IMPEACHMENT PROVISIONS OF STATE CONSTITUTIONS
the United States; but the party con-
victed shall nevertheless be liable and
subject to indictment, trial, judgment
and punishment, according to law."5
"... and he (the President) shall
have the power to grant reprieves and
pardons for offenses against the
United States, except in cases of
impeachment."6
"The President, Vice President and
all civil officers of United States shall
be removed ffbm office on impeach-
ment for, and conviction of, treason,
bribery, or other high crimes and
misdemeanors."7
The Maryland Constitution contains
the following provisions :
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"The House of Delegates shall have
the sole power of impeachment in all
cases; but a majority of all the mem-
bers must concur in the impeachment.
All impeachments shall be tried by
the Senate, and when sitting for that
purpose, the Senators shall be on oath,
or affirmation, to do justice according
to the law and evidence; but no
person shall be convicted without
the concurrence of all the senators
elected."8
"Any judge shall be removed from
office by the Governor, on conviction
in a Court of Law, of incompetency,
of wilful neglect of duty, misbehavior
in office, or any other crime, or on
impeachment, according to this Con-
stitution or the laws of the State. . . ."9
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NATIONAL PATTERN
The governor, as well as other major
state officials, may be removed by im-
peachment and conviction in every state
except Oregon. As at the federal level,
this procedure is rarely used; only thir-
teen governors have been impeached
and of these only six were convicted and
removed from office. The most recent
impeachments of governors include the
impeachment of Governor Sulzer of
New York in 1913, Governor Ferguson
of Texas in 1917, Governor Walton and
Governor Johnson of Oklahoma in 1923
and 1929, all of whom were convicted.
Governor Huey Long of Louisiana was
impeached in 1929, but the trial was
never completed. Governor Moodie of
North Dakota was impeached in 1935,
but was never tried.
In Nebraska an impeachment is voted
by the unicameral legislature, but is
5 U.S. const, art. I, §3.
6 U.S. const, art. II, §2.
7 U.S. const, art. II, §4.
8 md. const, art III, §26.
9 md. const, art. IV, §4.
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tried by the Supreme Court ; or if a
judge of the Supreme Court is involved,
he is tried by all the district judges of
the State. In Missouri the trial is also
conducted by the Supreme Court.
In twenty-nine states, judges may be
removed by the joint address of the leg-
islature, or joint resolution. In Alaska,
Delaware, Indiana, Rhode Island, South
Carolina, Utah and Vermont a two-
thirds vote of all members of the legis-
lature is required to impeach.
Literature on impeachment proceed-
ings in Congress indicates a lack of in-
terest on the part of the members,
except during roll-calls. The congress-
men and senators consider it an infringe-
ment on their time, that their presence
is required more on legislative matters
than on such proceedings. The political
aspects are not to be overlooked. The
consensus seems to be that it is more
advisable to allow tenure to be deter-
mined by expiration of terms. Both on
the state and federal levels the threat of
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