Honduras Infuriates Obama Administration

[Polk]

If you can't arrest the guy how do you impeach him? What are you supposed to do wait until after he carries out his own coup? Which is precisely what he was trying to do by the way.

Impeachment is a political process, not a legal one. Also, noting there were able to get the military to forcibly remove him from office, a coup isn't a real threat.

 

[garyd]

Because the military removed him from office it wasn't a threat but according to you the military wasn't supposed to do that.

Oh and impeachment is very much a legal process. Every bit as much as a constitution is a legal document.

 

[Polk]

Because the military removed him from office it wasn't a threat but according to you the military wasn't supposed to do that.

Oh and impeachment is very much a legal process. Every bit as much as a constitution is a legal document.

Does impeachment result in imprisonment? No. It's a political sanction, not a legal one.

 

[garyd]

Uh you misunderstand the nature of an impeachment. An Impeachment is akin to a grand jury indictment in this country. Bill Clinton was impeached aka indicted him. The Senate however refused almost entirely for political reasons to be sure refused to convict him. Had he been convicted of lying under oath (ie perjury) He could well have been tried in a regular court and sent to jail.

 

[Polk]

Uh you misunderstand the nature of an impeachment. An Impeachment is akin to a grand jury indictment in this country. Bill Clinton was impeached aka indicted him. The Senate however refused almost entirely for political reasons to be sure refused to convict him. Had he been convicted of lying under oath (ie perjury) He could well have been tried in a regular court and sent to jail.

You undermine your own point. If the impeachment process (both the indictment and trial stage) were legal processes, the need for a second trial wouldn't exist. In fact, a second trial would be unconstitutional. The result of impeachment proceedings is removal from office, a political sanction.

 

[xotoxi]

Uh you misunderstand the nature of an impeachment. An Impeachment is akin to a grand jury indictment in this country. Bill Clinton was impeached aka indicted him. The Senate however refused almost entirely for political reasons to be sure refused to convict him. Had he been convicted of lying under oath (ie perjury) He could well have been tried in a regular court and sent to jail.

You undermine your own point. If the impeachment process (both the indictment and trial stage) were legal processes, the need for a second trial wouldn't exist. In fact, a second trial would be unconstitutional. The result of impeachment proceedings is removal from office, a political sanction.

This can be seen with Blagojevich. His punishment has been handed down. End of story.

 

[xotoxi]

Uh you misunderstand the nature of an impeachment. An Impeachment is akin to a grand jury indictment in this country. Bill Clinton was impeached aka indicted him. The Senate however refused almost entirely for political reasons to be sure refused to convict him. Had he been convicted of lying under oath (ie perjury) He could well have been tried in a regular court and sent to jail.

You undermine your own point. If the impeachment process (both the indictment and trial stage) were legal processes, the need for a second trial wouldn't exist. In fact, a second trial would be unconstitutional. The result of impeachment proceedings is removal from office, a political sanction.

But what would happen in the case of murder.

 

[garyd]

No an impeachment isn't a trial any more than a grand jury investigation is a trial. The purpose of an impeachment like the purpose of a grand jury investigation is to determine if their is sufficient evidence to warrant a trial.

 

[veritas]

The impeachment is the trial. The vote is the conviction. The conviction after impeachment only serves to remove one from office.

 

[garyd]

Nonsense. That's why the an impeachment proceeding is done in the house and the trial portion is done in the senate. Grand jury's don't convict anyone of anything neither do impeachments.

 

[veritas]

Nonsense. That's why the an impeachment proceeding is done in the house and the trial portion is done in the senate. Grand jury's don't convict anyone of anything neither do impeachments.

er no, Gary, you are wrong.........not surprising, though

 

[Care4all]

the house is the gathering of evidence and 'charges filed' (vote to go to trial), the Senate is the trial, with each senator as a juror, with our supreme court chief justice sitting as the judge over the trial. The president has his own lawyer to defend himself, and then special prosecutor presents case against him.

IF the majority of the senators vote to convict the president on the impeachment charges, then the president is removed from office. After the president is removed from office for his impeachment conviction by the senate, he can be charged with any of those crimes in the public sector, and have to go through a trial again, and if convicted in a normal court system where he has many more protections and guarantees, he can be sent to jail.