#this post is under investigation for treason | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

merlinswritings · 2 years

Text

Criminal Attorney

@neowritings on IG {no reposts}

Hi, welcome (back) to my page! I felt like I want to have a crime theme in the future, with only crime-related posts! However, I am very impatient so here you have the first post!

Disclaimer: These are primarily based on the American justice system and random countries that give me the needed information! Please correct me (kindly) if I'm wrong or should add some things.

Trigger warning: crimes, anything related to crime and law

What is an attorney?

The word kind of has two meanings of the same.

An agent or someone authorized to act for another

A person who has been qualified by a state or Federal Court to provide legal services, including appearing in court.

While countries such as the US tend to classify all practitioners of law under the title of attorney, some countries have developed a tradition of creating titles that help to identify the era of expertise.

The type of legal services provided by an attorney varies, as many attorneys choose to focus their practice on a particular portion of the law

Ex: An attorney may choose to focus on criminal law, while another chooses to build a practice around family law.

The reason there are specializations of degrees is that it helps make it easier for clients to find the right lawyer who has the right knowledge that will prove helpful with a given set of circumstances.

What is criminal law?

Criminal law is a part of law that concerns crimes that are committed against the public authority. It's not the same as civil law, which involves crimes people commit against each other, not necessarily against the whole public.

Ex 1: Civil crimes are like suing your partner for cheating on you and wanting full custody of your child. Or suing a company for not giving the promised things. Ex 2: Criminal law is murder or robbery. It goes against the law. And although there is a specific victim, murder in general runs against the interest of the public.

Three broad types of crimes appear in the criminal code:

Misdemeanors: A crime less serious than a felony - petty, theft, prostitution, intoxication, simple assault, etc.

Felonies: A crime of high seriousness - murder, animal cruelty, tax invasion, robbery, battery, etc.

Treason: The crime of attacking a state of authority to which one owes allegiance - participating in a war against one's native country, (attempting) to overthrow the government, etc

Defense Attorney vs Prosecutor

What is a defense attorney?

A defense attorney is a lawyer who defends a person or business against criminal charges. There are two primary types of these professionals: civil defense attorneys and criminal defense attorneys. Civil defense attorneys represent clients who face fines due to non-criminal lawsuits. Criminal defense attorneys work for clients who may serve jail time if convicted.

What is a prosecutor?

A prosecutor is a lawyer and elected official that represents an individual or an entire body of citizens of jurisdiction when they press legal charges against a person or corporation. Prosecutors are responsible for charging the accused with specific crimes and presenting evidence for members of a jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused party is guilty. These professionals are public officers, meaning they represent the district attorney's office, an elected official responsible for criminal prosecutors within a jurisdiction who the government funds with public money.

Then what is the difference?

The difference is that the prosecutor is on the side of the government and the law. Their clients (often cops) have a case against the said-to-be guilty and try to convince the jury that they deserve a specific punishment (usually jail).

A defense attorney has to convince the jury that their client is in fact not guilty, even when they are they still have to make sure there will not be, or as minimal as possible, a punishment.

Criminal defense lawyer

what do they do? (duties)

Investigate the case and interview witnesses

Research case law, statutes, crime codes, and procedural law

Build a defense and develop a case stragety

Negotiate with the prosecution to plea a bargain to lesser charges

Draft, file, and argue motions such as motions to dismiss and motions to surpress

Advocate for the defendant at trual

Draft, file and argue appeals

Do they help the bad guys?

Defense lawyers get hired, they can choose not to do so but will miss out on lawyers. It can so happen they have to prove someone is not guilty, even if they are, and they might win. They also help innocent people from being put with the blame.

Education, Training, Certification:

Education: Like all lawyers, criminal lawyers will first need to complete a bachelor's degree, then get a law degree. Those two degrees typically take a total of 7 years to complete.

License: Criminal Attorneys must pass the bar examination in the state whoch they intend to practice.

Certification: Criminal lawyers earn a board certification from the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification (NBLSC). The NBLSC is a non-profit organization accredited by the American Bar Association to provide board certification for attorneys and is an outgrowth of the National Board of Trial Advocacy.

Skills needed:

Writing and speaking skills: Excellent oral and written advocacy skills in order to argue a client's case and pursuade the jury.

Research and investigative skills: Are important in building a client's case and establishing a strong defense.

Creative and analytical skills: Strong creative thinking and analytical skills to develop a legal strategy, analyze case law and litigate complex cases.

Legal knowledge and experience: In-depth understanding of state, federal, and local rules, court procedures, evidentiary laws, and local judges to navigate the criminal justice system efficiently and competently.

Interpersonal skills: Excellent interpersonal skills are necessary to build a strong client-attorney relationship. Criminal defendants are a finicky group who somethimes go through many lawyers before setting on one they like. Therefore, the ability to attract and retain clients is essential to thriving criminal defense practice.

Fun facts:

salary:

Criminal lawyers employed in law firms generally ern the highest salaries; experienced criminal attorneys can earn well into six figures. The highest-paid criminal lawyers are often those that represent high-profile, wealthy defendants in high-stakes cases.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the salary range for all attorneys, including criminal attorneys, is as follows:

Median Anual Salary: $120,910 ($58.13 /hour) Top 10% Anual Salary: More than $208,000 ($100 /hour) Bottom 10% Anual Salary: Less than $58,220($27.99 /hour) Public Defender and Non-Profit Salaries are usually modest (the $30,000 - $50,000 range is common).

Costs: Costs of legal representation depend on the bureau they work for, or if they are freenlancers. It can even depend on how many cases they have won. Some go by the hour (expect above the $150,- an hour.) and some by a fixed or set fee (will depend on the outcome mostly). Note that you will make a lot of hours with them.

