to outline content | [k@n'tent] | излагать чувство удовлетворения, дать согласие на что-либо | ||||||||
| to give content to smth conduct | ['kondökt] | поведение, образ действий | ||||||||
| syn. behaviour to conduct oneself controversy without/ beyond controversy scholar | [k@n'dökt] ['kontr@v@:si] ['sko:l@] | вести себя спор, дискуссия, полемика бесспорно | ||||||||
| cause | ученый причина, основание, мотив | |||||||||
| syn. reason scope a mind of wide scope It is beyond my scope. | границы, рамки, пределы человек широкого кругозора Это вне моей компетенции. | |||||||||
| to be confined to | быть ограниченным чем-либо | |||||||||
| to be confined to bed | быть прикованным к постели | |||||||||
| infraction | нарушение (правша, закона) | |||||||||
| arrogation | требование, претензия | |||||||||
| arrogant | высокомерный | |||||||||
| valve | 1) клапан; 2) электронная лампа | |||||||||
| shelter | 1) приют, кров; 2) прикрытие | |||||||||
| safeguard | ['seifga:d] | 1) гарантия, охрана; | ||||||||
| 2) охранное свидетельство; 3) предосторожность | ||||||||||
| contemptible | [k@n'tempt@bl] | презренный | ||||||||
| contempt | презрение, неуважение (к власти) | |||||||||
| contempt of court | неуважение к суду | |||||||||
| amenable | [@'mI:n@bl] | ответственный, подсудный | ||||||||
| amenable to law | ответственный перед законом | |||||||||
| indispensible | необходимый, обяза- тельный, не допускающий исключений (о законе и т.п.) | |||||||||
| perfidy | ['p@:fIdI] | вероломство, измена, | ||||||||
| to subvert | [söbv@:t] | предательство свергать, ниспровергать, разрушать | ||||||||
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