rmpmw
rmpmw
Raymond M. P. Marotta
336 posts
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rmpmw · 7 months ago
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rmpmw · 8 months ago
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Check out "Atomic Clock & Watch Accuracy"
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rmpmw · 8 months ago
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So This is Chrismukkah
Christmas and Hanukkah are coming. On the same date. This year, Judaism's eight-day Festival of Lights begins at sundown on Wednesday, Dec. 25, aka Christmas Day. It's a rarity — the first time that particular holiday convergence has occurred in almost two decades.
flipboard.com/@theculturedes…
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rmpmw · 9 months ago
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Princess of Wales releases plea for 'love, not hate' in Christmas letter ahead of carol service
Princess of Wales releases plea for 'love, not hate' in Christmas letter ahead of carol service
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rmpmw · 10 months ago
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rmpmw · 10 months ago
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A banishment room (also known as a chasing-out-room and a boredom room) is a modern employee exit management strategy whereby employees are transferred to another department where they are assigned meaningless work until they become disheartened and resign.
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rmpmw · 10 months ago
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rmpmw · 11 months ago
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rmpmw · 11 months ago
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rmpmw · 11 months ago
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rmpmw · 1 year ago
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 Welcome to the United Nations
Press releases Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Haiti: Türk says situation “untenable”, urges swift and decisive action
06 March 2024
Press releases
Haiti: UN report says gang violence spreading, urges speedy deployment of multinational security mission
Haiti: UN Human Rights Chief warns against ‘never-ending cycle of violence’
Statements
Comment by UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Haiti gang violence and rise in human rights abuses
GENEVA (6 March 2024) - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today urged the international community to act swiftly and decisively to prevent Haiti's further descent into chaos.
Last weekend’s mass prison breakout has been described by Haitian officials as a lethal threat to national security, Türk said. More than 4,500 inmates are now known to have escaped, among them prominent gang members as well as those arrested in connection with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The break followed coordinated gang action against national institutions with the stated aim of bringing down the Government.
“This situation is beyond untenable for the people of Haiti,” the Human Rights Chief said. “Since the beginning of the year, a staggering 1,193 people have been killed, and 692 others injured by gang violence.
“The health system is on the brink of collapse. Hospitals often do not have the capacity to treat those arriving with gunshots wounds. Schools and business are closed, and children are increasingly used by gangs. Economic activity is asphyxiated as gangs impose restrictions on people’s movements.  Haiti's biggest provider of drinking water has stopped deliveries. At least 313 000 people are currently internally displaced.”
Ahead of today’s Security Council meeting, Türk called once again for the urgent deployment, with no further delay, of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti (MSS), to support the National Police and bring security to the Haitian people, under conditions that comply with international human rights norms and standards.
“The reality is that, in the current context, there is no realistic alternative available to protect lives,” the High Commissioner said. “We are simply running out of time.”
For more information and media requests, please contact:
In Geneva
Ravina Shamdasani - +41 22 917 9169 / [email protected]
Liz Throssell - +41 22 917 9296 / [email protected]
In Nairobi
Seif Magango - +254 788 343 897 / [email protected]
Twitter @UNHumanRights
Facebook unitednationshumanrights
Instagram @unitednationshumanright
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rmpmw · 1 year ago
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Easter,[nb 1] also called Pascha[nb 2] (Aramaic, Greek, Latin) or Resurrection Sunday,[nb 3] is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD.[10][11] It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus Christ, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.
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rmpmw · 1 year ago
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Luke 23
Jesus Before Pilate
23 Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” 3 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” 5 But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”
Jesus Before Herod
6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 7 And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. 9 So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. 10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11 And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. 12 And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.
13 Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15 Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. 16 I will therefore punish and release him.”[a]
Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified
18 But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— 19 a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. 20 Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, 21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” 22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” 23 But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.
The Crucifixion
26 And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. 27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. 28 But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”[b] And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him,[c] “This is the King of the Jews.”
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him,[d] saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
The Death of Jesus
44 It was now about the sixth hour,[e] and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,[f] 45 while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. 47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” 48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. 49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.
Jesus Is Buried
50 Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. 54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.[g] 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
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rmpmw · 1 year ago
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What’s So Good about Good Friday?
Justin Holcomb
What is Good Friday, and why do we call the Friday of Holy Week “good”?
Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, is the Christian day to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus and His death at Calvary. This Christian holiday is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, and Black Friday.
For Christians, Good Friday is an important day of the year because it celebrates what we believe to be the most momentous weekend in the history of the world. Ever since Jesus died and was raised, Christians have proclaimed the cross and resurrection of Jesus to be the decisive turning point for all creation. Paul considered it “of first importance” that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised to life on the third day, following what God had promised in the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3).