#writingcommunity #writers of tumblr #writers #writer #writblr #writing #writings #writersofinstagram #writersociety #writing tips #writers tips #writergram

11 notes · View notes

mariacallous · 1 year

Text

The Kyiv Independent Ukraine Daily: Wednesday, January 11

Russia claims control over central Soledar, Ukraine reports heavy fighting ongoing.The claim was made by Denis Pushilin, head of Russian proxies in Donetsk Oblast, live on Russia's Channel One, as reported by state media agency TASS.

ISW: Russian forces have not captured all of Donetsk Oblast's Soledar despite several false Russian claims that the city has fallen. Several Russian sources claimed that Wagner Group forces advanced into the west of Soledar on Jan. 10, pointing out a rare victory after facing a series of humiliating defeats across the front line. However, Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin refuted these claims, remarking that Wagner Group forces are still fighting against concerted Ukrainian resistance, the Institute for the Study of War said in their latest update.

General Staff reports striking 5 Russian personnel concentrations in past 24 hours. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Ukraine's military destroyed two Russian control points, two positions of missile forces and artillery, as well as five concentrations of Russian troops over the past 24 hours.

Almost 1,500 Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant employees not allowed to enter facility. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Jan. 11 that Russian occupation forces exert "moral and physical pressure" on the population of the occupied territories. Nearly 1,500 employees of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, who refused to receive Russian passports and sign an agreement with Rosatom, are denied passes and access to the facilty.

General Staff: Russia opens 3 new military hospitals in occupied Berdiansk as casualties mount. As a result of increasingly heavy Russian battlefield casualties, hospitals in occupied Berdiansk in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast “are full of wounded Russian soldiers,” the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in its regular evening update on Jan. 10.

Kuleba confident Germany will supply Ukraine with Leopard tanks after 3-hour meeting with Baerbock. “I think that the German government, somewhere deep down, understands that this decision will be made, and the tanks will be transferred to Ukraine. The only upsetting thing is that this decision has not been made yet, and we are losing precious time and lives because of this,” the foreign minister said.

Russian state-controlled media: Russia appoints Lapin as new ground forces chief. Russia has appointed Colonel-General Aleksandr Lapin as the new chief of staff of its ground forces, Reuters reported, citing Russian state-controlled media TASS.

Security Service has uncovered 600 Russian agents, spies in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Since Feb. 24, over 1,500 investigations into suspected treason and espionage have been opened, and more than 340 of such cases have been sent to court.

Police: Over 2,300 collaboration cases have been opened since Feb. 24. Mariana Reva, a spokeswoman of the National Police of Ukraine, said they have opened 2,300 criminal proceedings related to charges of collaboration. "Collaboration cases are ranging from supporting the enemy in social networks, justifying aggression, and ending with holding positions under the occupation authorities," Reva said on air on Jan. 11.

Bloomberg: Russia’s crude oil trades at half global prices, below cap. Russia’s flagship crude oil, Urals, has sold at less than half of international prices and below the G7-imposed price cap amid Western sanctions, impacting its ability to wage its full-scale war against Ukraine, reported Bloomberg on Jan. 9.

New York Times: Russia reports $47 billion budget deficit for 2022. On Jan. 10, the Russian government reported its second highest budget deficit in the post-Soviet era. The New York Times reported citing Russia's finance minister that the budget gap reached 3.3 trillion rubles in 2022, or 2.3 percent of the Russian economy.

Inflation rate in Ukraine over 2022 lower than expected at 26.6%. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion, consumer price inflation in Ukraine was measured at 26.6% over 2022, an overall less than was initially forecasted, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine reported on Jan. 10.

The human cost of Russia’s war

Governor: Russian attacks on Kharkiv Oblast kill 2 people, injure 7. Over the past day, Russian attacks on the Kupianskyi, Chuhuivskyi, and Kharkivskyi districts in Kharkiv Oblast killed two people and injured seven, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on Jan. 10.

Governor: Russian attacks on Donetsk Oblast injure 6 civilians. Russian attacks on Donetsk Oblast injured six civilians on Jan. 9, according to Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

Governor: Russian attacks on Kherson Oblast kill 2 people, injure 2. On Jan. 9, Russian forces shelled Kherson Oblast 46 times with artillery, MLRS, mortars, and tanks, killing two people and injuring two, reported Kherson Oblast Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych.

International response

Mayor: Latvia sends 10 buses to Kyiv. Latvia has sent ten buses from Riga to Kyiv, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported on Jan. 10. The buses will contain some humanitarian aid for Ukraine “collected by the residents of Latvia,” Klitschko added.

Latvia to send more Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine. Latvian Defense Minister Inara Murniece said her country could announce it during the upcoming Ramstein summit on Jan. 20, Latvian Public Media reported on Jan. 10.

Canada to buy NASAMS air defense system for Ukraine. "Canada's NASAMS donation will help Ukraine strengthen its air defense systems against destructive air attacks on military sites, critical civilian infrastructure, and population centers," the country's Department of National Defence said.

CNN: Ukrainians to start training on Patriot missile system in US next week. The training is expected to take "several months," according to the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia Laura Cooper.

CNN: Italy must fix ‘technical issues’ before providing Ukraine with air defense systems. According to CNN, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said his country must resolve some “technical issues” before sending air defense systems to Ukraine. Tajani said that the Italian government was not “slowing down its aid to Ukraine,” without specifying the technical issues with the air defense systems, CNN reports.

German Foreign Minister pays surprise visit to Kharkiv. "This city symbolizes the absolute madness of Russia's aggressive war in Ukraine. It is important for me that we do not lose sight of Ukraine's place in our European family, even in this winter of the war," Annalena Baerbock said during the visit alongside Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

In other news

Media: Ukrainian billionaire Zhevago released in France on 1 million euro bail. According to the report, Zhevago has posted bail and currently stays in the Courchevel ski resort, where he was detained at the request of the State Investigation Bureau of Ukraine on Dec. 27. He can't leave France.

