LETTERS NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition

While Walter McCarthy did an excellent job in elucidating the reasons Bill Clinton should be impeached {"Impeachable Offenses," Viewpoints, Jan. 4}, I fear that he, too, is confused about the term "high crimes." Recently, one constitutional scholar put the whole thing in the prop...

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Published inNewsday
Main Authors Valerie H. Protopapas. Huntington Station, Henry Hoffmann Jr.. North Babylon, Gary Burns. East Northport. Editor's Note: The writer is the principal of the Dickinson Avenue School, Richard Reade. Setauket, Jeff Toback. Oceanside. Editor's Note: The
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Long Island, N.Y Newsday LLC 11.01.1999
EditionCombined editions
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Summary:While Walter McCarthy did an excellent job in elucidating the reasons Bill Clinton should be impeached {"Impeachable Offenses," Viewpoints, Jan. 4}, I fear that he, too, is confused about the term "high crimes." Recently, one constitutional scholar put the whole thing in the proper perspective by noting that the word "high" refers not to the type of crime but the office of the alleged perpetrator. In other words, constitutional impeachment procedures refer to a crime or crimes committed by a person in "high" office. Treason and bribery are noted specifically because both are crimes directly connected to positions of power and influence but impeachment is not limited to such major felonies. Misdemeanors, a category of transgression that is less serious, are also included. Of course, using this definition there is no question that President Bill Clinton has committed a considerable number of impeachable offenses in the Monica Lewinsky scandal alone. Because the Founding Fathers lived in a world governed in the main by hereditary monarchs, it is understandable that they would define the matter in terms of the office rather than the offense. Kings and their minions were usually immune to removal and prosecution short of revolution, no matter how egregious their crimes. Our Founders wanted to provide a legal and peaceful means whereby, through Congress, the people were empowered to remove from high office (when necessary) the individual who occupied that office and this was accomplished by referring to the office as "high," not the crime in the terms of impeachment. Valerie H. Protopapas. Huntington Station