"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
On Good Friday, we remember the day Jesus willingly suffered and died by crucifixion as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins (1 John 1:10). Easter follows it, the glorious celebration of the day Jesus was raised from the dead, heralding his victory over sin and death and pointing ahead to a future resurrection for all who are united to him by faith (Romans 6:5).
Why is it called 'Good' Friday?
Still, why call the day of Jesus’ death “Good Friday” instead of “Bad Friday” or something similar? Some Christian traditions take this approach: in German, for example, the day is called Karfreitag, or “Sorrowful Friday.” In English, the origin of the term “Good” is debated: some believe it developed from an older name, “God’s Friday.” Regardless of the origin, the name Good Friday is entirely appropriate because the suffering and death of Jesus, as terrible as it was, marked the dramatic culmination of God’s plan to save his people from their sins.
For the gospel's good news to have meaning for us, we first must understand the bad news of our condition as sinful people under condemnation. The good news of deliverance only makes sense once we see how we were enslaved. Another way of saying this is that it is essential to understand and distinguish between law and gospel in Scripture. We need the law first to show us how hopeless our condition is; then, the gospel of Jesus’ grace brings us relief and salvation.
In the same way, Good Friday is “good” because as terrible as that day was, it had to happen for us to receive the joy of Easter. The wrath of God against sin had to be poured out on Jesus, the perfect sacrificial substitute, for forgiveness and salvation to be poured out to the nations. Without that awful day of suffering, sorrow, and blood at the cross, God could not be both “just and the justifier” of those who trust in Jesus (Romans 3:26). Paradoxically, the day that seemed to be the greatest triumph of evil was actually the death blow in God’s gloriously good plan to redeem the world from bondage.
The cross is where we see the convergence of great suffering and God’s forgiveness. Psalms 85:10 sings of a day when “righteousness and peace” will “kiss each other.” The cross of Jesus is where that occurred, where God’s demands, his righteousness, coincided with his mercy. We receive divine forgiveness, mercy, and peace because Jesus willingly took our divine punishment, resulting from God’s righteousness against sin. “For the joy set before him” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus endured the cross on Good Friday, knowing it led to his resurrection, our salvation, and the beginning of God’s reign of righteousness and peace.
Good Friday marked the day when wrath and mercy met at the cross. That’s why Good Friday is so dark and so Good.
Get your FREE 8-Day Prayer and Scripture Guide - Praying Through the Holy Week HERE. Print your own copy for a beautiful daily devotional leading up to Easter.
When Is Good Friday?
In 2024, Good Friday will be on Friday, March 29th.
Good Friday is always the Friday right before Easter. As part of Holy Week, Good Friday is five days after the Christian holiday of Palm Sunday, which commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Read more about Good Friday's future dates and the Holy Week Timeline.
Good Friday in the Bible
Good Friday Prophecy: "But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
The events of Good Friday are recounted in all four Gospels of the New Testament. According to the Gospels, Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Last Supper with His disciples.  He was then put on trial before Pontius Pilate.
"Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people." (John 18:12-14)
He was then taken to trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin, where he was falsely accused of blasphemy. He was then sent to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, who sentenced Him to crucifixion at the demand of the chief Jewish priests.
"I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.” (John 18:20-21)
“What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising. (John 18:38-40)
The Crucifixion of Jesus:
As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there.
Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”
In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him. (Matthew 27:32-44)
From the Gospel of Luke:
Jesus was led to Calvary, where He was crucified between two thieves.
"Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with Him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on His right and one on His left" (Luke 23:33-34)
He hung on the cross for six hours, during which time He spoke seven last words. At about 3:00 pm, He gave up His spirit.
"It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last." (Luke 23:44-46)
The Death of Jesus
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lemasabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
At that moment, the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons. (Matthew 27:45-56)
Good Friday Fulfilled: "He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:24)
The True Meaning of Good Friday
For Christians, Good Friday is a day of mourning and reflection. It is a time to remember the great sacrifice that Jesus made for all of humanity. It is also a time to remember the power of God's love and the promise of eternal life.
Good Friday is also a day of hope and new beginnings. It is a reminder that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope. Jesus' death on the cross was not the end but rather the beginning of something new. Through his resurrection, Jesus conquered death and opened the way for eternal life for all who believe in him.
Bible Verses about Good Friday
Romans 5:6-10 - "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!"
1 Peter 2:24 - “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
Isaiah 53:3-5 - "He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."
John 3:16-17 - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."
Good Friday Observations
Here are some of the traditions Christians have observed on Good Friday when commemorating Jesus' death on the Cross.
Strict Fasting and Prayer
Many observe Good Friday as a day to fast and pray. The physical act of fasting is to abstain from food or activity to devote that time to prayer. Many Christians observe Good Friday as a day of fasting and prayer to focus on the suffering and sacrifice of the Lord but also as a day to refocus attention on the Father. Fasting and prayer remove distractions and open an opportunity to hear the heart of the Father. Fasting on Good Friday is a helpful way to unite one’s focus to Christ.