3 notes · View notes

packedwithpackards · 2 years

Text

"Sister of the Packard men": The unusual story of Alaska Packard Davidson

Portrait picture of Alaska, presumably in 1922, via Wikimedia, which posted this public domain image

Recently, in going through some documents made searchable and digitized by the Library of Congress, I came across one Alaska Packard Davidson, who is described on her Wikipedia page as "an American law enforcement officer who is best known for being the first female special agent in the FBI." At age 54, she joined the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) in October 11, 1922 as a special investigator, with a starting salary of $7 a day, which went up to $11 a day when traveling, first working at the New York office (where she went for training), then at the Washington office. [1]

Although the BOI, the FBI's precursor, wanted to hire women for cases related to combating intersex sex trafficking, she was considered "refined" so she wasn't put on such cases, meaning the BOI considered her of "limited use" in prosecuting such crimes, partially due to her limited schooling. [2] Instead, she was involved in a case against an agent who sold classified DOJ information to criminals, for example. [3] After the resignation of her former boss, William J. Burns, who was caught up in the Teapot Dome Scandal, she was forced out by J. Edgar Hoover, who had become the Bureau's acting director in 1924. He asked her to resign after the special agent leading the Washington field office, E.R. Bohner, said he had "no particular work for a woman agent."

She resigned on June 10 of the same year, even though there was no indication her work was unsatisificatory. Before that point, she still was able to transmit information to the BOI on the Fourth International Congress of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), a women's peace activist group, in May 1924, under the name of A.P. Davidson, informing the agency, including Hoover, about their activities, because they claimed that Jane Addams was committing "treason" (a lie). [4] Following her, and with the resignation of other agents in the 1920s (Jessie B. Duckstein and Lenore Houston), the BOI, then FBI, had no female agents for 43 years, between 1929 and 1972! There is more to her life than her brief stint in the BOI, crossing some ethical boundaries by spying on WILPF by telling the BOI about its activities. Despite this, the agency still celebrates (also see here) her, despite the problematic history, as I just described, and role of Hoover in her ouster from the BOI.

Here's what we do know. Alaska "Al", likely named after the then-territory of the same name, was born in Ohio, on March 1, 1868, to Warren Packard and Mary Elizabeth, with her two brothers, James Ward and William Doud, who both founded the Packard auto company. She was first listed in the 1870 census as a 2-year-old girl, with James and William in the house, as was her 1-year-old sister Carlotta, and the household headed by Warren, a hardware merchant, and his wife, Mary. [5] In 1880, she was living with her parents, siblings (William, James, and Carlotta) in Chautauqua, New York. She had another sister, named Cornelia Olive, as well.

Via "Ohio Marriages, 1800-1958", database, FamilySearch, 25 March 2020, Alaska Packard in entry for Ephraim B. McCrum, 1893, Marriage Record Vol. 10: 1890-1895, Trumbell County, Ohio page 348, image number 214 of 638. This was also confirmed by a 1897 newspaper clipping which called her "Mrs. E. B. McCrum."

Al had been in public school for three years and did not have a college, or university education. Cindee Mines notes on the Trumbell County Historical Society (TCHS) website that she grew up as the daughter of a wealthy territory, living in a huge mansion "on High Street at Mahoning Avenue in the mid 1870’s," and that while there is no evidence she had any higher education, she was a "well-known equestrian, winning awards at county fairs in her teenage years," even put in charge of the "New York and Ohio plant" for Packard Electric in 1890. Beyond that, she married two times. In 1893, she married a man named Ephraim Banks McCrum Jr., a close friend of her father, in Trumbell County, Ohio, as shown above. She had a daughter named Esther in 1894. [6] In 1900, the federal census showed her as married and with one child, while also confirming she had been married for seven years. [7] By then, however, she had, according to the aforementioned TCHS biography, had divorced Ephraim, with Esther living in a Columbus hospital known as the “Institution for Feeble-Minded Youth”. The same census showed her living with her widowed mother, Mary, brothers W.D. and William, and sisters, Carlotta and Cornelia. Esther sadly died in 1902 at the age of 8, of pneumonia, although TCHS said it was tuberculosis. [8]

At some point before 1910, she married a man named James B. Davidson, who was well-known to the Packard family. She is shown in the 1910 census as his wife, living in O'Hara Township, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, with two boarders: a 32-year-old man named Fred Osterley and an 18-year-old woman named Jessie Osterley. [9] A land record the previous year noted Al and James Ward Packard owning a tract of land named Lakewood in Chautauqua, New York. [10] The THCS biography says she purchased over 100 acres in Accotink, Virginia, which is near Mount Vernon, an unincorporated area in Fairfax County, living there with horses and a dog.

By 1920, she was living in Mount Vernon, Fairfax, Virginia, with James and a 16-year-old servant, from Maryland, named James Cot. [11] In 1925 she joined a petition to the New York Supreme Court for an appraisal transfer tax. Then came the letters between herself and Carrie Chapman Catt in 1927. On May 26, Carrie told her about a story from Harriet Taylor Upton, assuming it was a man who came to her with a list of suffragettes compiled by the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), thanks to information from Ms. Mary Kilberth (a leading anti-suffragist) and Robert Eichelberger, the husband of famed suffragist Bessie R. Lucas Eichelberger. She says the list is from the Secret Service, but I think she means the BOI. She then said that she was writing an open letter to the D.A.R., because the first individual was part of it, saying that this material is fodder to anti-suffragists. She then added:

In view of the fact that you no longer are connected with the Department [The Bureau of Investigation], I think you might allow me to make this statement. In the event the government should make inquiry, which it is not likely to do, as to who this person was and I was driven in a corner, I might have to give your name. I do not think you would need to apologize and I believe that your name would not be asked for. I would certainly not give it unless I was driven to it and, indeed, I would agree not to give it until I had again consulted you, letting you know what the condition is under which the pressure has been made.

