(Reviewed by JD Jung)
May I speak to our America readers for a moment? We’ve been hearing the term “impeachment” and “impeachable offenses” quite a bit lately. Do you think that you can speak on the subject with a fair degree of knowledge?
I learned a lot about the legal principles and impeachment processes by reading A Citizen’s Guide to Impeachment by attorney Barbara A. Radnofsy .
This fascinating guide explains the intent of our founding fathers, including a thoroughly researched history. The author then details the specific cases chronologically—which mostly involved federal judges—and what we learned from them.
The Constitution states what the duty of the President is and what constitutes the violation of this duty as well as “other high Crimes and Misdemeanors” which our founding fathers took from British law. What I found particularly interesting was that this violation need not be a criminal act.
Radnofsy includes all of her references and notes, but the actual study is well under one hundred pages. It is non-partisan, as I don’t think that Trump is mentioned even once.
That said, our democracy is under its greatest attack in my lifetime. Since impeachment and removal from office is at the sole discretion of Congress, the power that we as citizens hold is at the ballot box.
No matter what your political views are, I highly recommend A Citizen’s Guide to Impeachment to all of those interested in American history and who care about the future of our country and, in fact, the world.