Church Services
Attending a church service is common on Good Friday. The Easter season begins with Lent six weeks prior with an Ash Wednesday service in many denominations and leads up to events during Easter week. Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, Good Friday the sacrifice and suffering of Christ, and Easter Sunday celebrates the fulfilled promise of Christ raising just as He promised. Many denominations have weekly services, including Good Friday, to ponder such a somber day.
Solemn Hymns
The singing of hymns or songs to the Lord is a way to worship Him through song. Some churches make specific observations between 12 noon and 3 pm, or the hours in which Christ was on the cross to worship the Lord in song. You can sing with the people you live with or even get on a video call with your small group or family and sing together.
Burial Shroud
This Good Friday practice is more common among the Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches. According to OrthoChristian.com, 
"The Holy Shroud is taken out of the altar on Friday afternoon during the Vespers of Great Saturday, at the third hour of Holy Friday—that is, the hour of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross (the service usually begins at about two o’clock in the afternoon). The Holy Shroud is carried out of the altar and placed into the tomb in the middle of the church. This is a raised platform adorned with flowers and perfumed as a symbol of our sorrow at the death of Christ. The Gospel is laid in the center of the Shroud. As the Shroud is carried out, the hymn “Noble Joseph" is sung:"
"The noble Joseph,
when he had taken down Thy most pure body from the Tree,
wrapped it in fine linen and anointed it with spices,
and placed it in a new tomb."
Prayer for Good Friday
Justin Holcomb is an Episcopal priest who teaches theology at Reformed and Knox Theological Seminary. Justin wrote On the Grace of God and co-authored with his wife Lindsey Rid of My Disgrace and Save Me from Violence. He is also the editor of Christian Theologies of Scripture. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, and JustinHolcomb.com.
 
Photo credit: ©Thinkstock/DesignPics
Learn more about the meaning and significance behind the Easter holiday and Holy Week celebrations:
What is Lent? and When Does Lent Start?
What is Ash Wednesday? and When is Ash Wednesday?
What is Palm Sunday?
What is Maundy Thursday?
What is Good Friday? and When is Good Friday?
What is Holy Saturday?
What is Easter? and When is Easter Sunday?
Easter Bible Verses
The Resurrection of Jesus 
Easter Prayers
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rmpmw · 1 year ago
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Posted in: Constitutional Law
The U.S. Constitution authorizes the House of Representatives to impeach and the Senate to remove the President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States upon proof of “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Historians and legal scholars have long understood that a literal crime as defined by statute is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for impeachment. Rather, we understand that the language just quoted (which appears in Article I, Section 4) captures serious abuses of official power whether or not they are violations of the criminal code.
To be sure, a great many official acts that provide grounds for impeachment also provide grounds for criminal prosecution. And the language of Article I, Section 4 sounds like it invokes the criminal law. As a result, opportunistic lawyers and politicians sometimes rely on the overlap in substance and content between impeachment and criminal prosecution in an effort to sow confusion.
For example, during Donald Trump’s first impeachment (for attempting to coerce Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to make false pronouncements about Joe and Hunter Biden by withholding congressionally appropriated military aid) his lawyers argued that the articles of impeachment were invalid because they charged “abuse of power,” which is not a crime, and “obstruction of Congress,” which could be a crime but was not detailed in the House charging document in a way that makes it one.
Those defenses should have failed as a matter of law, but as we know, Trump was acquitted in the Senate because impeachment is not simply a legal proceeding but also a political one. With the exception of Utah’s Mitt Romney, all of the Republican Senators voted to acquit Trump.
Trump fared worse during his second impeachment (for incitement of the January 6 insurrection), this time losing seven Republican Senators. But with Republicans who hoped to have a future in their party still making excuses, the final vote once again fell short of the two-thirds threshold for Senate conviction.
As in 2020 and 2021, Trump and many Republicans are once again seeking to exploit and sow confusion about the nature of impeachment, now in three settings: Trump’s assertion of immunity to prosecution; the House impeachment investigation of President Joe Biden; and the House impeachment investigation of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Although the core problems with the Trump/Republican position in each of these contexts differ from one another, there is a consistent if cynical throughline: Republicans win and Democrats lose.
The Trump Immunity Claim
In an essay on my blog and a column on this site last month, I critiqued Trump’s claim for near-absolute immunity for past Presidents for any actions that fall within the outer perimeter of their official conduct as not just weak but idiotic. Here I will focus on the one exception Trump allows: his lawyers argued last week before a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that a former President can be prosecuted but only if he is first impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate. As Austin Sarat observed in his column on this site last week, that claim contradicts what Trump’s lawyers told the Senate during his second impeachment trial in 2021 as well as the plain logic of the Constitution’s Article I, Section 3, Clause 7.