On May 30, Al responded, saying that she would be fine to use her name, forgetting most of the women on "Miss Kilbreth's list" and said that Kilberth accused Catt "of something…in connection with your South American trip and she couldn't say enough against Mrs. Upton." The final letter in this file is Carrie's reply on June 25. She first apologizes for not acknowledging the letter more promptly, and said two people will be sent to her, stated her intention to write about this incident, and concluded by saying "it is a pity that the anti-suffragists are such poor sports that they cannot overcome their disapproval of us." What I take from this whole exchange is that Al was a suffragist, which really isn't much of a surprise, and that the BOI had compiled a list of suffragists, for who knows what end.

But that's not the whole story. In a May 27, 1927 letter from Harriet Taylor Upton to Carrie, Harriet says the D.A.R. is lifting up an anti-suffragist member, and even noted that she pushed for more women to be appointed within the government, including Al. She proceeded to give a brief description of Al, which gives details about her life:

When I went to Washington in the Republican [Party] Headquarters, I tried not to get places for anybody in government. I did a great deal towards the appointment of women to key positions, but not regular government positions. I made one exception and that was the daughter of a citizen of Warren whom I had known for years. She is the sister of the Packard men who made the Packard machine. She had married rather unfortunately and was living in a little town down in Virginia. She had experience in office work, is splendid at managing people and I asked Harry Daughterty, the Attorney General, if he could find a place for her. She expected just a small place of a thousand dollars or so, and would drive back and forth from her plantation, which is a part of the Washington estate. We were surprised to have him appoint her to the Secret Service Commission [BOI?] and she worked under [William J.] Burns, the great secret service man. She got $2300.00 a year salary and she did a corking [splendid] job. It was just the kind of a job she could do. They finally took in another woman who proved to be a discredit to women and to the department and everything else.

Now in the beginning when Mrs. Davidson began her work in this department, she would come to me asking about the loyalty of this person and that person and in the course of the time she was there, I learned that Miss Kilbreth of the Patriot was stuffing the Attorney General's office with all of the lies possible. Now one day Mrs. Davidson came in with a list of names and among them were our people. I have forgotten now just who was on the list, but it was our own folks and they were just about as much traitors to the government as we are now. I therefore told Mrs. Davidson that that whole thing was just made up, and she said she had about concluded that this was true for she has always been devoted to me, and Miss Kilbreth told her awful things about me. She thought if things were no truer about other people than they were about me, there was nothing to it. I had forgotten that I ever reported this to you. I had forgotten that she threw the list in the waste basket. Of course I did not write that it was a woman who gave me the information, because I did not want anyone to know then that the secret service through personal friendship were consulting me. And you must have taken it that it was a man because all people employed were men...I do not know whether Mrs. Davidson would have any objection to your using her name or saying that it was a woman from the Attorney General's office or not. If you want me to I can write to her, or if you want to you can write direct to her, telling her what you want it for. She is out of the thing entirely now and never will get back because Mr. Daugherty is no longer there and because I am no longer there. Her address is Mrs. James Davidson, Acotink, Va.

Harriet hen goes onto say that she might sever her membership with the D.A.R. I would like to know if the D.A.R. was filled with suffragists at the time, or if Harriet was boasting. After all, Susan B. Anthony, Emily Parmely Collins, Carrie Chase Davis, and Alice Paul were recorded as members of the D.A.R. Al showed good judgment by throwing away the list of suffragists in the waste basket. Someone needs to make a film or animation of this. It would be great! There are other Packards mentioned in the papers, like a "Mrs. Packard" in Springfield, Massachusetts who is the vice-chairman for a "Mrs. Ben Hooper." [14] Also, considering that Carrie was, at the time, in a relationship with Mary "Molly" Garrett Hay, after her second husband, George Catt died in 1905, is it possible she was attracted to Al, even from their short exchange? More pertinent, it says something about the close friendship that Al and Harriet had for Harriet to comment that Al "married rather unfortunately" and say that Al "has always been devoted" to her. Maybe the friendship went further than that? In any case, Al was still married to James at the time. Even so, it appears that Harriet recommended Al for the job, at least if this letter is to be believed.

Al Packard as a teen, via the Classic Cars Journal

Three years later, in 1930, Al was widowed and still living in Mount Vernon, at a house worth about $4,000. [15] And yes, she lived alone, had a radio and no occupation listed, which is not a shock for someone 62 years old. Although she was alone, we don't know whether she had close friends or family members which kept her company, although it is possible. She was described as widowed because James had died in May 1929. It is not known whether she and Carrie, or she and Harriet ever met each other after the death of James in 1929. Keep in mind that the marriage Harriet had with a man George W. Upton, who she had been with since 1884, ended in 1923. According to the TCHS biography, she continued living on the farm until her death.

She died four years later, on July 16, 1934, in Alexandria, Virginia, at the age of 66 of various causes. [16] She lived on in many realms. She was mentioned in the episode "Waxing Gibbous" of the eighth season of Archer, a mature animation, which was described by The A.V. Club as an obscure reference, and praised by Vulture. In chapter two of Gloria H. Giroux's Crucifixion Thorn: Volume Two of the Arizona Trilogy, a character is inspired by Al, while others chattered on Twitter about renaming the FBI building after her. As some of her ancestors put it, she lived an "unusual life." She definitely did, without a doubt! There are many avenues and chances to branch out with this article, for someone who is my sixth cousin three times removed, to other topics and I hope you all enjoyed this post.

Notes

[1] Theoharis, Athan G. (1999). The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 321–322. ISBN 9780897749916; Mullenbach, Cheryl (2016). Women in Blue: 16 Brave Officers, Forensics Experts, Police Chiefs, and More. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781613734254; Vines, Lynn. "The First Female Agents," The Investigator, p 77-78

[2] Delgado, Miguel A. (February 4, 2017). "Alaska Packard, la primera agente del FBI despedida por ser mujer". El Español (in Spanish). Retrieved January 16, 2021; Theoharis, Athan G. (1999). The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 321–322. ISBN 9780897749916.

