A Thought Experiment

I find it interesting that Rudy Giuliani has, in the past couple of days, reversed his public position (that he's done nothing wrong), and retained an attorney to defend him.  Could Mr. Giuliani's change of approach have anything to do with this thought experiment?

The mock indictment linked to above is the work of two former Federal prosecutors ...

More Checks and Balances

Federalist 66 establishes a check on the powers of the Presidency.  It assumes that offenses like abuse of power or obstruction of justice constitute at least a misdeed, and therefore are legitimate grounds for impeachment.

Always remember  that the phrase high crimes and misdemeanors, as it's used in the Constitution, cannot be understood in an ordinary legal / criminal sense.  Efforts to mislead the public, by means of flawed or false data, may not be illegal.  But the Founders viewed such conduct as eminently impeachable.

James Madison laid it all out in Federalist No. 51.

Checks and Balances

Written by Alexander Hamilton and published on March 8th, 1788, Federalist 66 gives a thorough review of the role and structure the Founders envisioned for impeachment.

The paper starts out by reminding readers that, under the Constitution,  the House of Representatives has the sole power to impeach, in effect acting as a prosecutor. The Senate is the other side of the equation,  having the sole power to conduct impeachment trials, that is, in effect being both judge and jury.

That last argument was Hamilton's coup de grace.  He stated that allowing the Senate to serve as an impeachment court checks and balances the powers of the President.

Freedom of Religion

Federalist No. 26 opens with a mention of the salutary boundary between POWER and PRIVILEGE (their caps) and the need to combine the energy of government with ensuring the security of private rights ...

Federalist 26 ordinarily is cited as supporting the need for a standing army. But it can also be seen as upholding the first part of the First Amendment. 26 works to accomplish security by ensuring the right to personal beliefs. Neither 26 nor the First Amendment refer to most religions. Neither identifies belief systems of which it approves or disapproves. Neither even hints at that kind of distinction.

Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

• Congress shall make no law ... means just that - hands off.
• ... respecting the establishment of religion ... means the United States will never have an official faith.
• or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ... means that this country cannot constrain individuals from practicing their beliefs, whatever we might think of those beliefs.

However obliquely, each of us experiences the effects of this first part of the First Amendment. Here's an example.

Willie Mae Leech worked for my family for several years. Because my mom was employed outside the home, someone was needed to help with housekeeping. I did laundry, but dug in my heels where ironing (yes, it was that long ago) was concerned. That's where Mrs. Leech came in.

Once or twice a month, my dad would drive for about 45 minutes from our home in North Braddock to Mrs. Leech's home in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. He'd bring her back to our house, where she'd iron for four or five hours. Then we'd have a sandwich and something to drink, and he'd take her home.

During one of those noshing sessions, Mrs. Leech displayed real concern about an event much in the news at that time - the banning of required prayer in public schools. Trying to reassure her, my dad explained the action in the context of the First Amendment. She seemed relieved; I'd learned something.

Freedom of Religion: Assignment

For each of these faith traditions: Mahayana Buddhism Ismaili Islam Reconstructionist Judaism Unitarian - Universalism Mormonism cite one practice with which the public at large might be unfamiliar, and describe how failure fully to enforce the First Amendment might negatively affect that practice.

Freedom of Religion: More Material

Each of these resources can give you further insight into the relationship between Freedom of Religion as defined in the First Amendment, and the Federalist Papers.: Federalists and the First Amendment First Amendment Religion Clauses Public Education and the Public Good Taking Liberties with the First Amendment The First Amendment in the Colonial Press

Who We Are

The Declaration of Independence states that ... it is to ensure these [unalienable] rights that governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. 

Trouble is, for the first few years of the United States, that laudable goal of ensuring god-given rights was never achieved. The Articles of Confederation, under which the nation functioned from 1777 till 1787, had no teeth.   That’s what brought about the Constitutional Convention. The new charter for our country was written in Philadelphia from May to September in 1787, as was the Bill of Rights, its first 10 Amendments. Both the core document and the Bill were fully ratified in 1789.  That ratification was based at least in part on the Federalist Papers, the latter the work of Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. 

Based upon the Bill of Rights and other significant amendments, I’m going to offer, in effect if not in fact, a curriculum I'm calling Constitution 101 - the foundational documents of our society and government.  There will  be a bakers’ dozen of topics, beginning with freedom of religion.  All topics will provides a lecture, assignments, and additional resources.

Not Phony

The emoluments clause, whose role and even existence Donald Trump chose to question, is real.  It's Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8 of our Constitution.

The Founding Fathers, having just defeated the British Empire, were understandably adamant that neither nobility nor royalty should have nay place in the government or society of the United States.  That's one reason behind this first incarnation of an emoluments clause.

The second, less well known one is Article 2 Section 1 Clause 7 .  It reads in part that the President ... shall not receive within [his elected term] ... any Emolument from the United States  [other than his salary].