To see why the Trump claim is manifestly illogical, consider the constitutional language, to which I have added the letters A and B for clarity:
[A] Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: [B] but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
It is clear that sub-clause B does not state a prerequisite for indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment. Rather, it makes clear that while conviction by the Senate on impeachment charges does not carry those consequences, they can be pursued separately.
Even if Trump loses his immunity claim—as he likely will—he can win by losing simply by delaying. After losing before a panel of the D.C. Circuit, he can seek en banc review of the full court, and then, should that fail, review in the Supreme Court, which recently declined to avoid these delays when it rejected Special Counsel Jack Smith’s petition to bypass the appeals court. With additional weeks or months of delay before the courts resolve Trump’s frivolous immunity claim—indeed, even without much more delay—the trial will occur in the midst of the presidential election campaign.
In the eyes of Trump’s supporters and low-information voters, that timing will bolster Trump’s claim that the criminal indictments against him are politically motivated—and perfectly invert the relation between impeachment and the criminal justice system. Impeachment trials necessarily have a political element, but Trump wants the courts to treat the outcome of his impeachment trial as setting a wholly legal precedent. Meanwhile, he wants the public to believe his false charge that the same Justice Department that is aggressively (and appropriately) pursuing criminal charges against New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez is politically persecuting him.
The Biden and Mayorkas Impeachments
Hold on. I just acknowledged that impeachment necessarily has a political element. How then can I complain about the politically motivated investigations of President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas?
There is no contradiction. Impeachment is a partly political process, but politics is supposed to play only a secondary role in it—coming in only after the threshold of high crimes and misdemeanors has been met. The impeachment of Bill Clinton is a useful example.
Clinton was impeached for lying under oath and obstruction of justice, with both charges arising out of an investigation into his sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. It is reasonable to conclude that perjury and obstruction are impeachable offenses—regardless of the reason why one engages in them—but also that people who conduct adulterous affairs will inevitably commit further dishonest acts to cover them up and that therefore Clinton’s continued service in office did not pose a serious threat of abuse of office. And indeed, some of the Democratic Senators who voted to acquit Clinton said something like that. Or they said that perjury and obstruction, while generally impeachable, are not impeachable when committed to cover up an adulterous affair.
To be sure, the nearly party-line votes during the Clinton impeachment can be read to suggest that these were post hoc rationalizations. Even so, however, nobody could seriously argue that what Clinton did was not impeachable but that he should nonetheless be impeached, convicted, and removed from office. In other words, politics comes into impeachment proceedings only to avoid impeaching and/or removing an otherwise impeachable and removable officer. Finding an impeachable offense—which depends on the law and facts, not just politics—is a necessary condition for impeachment.
The proceedings against Biden and Mayorkas violate that bedrock principle. Despite years of digging, House Republicans have not found any concrete evidence tying Joe Biden to corrupt dealings with foreign governments by his son Hunter Biden. In various books of the Bible, God announces that the sins of the father will be visited on the sons, but the Constitution (in Article III, Section 3) denies Congress the power to “work Corruption of Blood.” When the Constitution allows impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors, it quite obviously means for high crimes and misdemeanors by the government official being impeached, not a family member.
The impeachment investigation of Secretary Mayorkas is, if anything, even worse. At least House Republicans claim that they are looking for evidence that President Biden participated in corrupt acts along with his son. By contrast, Republicans are investigating Mayorkas because they dislike and disagree with how he is carrying out his official responsibilities. However, as an open letter by 25 constitutional law scholars (including me) observes: “When the Framers designed the Constitution’s impeachment provisions, they made a conscious choice not to allow impeachment for mere ‘maladministration’—in other words, for incompetence, poor judgment, or bad policy.” Yet maladministration is exactly the charge against Mayorkas.
Or rather, that is the real charge. Some Republican House members have said they would like to impeach Mayorkas for failing to enforce the nation’s immigration laws. But of course, no administration enforces all of the laws to the maximum extent possible. Mayorkas, like every executive official in the history of the Republic, is exercising prosecutorial discretion.
Disagreement with the exercise of that discretion can be a ground for hearings, for new legislation, and for funding decisions. Absent evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors, it is not grounds for impeachment.
Posted in: Constitutional Law, Politics
Tags: Donald Trump, impeachment, Joseph Biden, Republicans
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rmpmw · 1 year ago
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Homelessness as Psychological Trauma
Broadening Perspectives
Lisa Goodman
Leonard Saxe
Mary Harvey
Boston U
d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/54904998/Homel…
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rmpmw · 2 years ago
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