[3] Mullenbach, Cheryl (2016). Women in Blue: 16 Brave Officers, Forensics Experts, Police Chiefs, and More. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781613734254. Her testimony before a House select committee in that case in May 1924 is shown on pages 2492 to 2495 of [Investigation of Hon. Henry Daughtery Formerly Attorney General of the United States] Hearings Before the Select Committee on the Investigation of the Attorney General, United States Congress, Senate Sixty-Eighth Congress First Session Persuant to S. Res 157 Directing a Committee to Investigate the Failure of the Attorney General to Prosecute or Defend Certain Criminal and Civil Actions Wherein the Government is Interested: May 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, and 22, 1924 [Part 9] (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1924).

[4] Davidson, A.P. "Re - Women's International League of Peace and Freedom: Report of Fourth International Congress," File 237, May 7, 1924, within "Jane Addams Part 1 of 4," FBI, The Vault, Pages 2-9; Davidson, A.P. "Re - Women's International League of Peace and Freedom: Report of Fourth International Congress," File 4237, May 5, 1924, within "Jane Addams Part 3 of 4," FBI, The Vault, Pages 18-25; Davidson, A.P. "Re - Women's International League of Peace and Freedom: Report of Fourth International Congress," May 5, 1924, within "Jane Addams Part 3 of 4," FBI, The Vault, Pages 26-39; Davidson, A.P. "Re - Women's International League of Peace and Freedom: Report of Fourth International Congress," May 5, 1924, within "Jane Addams Part 3 of 4," FBI, The Vault, Pages 40-46, continued in "Jane Addams Part 4 of 4," FBI, The Vault, pages 1-6. Parts of her report may also be on pages 1-29 of "Jane Addams Part 2 of 4." Her reports didn't matter, as Meredith Dovan wrote, on page 18 of her thesis, "FBI Investigations into the Civil Rights Movement and the New Left" that "Hoover fired both women [Alaska and Jessie B. Duckstein] during a round of cuts after he became acting director of the FBI in May 1924."

[5] “United States Census, 1870,” database with images, FamilySearch, James W Packard in household of Warren Packard, Ohio, United States; citing p. 21, family 5, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,771; "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch, 13 November 2020, Alaska Packard in household of Warren Packard, Chautauqua, New York, United States; citing enumeration district ED 39, sheet 30B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,815.

[6] "Ohio, County Births, 1841-2003", database with images, FamilySearch, 1 January 2021), Alacha Packard in entry for Esther McCrum, Birth registers 1883-1896 vol 3., page 184, image 183 of 289.

[7] “United States Census, 1900,” database with images, FamilySearch, William Packard in household of Mary Packard, Warren Township Warren city Ward 1, Trumbull, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 120, sheet 13A, family 297, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,325.

[8] "Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001," database with images, FamilySearch, 14 December 2020, Alaska P. Mc Crum in entry for Esther Mc Crum, 20 Apr 1902; citing Death, Columbus, Franklin, Ohio, United States, source ID v 3 p 240, County courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 2,026,910.

[9] "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch, accessed 16 January 2021, Alaska Davidson in household of James B Davidson, O'Hara Township, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 185, sheet 10A, family 212, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1296; FHL microfilm 1,375,309.

[10] "United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975", database with images, FamilySearch, 27 December 2020, Alaska P Davidson in entry for James Ward Packard, 1910, Grantees 1902-1910 vol A-Z, image 564 of 811, page 592. The liber is noted as 388 and the page as 477, but this volume appears to not be digitized as of yet.

[11] "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch, accessed 4 January 2021, Alaska Davidson in household of J B Davidson, Mount Vernon, Fairfax, Virginia, United States, citing enumeration district (ED) ED 36, sheet 7B, family 130, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1886; FHL microfilm 1,821,886.

[12] Catt, Carrie Chapman. Carrie Chapman Catt Papers: General Correspondence, Circa 1890 to 1947; Davidson, Alaska P. - 1947, 1890. Manuscript/Mixed Material, pages 1-3, Letters on May 26, 1927, May 30, 1927, and June 25, 1927.

[13] Catt, Carrie Chapman. Carrie Chapman Catt Papers: General Correspondence, Circa 1890 to 1947; Upton, Harriet Taylor. - 1947, 1890. Manuscript/Mixed Material, pages 3-4.

[14] Catt, Carrie Chapman. Carrie Chapman Catt Papers: General Correspondence, Circa 1890 to 1947; Hooper, Mrs. Ben; 1927 to 1929. - 1929, 1927. Manuscript/Mixed Material, pages 18, 21, and 24.

[15] "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch, accessed 16 January 2021, Alaska P Davidson, Mount Vemon, Fairfax, Virginia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 18, sheet 18B, line 53, family 404, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2442; FHL microfilm 2,342,176.

[16] "Virginia, Death Certificates, 1912-1987," database with images, FamilySearch, 16 August 2019), Alaska Packard Davidson, 16 Jul 1934; from "Virginia, Marriage Records, 1700-1850," database and images, Ancestry, 2012; citing Alexandria, , Virginia, United States, entry #15826, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond.

Note: This was originally posted on Jan. 21, 2021 on the main Packed with Packards WordPress blog (it can also be found on the Wayback Machine here). My research is still ongoing, so some conclusions in this piece may change in the future.

2 notes · View notes

miraclerizuin · 2 years

Photo

guess who finally remembered how to read!!!

