About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

85 Nw. U. L. Rev. 903 (1990-1991)
Impeachment Clause: A Wild Card in the Constitution

handle is hein.journals/illlr85 and id is 921 raw text is: Copyright 1991 by William H. Rehnquist Printed in U.S.A. Vol. 85, No. 4 HOWARD J. TRIENENS VISITING SCHOLAR PROGRAM THE IMPEACHMENT CLAUSE: A WILD CARD IN THE CONSTITUTION* William H. Rehnquist** We are living in an era of the bicentennial of the United States Con- stitution. Nineteen eighty-seven was the bicentennial of the framing of the Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787, and next year-1991-will be the bicentennial of the ratification of the Bill of Rights. This is a good time to reflect, not just on individual court decisions construing the Con- stitution, but on some of its broader implications. If one were to select the two major contributions to the art of gov- ernment made by the Founding Fathers in Philadelphia in 1878, I think one would have to select: first, the separation of the executive from the legislative power, and second, the creation of the independent judiciary with the power of judicial review. Article II of the Constitution estab- lishes the President as the Chief Executive in his own right, without any dependency on Congress such as that of a Prime Minister in a parliamen- tary system. That article confers upon the President powers which Con- gress cannot take away. Article III confers upon the judiciary tenure during good behavior, and contains a prohibition against diminution of compensation. Though the power of judicial review-the authority to declare legislative acts un- constitutional-is only implied in the Constitution, it was established early in our constitutional history by the decision of the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison.1 Both of these principles are alive and well today, and we tend to assume that it could not have turned out any other way in the course of our two hundred years of constitutional history. But that assumption is wrong. The impeachment power conferred on Congress by the Constitu- * Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered this address at the Northwestern University School of Law on September 27, 1990 during the First Annual Howard J. Trienens Visiting Scholar Program. The Program is designed to enable the School of Law to invite a leading jurist to be in residence at the School, providing students and faculty with a perspective on the judicial process and contemporary legal issues. ** Chief Justice of the United States. 1 5 U.S. (I Cranch) 137 (1803).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most