As a software engineer, I occasionally get the uncomfortable task of investigating and remedying a corner case: a scenario unforeseen by the original designers, not easily remediable with a simple bug fix, sometimes requiring a complete redesign, sometimes fixable with a disreputable hack. Usually, it means the problem was not completely analyzed.
So I was fascinated by this WaPo article on the legal question of whether an American civil officer, moments before conviction occurs, can actually resign and evade all punishemtn, and the allied question: can a former American “civil officer,” such as the President, can be impeached?
The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing Dec. 4 in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump. [Representative] Gaetz (R-FL), a Trump ally, suggested at one point that former president Barack Obama should be impeached.
He’s not the first to float such an idea. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania once suggested that former president Bill Clinton could be re-impeached for pardoning Democratic donor and fugitive Marc Rich on his last day in office. Clinton had been impeached on different charges and acquitted while in office.
Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution, says, “The President, Vice 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.” Article I, Section 3, says, “Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.”
Oh, what fun[1]! They queried a collection of legal scholars and received a real mix of responses, from NO NO NO! to ummmm, yeah, maybe. Gotta love it. And while it seems a little mad to consider this possibility, I have to admit to being outraged at the Marc Rich pardon by Clinton; Bill himself later admitted to being mistaken. He really needed his hand slapped for that blunder.
Putting aside the insipidly foolish rants of Rep Gaetz[2], we should expand our intellectual horizons and go a little further with this. My new concept is pre-impeachment. Analogous to the Gaetz suggestion, I suggest we also recognize the possibility that before someone attains status as a civil officer[3], Congress should be able to preempt the campaigns of truly hated or feared rivals before they can even get started.
Recognize someone as a threat to the Nation? Or at least one helluva lot smarter than you? Then pre-impeach them! I detect a thriving new legal specialty in the making!
Or, we can just ignore Gaetz and the whole idea, and instead fix the Constitution. I suggest the following Amendment:
Upon the institution of the proceedings of Impeachment, the civil officer who is subject of the proceedings is deprived of the right of resignation; they may step away from their responsibilities, turning them over to the duly considered successor, at their option; but for purposes of punishment if a conviction is obtained, a resignation by the civil officer is not permitted.
See? Problem solved.
Quite honestly, pre- and post- impeachment seem quite Roman, and not in a good way.
1 No, really, I’m not kidding. Exploring the weird outer reaches of a designed system teaches us more about the essential stability and correctness of a design than does the everyday boring stuff. Even if the latter is more important.
2 He who suggests that President Obama should be impeached shouldn’t be throwing stones at glass figurines when your favored leader happens to a bloated, cannibalistic, unmoving toad who appears to more than deserve it. Reminding everyone that they can still impeach Trump even if he resigns is … really dumb.
3 A civil officer appears to be President, VP, but not a Senator, according to the Free Dictionary’s legal section on civil officers.