A MARVELLOUS LIGHT by Freya Marske has been sitting under my bed for 3 months and it was due back at the library today so I made myself start it yesterday morning and simply did not want to put it down.

like, if you ever thought that YOUR workplace predecessor left you with a mess to clean up, Robin Blyth steps into what is supposed to be an ordinary government job, but the guy who held the post before him has been missing for weeks, the position involves liaising with literal magicians, the magician he’s supposed to be working with clearly hates him, AND he’s been placed under an agonizing curse by people who think he knows more than he does. and that’s just his first day.

the clever, creepy magic system reminded me a little of A Treason of Thorns, another historical fantasy book that I read this year. in addition to the worldbuilding similarities (blood contracts & the responsibilities of land stewardship), thematically, both books explore the way magic can reinforce existing power structures.

a reluctant alliance between Robin and Edwin the magician turns into, unsurprisingly and delightfully, an intense romance as they investigate dangerous magic and terrible family members.

the love story is satisfyingly contained to this novel while the broader plot and some intriguing supporting characters leave plenty to be explored in a sequel, which just so happens to be a sapphic romance coming out in 2 months!

what more do you need? do you need your Uncle Rick’s recommendation?

so. be honest with the people you love. make ethical decisions in the face of unethical power. and read this book and come back and talk to me about how it’s queering the concept of hereditary wealth

#book recs #gay #queer #a marvellous light #freya marske #books

5 notes · View notes

grits-galraisedinthesouth · 2 years

Text

"Show me the man and I'll show you his crime." Lavrentiy Beria, the most ruthless and longest-serving secret police chief in Joseph Stalin’s reign of terror in Russia and Eastern Europe, bragged that he could prove criminal conduct on anyone, even the innocent.

Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

By Michael Henry

Lavrentiy Beria, the most ruthless and longest-serving secret police chief in Joseph Stalin’s reign of terror in Russia and Eastern Europe, bragged that he could prove criminal conduct on anyone, even the innocent.

“Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime” was Beria’s infamous boast. He served as deputy premier from 1941 until Stalin’s death in 1953, supervising the expansion of the gulags and other secret detention facilities for political prisoners. He became part of a post-Stalin, short-lived ruling troika until he was executed for treason after Nikita Khrushchev’s coup d’etat in 1953.

Beria targeted “the man” first, then proceeded to find or fabricate a crime. Beria’s modus operandi was to presume the man guilty, and fill in the blanks later. By contrast, under the United States Constitution, there’s a presumption of innocence that emanates from the 5th, 6th, and 14th Amendments, as set forth in Coffin vs. U.S. (1895).

Unlike Beria’s paradigm, U.S. prosecutions start with the discovery of a crime. Then there’s an investigation to find or confirm the identity of the perpetrator and collect evidence to prove his or her guilt.

However, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s appointment and subsequent investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign appear to follow the Beria model, not the U.S. Constitution model.

To call the Mueller probe a “witch hunt” is an insult to witches.

Lifelong Democrat Alan Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor Emeritus at Harvard Law School, voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. He says Mueller, like other Special Counsel before him, is engaging in the “criminalization of politics.” Dershowitz states unequivocally that there was no probable cause to believe any crime was committed by Trump or his campaign. In fact, “collusion” in a political campaign is not a crime.

Moreover, constitutional law scholar Dershowitz says it is impossible for a sitting President to obstruct justice in the carrying out of his Article II powers, including the absolute right to fire former FBI Chief James Comey. But don’t take Professor Dershowitz’s word for it. Take a look at the articles written in the past year by former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Andrew McCarthy, and historian and Hoover Institute scholar Victor Davis Hanson.

There are many facets of the Mueller investigation that should trouble every citizen: the Comey memo describing how James Clapper wanted Comey to mention the Russia Ritz-Carlton episode in Comey’s meeting with Trump to give CNN the “hook” it needed to publish the nasty details; the fact that Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is in the middle of everything—Sessions’ recusal, Comey’s firing, Mueller’s appointment, the apparent enlargement of Mueller’s charge in the “scope” memo, which Rosenstein has refused to produce to Congress; the bias against Trump reflected in the tweets and actions of the bureaucrats and special agents at the top of the DOJ and FBI; DOJ’s consistent refusal to turn over documents to Congress; the Gestapo-like tactics used by Mueller, including the pre-dawn, no-knock raid on Paul Manafort’s home; the seizure of documents covered by attorney-client privilege in the search of Trump Attorney Michael Cohen’s office; and the shameful destruction of General Mike Flynn’s career for a “lie” the investigating FBI agents said did not occur.

And most telling, the discovery this week that most of the redactions by DOJ in the few documents they have produced are there to protect the reputation of those at the top of DOJ and FBI, and not to keep intelligence “sources and methods” secret.

Rosenstein’s vague charge to Mueller to investigate “links and/or coordination between the Russian government” and the Trump campaign is vague and open-ended, and an invitation for runaway Special Counsel Mueller to pursue Trump with the zeal of Police Inspector Javert hot on the trail of Jean Valjean.

Michael Henry writes in Oxford, MS and can be reached at [email protected]

4 notes · View notes

rantz1 · 1 month

Text

CALL TO ACTION:

The RCMP are operating in Alberta and most other provinces Unlawfully in violation of the Canadian Constitution and are involved in Human Trafficking and High Treason connected to the compromised Winnipeg Bio-Lab and the criminal and treasonous pandemic response.

The fact that a violation of the Article VI Sec. 92( 14) of the Constitution Act 1867 is exclusively within the powers designated to the province; and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are operating within the province of Alberta without any law in force governing them based on Part VII Sec. 52(1) of the Constitution Act 1982 making the RCMP Act 1985 of no force; all provincial policing done by the RCMP constitutes an unlawful criminal act.

Take the provided 36 page PDF file and download it or copy it into an email and send it or hand deliver it to your local MLA. Then print off the pdf file and send it by registered Mail

To:

The Law Clerk

Clerk of the Legislative Assembly

Legislative Assembly of Alberta

9820 - 107 Street

Edmonton, Alberta T5K 1E7

And then SHARE this post!

