GENERAL PROVISIONS
IS THE RIGHT OF IMPEACHMENT OF ANY PUBLIC OFFICIAL AN INHERENT
LEGISLATIVE POWER OR DO THE VARIOUS OFFICIALS SUBJECT TO
IMPEACHMENT NEED TO BE ENUMERATED IN THE CONSTITUTION?
HISTORY
The institution of impeachment is
deeply rooted in the past and is de-
scribed as an extraordinary remedy born
of the parliamentary usage of England.
The House of Commons has the power
of impeachment and the House of Lords
conducts the trial.
"Principles which govern impeach-
ment in the United States have long
been clouded in an atmosphere of
mystery. This unsettled condition of
the law has been due to a paucity of
precedent resulting from the infre-
quency with which the remedy has
been invoked, and to the anomalous
scheme of trial whereby the Senate
pronounces its findings of fact and
conclusions of law through the same
vote, thus making it impossible pre-
cisely to determine the moving con-
siderations in the judgment of any
given issue."2
In the Federalist Papers Alexander
Hamilton speaks of the difficulties en-
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countered in preparing an impeachment
provision for the United States Consti-
tution and the objections that were
raised against the final provision. He
states the problem as it was and as it is
today, thusly :
"A well-constituted court for the
trial of impeachments is an object not
more to be desired than difficult to be
obtained in a government wholly elec-
tive. The subjects of its jurisdiction
are those offences which proceed from
the misconduct of public men, or, in
other words, from the abuse or viola-
tion of some public trust. They are of
a nature which may with peculiar
propriety be denominated POLITI-
CAL, as they relate chiefly to injuries
done immediately to the society itself.
. . . There will always be the greatest
danger that the decision will be
regulated more by the comparative
strength of parties, than by the
real demonstrations of innocence or
guilt."3
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IMPEACHMENT PROVISIONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND MARYLAND
CONSTITUTIONS
In the United States Constitution the
following provisions deal with impeach-
ment:
"The House of Representatives . . .
shall have the sole power of impeach-
ment."4
1 This article was prepared for the Commis-
sion by Mrs. Maurice P. Freedlander, a mem-
ber of the Maryland Constitutional Convention
Commission; B.A., 1936, University of Pitts-
burgh; M.A., 1962, The Johns Hopkins
University.
328
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"The Senate shall have sole power
to try all impeachments. . . . And no
person shall be convicted without the
concurrence of two-thirds of the mem-
bers present. . . . Judgment in cases
of impeachment shall not extend fur-
ther than to removal from office, and
disqualification to hold and enjoy any
office of honor, trust or profit under
2 26 harv. L. rev. 684 (1912-13).
3 the federalist No. 65 (Hamilton).
4 U.S. const, art. I, §2.
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