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17 J. Pub. L. 103 (1968)
A Commentary on the Constitutional Issues in the Powell and Related Cases

handle is hein.journals/emlj17 and id is 105 raw text is: A COMMENTARY ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES IN THE POWELL AND RELATED CASES P. Allan Dionisopoulos*t IN REFUSING TO SEAT Adam Clayton Powell in 1967 a substantial por- tion of the House of Representatives felt that authority for such action is found both in provisions of the Constitution and in precedents. Apparently it was for the purpose of convincing the academic community that this action was sanctioned by the Constitution and by precedents that Minority Leader Ford circulated reprints of two of his House speeches to members of the American Political Science Association in the spring of 1967.1 But these claims of Ford and others do not tell the whole story. They do not reveal, for example, how many Congressmen adhere to a contrary position on the constitutional question, nor do they reflect the disagreement which has generally attended an incident of the House or Senate denying membership to a Congressman-elect. There do appear to be enough precedents, just from the 20th century, to support the House in the Powell case. Thus, those who wanted to exclude Powell could cite Brigham Roberts, Reed Smoot, Victor Berger, William Langer and Theodore Bilbo as Congressmen whose conduct was judged by the House or Senate. And even though exclusionary efforts did not succeed in all instances (Smoot and Langer), -the very act of accepting jurisdiction and the debates in those two cases indicate that most Members of the Senate believed that they had jurisdiction over such matters and authority to deny membership to each man.2 On the other hand, and despite these precedents and the certainty with which congressional leaders claim constitutional authority, there is a con- - Professor of Political Science, Northern Illinois University. t Financial support for this study was made possible by a grant from the Council of Deans, Northern Illinois University. 1 A reprint, We defend the People's House, contained two of Representative Ford's speeches, March 1 and March 9, 1967, and which originally appeared for those dates in 113 CONG. REc. H. 1940 & H. 2399 (daily ed. Mar. 1 & 9, 1967). 2 The Smoot case lasted for several years and was finally disposed of, when the Senate voted down a resolution declaring him not entitled to membership. 41 CoNG. REc. 3428 (1907). The question about William Langer's eligibility was raised when he presented his credentials on January 3, 1941, 87 CONG. REc. 3 (1941), and was finally disposed of in March 1942. 88 CONG. Rnc. 2402 (1942).

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