Petition for Redress of Grievances

In The Thirty and First Legislature ~ Of The ~ Province Of ~ Alberta

1. THE CONSTITUTION ACT OF 1867 ARTICLE VI § 92.(14). EXCLUSIVE POWERS OF PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURES, SUBJECTS OF EXCLUSIVE PROVINCIAL LEGISLATION Sec 14 The 'Administration of Justice in the Province, including the Constitution, Maintenance, and Organization of Provincial Courts, both of Civil and of Criminal Jurisdiction, and including Procedure in Civil Matters in those Courts ..

2. The Parliament unlawfully and unconstitutionally exceeded its powers granted in Article VI § 91 of the Constitution Act 1867 with the Issuance of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act 1985, circumventing § 92(14) of the Constitution Act 1867 removing control of the Administration of Justice from the Province of Alberta, and having servants of the federal crown acting against the Province of Alberta during the COVID-19 pandemic response; which protected the criminally negligent engineering protocols implemented by the Alberta Health Services by the framework constructed by Rachel Notley and the New Democratic Party directly tied to the biological weapons that are the subject of treason investigations at the Winnipeg Biolabs that preexisted the issuance of Declaration of the State of Emergency issued March 17, 2020 under the provisions of Public Health Act.

Prayer For Relief

WHEREFORE, the Petitioner and all undersigned demand the following relief and hereby instruct our public servants to discharge their duties as instructed by the People of Alberta.

3. We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly to investigate the malfeasance, misconduct and gross negligence, of the NDP governments role in creating the conditions for the Alberta Health Services role in the corruption outlined in attached Appendix containing evidence filed in the State of Texas and Michigan, the corruption within the RCMP based on the federal encroachment inherent in the RCMP Act circumventing§ 92(14) of the Constitution Act 1867 and the judiciary that has concealed the aforementioned concerns, and mentioned in the attached petitions in support of this petition for Redress of Grievances.

4. We the undersigned require the Alberta Legislative Assembly create the necessary legislation and changes to RCMP policing and any other matter as needed after an inquiry before the Alberta Legislative Assembly.

5. To do an investigation to verify our claims of corruption made prominent and concealed high treason used to initiate the COVID-19 pandemic response.

We the Petitioners and all undersigned respectfully submit this Petition on the 19th day of March in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty four.

#chestermere #rcmp #chestermere rcmp #corruption in chestermere alberta #rcmp detachment #james Quigley #kathy klassen #patrick Neufeld #chestermere alberta news #corruption #police corruption #crime #alberta #protect the children #calgary #children #terrorist #terrorists

0 notes

truck-fump · 1 month

Text

How Trump is Following Hitler’s PlaybookYou’ve heard...

New Post has been published on https://robertreich.org/post/746577742119731201

How Trump is Following Hitler’s PlaybookYou’ve heard...

youtube

How Trump is Following Hitler’s Playbook

You’ve heard Trump’s promise:

TRUMP: I’m going to be a dictator for one day.

History shows there are no “one-day” dictatorships. When democracies fall, they typically fall completely.

In a previous video, I laid out the defining traits of fascism and how MAGA Republicans embody them. But how could Trump — or someone like him — actually turn America into a fascist state? Here’s how in five steps.

Step 1: Use threats of violence to gain power

Hitler and Mussolini relied on their vigilante militias to intimidate voters and local officials. We watched Trump try to do the same in 2020.

TRUMP: Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.

Republican election officials testified to the threats they faced when they refused Trump’s demands to falsify the election results.

RAFFENSPERGER: My email, my cell phone was doxxed.

RUSTY BOWERS: They have had video panel trucks with videos of me proclaiming me to be a pedophile.

GABRIEL STERLING: A 20-something tech in Gwinnett County today has death threats and a noose put out saying he should be hung for treason.

If the next election is close, threats to voters and election officials could be enough to sabotage it.

Step 2: Consolidate power

After taking office, a would-be fascist must turn every arm of government into a tool of the party. One of Hitler’s first steps was to take over the civil service, purging it of non-Nazis.

In October of 2020, Trump issued his own executive order that would have enabled him to fire tens of thousands of civil servants and replace them with MAGA loyalists. He never got to act on it, but he’s now promising to apply it to the entire civil service.

That’s become the centerpiece of something called Project 2025, a presidential agenda assembled by MAGA Republicans, that would, as the AP put it, “dismantle the US government and replace it with Trump’s vision.”

Step 3: Establish a police state

Hitler used the imaginary threat of “the poison of foreign races” to justify taking control of the military and police, placing both under his top general, and granting law-enforcement powers to his civilian militias.

Now Trump is using the same language to claim he needs similar powers to deal with immigrants.

Trump plans to deploy troops within the U.S. to conduct immigration raids and round up what he estimates to be 18 million people who would be placed in mass-detention camps while their fate is decided.

And even though crime is actually down across the nation, Trump is citing an imaginary crime wave to justify sending troops into blue cities and states against the will of governors and mayors.

Trump insiders say he plans to invoke the Insurrection Act to have the military crush civilian protests. We saw a glimpse of that in 2020, when Trump deployed the National Guard against peaceful protesters outside the White House.

And with promises to pardon January 6 criminals and stop prosecutions of right-wing domestic terrorists, Trump would empower groups like the Proud Boys to act as MAGA enforcers.

Step 4: Jail the opposition

In classic dictatorial fashion, Trump is now openly threatening to prosecute his opponents.

TRUMP: if I happen to be president and I see somebody who’s doing well and beating me very badly, I say, ‘Go down and indict them.’ They’d be out of business.

And he’s looking to remake the Justice Department into a tool for his personal vendettas.

TRUMP: As we completely overhaul the federal Department of Justice and FBI, we will also launch sweeping civil rights investigations into Marxist local district attorneys.

In the model of Hitler and Mussolini, Trump describes his opponents as subhuman.

TRUMP: …the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country…

Step 5: Undermine the free press

As Hitler well understood, a fascist needs to control the flow of information. Trump has been attacking the press for years.

And he’s threatening to punish news outlets whose coverage he dislikes.

He has helped to reduce trust in the media to such a historic low that his supporters now view him as their most trusted source of information.

Within a democracy, we may often have leaders we don’t like. But we have the power to change them — at the ballot box and through public pressure. Once fascism takes hold, those freedoms are gone and can’t easily be won back.

We must recognize the threat of fascism when it appears, and do everything in our power to stop it.

#Uncategorized

0 notes

the-firebird69 · 2 months

Text

Still wondering if you can even get elected that's not how they're saying it they're saying he can get elected but can you get revenge and people don't like it they don't want someone to get in the presidency and break things up further. And they don't think people in there that guilty of doing that kind of thing that's what this guy is doing trump.

He needs to be taken away right now he's a huge a****** what county is locked my 10 times it's different people and once or twice is the same guy he's ridiculous he's addicted behaviors dangerous so we're going to go after him no alternative you can't get him anything and he won't stop so we're going to take care of me we also want him off of her son I don't think what he's doing daily is funny or entertaining you think that he should be shot for treason but this above has a couple of caveats that go with it firstly and he is The wanted Man secondly is a nasty continent thirdly he thinks he can get away with threatening public officials and people who are elected and more but he can't these people are after him and it just takes time right now and he should be just qualified for doing that and for some reason they're not doing that at this time but they should and it's been written up several times but all sorts of people who are not even be enjoying that much he said look we don't want to have this as a reputation threaten the boy all the time in public and we want them out.

Several people he threatened are missing and some of them are dead and the investigations are underway and they show that he's involved he's given orders or he was directly involved then they found circumstantial evidence and witnesses that show that and those people that are related and part of the organizations are starting to try and press charges there's a list of those who are missing:

Liz Cheney was announced missing last week and we know who she is and they have evidence that he was messing with her before her disappearance and they did trace it to the United Kingdom

Gerry Falwell bad mouths him on TV and was definitely trying to compose him and he stated that he would do something about it and he went missing and it was posted two weeks ago they do suspect trumps involving and these stories are coming out a little here and there

Steve prefontaine anyway missing last month in a violent accident but not in the woods it is under investigation Trump was in the area they did see one of his aliases near him and in a vehicle that was adjacent to him and their witnesses to the accident

John cusac is missing and presumed dead his body is missing they think he's at the cryogenic facility and someone found him and no brain and it said that the records brain destroyed those people have those records from the facility and they're going to file charges

Phil Hannah a friend in long time associate of Arnie he went after Trump and he got evidence that he was responsible for Arnie disappearing and possibly murdered him and it has not been found out yet and he was found missing last week people saw him going to the woods and they saw a vehicle owned by one of Trump's aliases with his Trump's fingerprints all over it and weapons they are looking for the body now and they're trying to get it out of him he actually has quite a few characters one of them is Bob Dole

Along with these people who are missing there are people who have been murdered and they do have the evidence in the bodies and they are saying it is Trump and he did do the deed they put it out there anyone who has any evidence on Trump please report it in any murders and people started to compile them and they're holding the bodies in Washington DC most of them are federal government workers out of the 90 murders and yes Trump is a fool 80 of them are held in DC and Trump is going to be on trial for many of them. There's a whole list of names and the list is quite extensive

-sister of Liz Cheney and it is a trumpster a boy sitting behind him sounds like a woman so I send ignored him and he's stopping his feet and really he wants Trump convicted so it's hard to say. She was pronounced at a month ago evidence that Trump was nearby is all over the place

-addiction sister 3 months ago is pronounced dead evidence it was Donald Trump is all over the scene and he was absent from being near our son most of the time he's trying to murder someone when he's not near our son he's trying to use it as a threat and we are negating it

-just about 50 murders that occur during these shows the evidence all pointed to him and these investigators start investigating him one of his characters is Mark Harmon and they avoided him and they avoided other characters that seemed like him they have a huge case and they brought the bodies to DC and they hate him even his own clan what they want him out he has been attacking them and he's going to go to jail in prison

-there are several that were fairly prestigious that have his markings and his presence and he's not somewhere else five of them were related to Donald Trump himself he murdered one of the his daughters and threw her off a cliff at the Grand canyon it's on film they're witnesses and they're here and they want a conviction they found homicide papers against him for that character and many aliases that lead here

-along with all these murders and there are 90 that are on file in DC there are many unsolved cases in punta Gorda Port Charlotte and all over the world and at UMass Amherst and they're being investigated now and we do have evidence and we have witnesses and Jennifer is not a witness but she knows what happened and we know what to do but they're actually witnesses who saw him in punta Gorda and Port Charlotte with people and those people disappeared some people know where the bodies are the federal government is asking for information you can send it anonymously a lot of people choose to steal his computers or is associates and send the information on that and leave the computer to be found by someone clean though it's kind of risky you leaving it there but we recommend and downloading it until the separate computer and destroy it but it's probably evidence on there so it's a technique used by professionals it's better off to send a message from one of these many cities you go to using an anonymous computer. Evidence that this works is the movie anonymous and he suspects Emily birdies of doing it and she didn't and she knows about murder she didn't say anything I think she's a heinous idiot and yes that woman don't mind that kind of thing and our son doesn't want to next door because he's a slob I guess something like that who's playing over murdering tons of people a lot more than he is and they weren't Slavs and they went sloppy and he'd be in a lot of trouble with them just trying to get him and surrounding him and they're not around and they weren't found out for 99% of the murders but 10 inches is enough and Trump is marrying people he knows so is Dave and they're going to be in trouble tonight

Thor Freya

Olympus

Zues Hera

0 notes

rmpmw · 2 months

Text

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

1 note · View note