Can someone define "high crimes and misdemeanors"?

Question

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Answer 1

It is what Bush will be Impeached for.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

High crimes and misdemeanors is a phrase from the United States Constitution, Article II, Section 4: "The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

"High" in the legal parlance of the 18th century means "against the State". A high crime is one which seeks the overthrow of the country, which gives aid or comfort to its enemies, or which injures the country to the profit of an individual or group. In democracies and similar societies it also includes crimes which attempt to alter the outcome of elections.

The first impeachment conviction by the U.S. Senate was in 1804 of District Judge John Pickering for the high crime and misdemeanor of chronic intoxication. Federal judges have been impeached and removed from office for tax evasion, conspiracy to solicit a bribe, and making false statements to a grand jury.

In the impeachment of Bill Clinton in the late 1990s for perjury, the exact meaning of the term high crimes and misdemeanors became the subject of debate. A particular subject of debate is exactly what rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors. Some felt that the act of perjury, a federal crime, certainly rose to that level. Others felt that perjury, while illegal, did not reach that level.

It is evident that in the absence of a clear legal definition, determining what rises to "high crimes and misdemeanors" is an inherently political process, which means that it is up to Congress and what it thinks constitutes an impeachable offense.

Answer 4

You can't. You can only define it on how it offends. "Hate" would indicate the thought behind the statements made, and the only one that would truly know that is the person making the statements. It is hard to prove the thought process because it is subjective. It is basically defined as to what society as a whole takes the statements to mean/crimes to have intended. A white person can murder a black man without hating every black person. He could even shout names at him such as the "n word" without hating the race. You can hate a person for things other than the color of their skin. Again, proving that is subjective, and that in where the issue lays. I am not advocating the use of offensive words that insult ones race or orientation, but I hate censorship even more. I would rather support the Neo-Nazi than the one that would ultimately censor their speech. That is a slippery slope to step out on, and there is no one way to determine what is and isn't because everyone is offended at different levels. I am a very hard person to offend, and I know a friend that is offended if someone refers to her as a b**ch.

Answer 5

"I have carefully researched the origin of the phrase "high crimes and misdemeanors" and its meaning to the Framers of the Constitution, and found that the key to understanding it is the word "high". It does not mean "more serious". It refers to those punishable offenses that only apply to high persons, that is, to public officials, those who, because of their official status, are under special obligations that ordinary persons are not under, and which could not be meaningfully applied or justly punished if committed by ordinary persons.

Under the English common law tradition, crimes were defined through a legacy of court proceedings and decisions that punished offenses not because they were prohibited by statutes, but because they offended the sense of justice of the people and the court. Whether an offense could qualify as punishable depended largely on the obligations of the offender, and the obligations of a person holding a high position meant that some actions, or inactions, could be punishable if he did them, even though they would not be if done by an ordinary person."
"Bribery and treason are among the least ambiguous reasons meriting impeachment, but the ocean of wrongdoing encompassed by the Constitution's stipulation of “high crimes and misdemeanors” is vast. Abuse of power and serious misconduct in office fit this category, but one act that is definitely not grounds for impeachment is partisan discord."

Answer 6

Well I would think that coercing your country into an illegal war-- based on evidence that you manufactured-- and then when the truth was coming out--- the man you sent to Nigeria to find proof that Saddam was trying to get Uranium from Nigeria and that he could find no proof--so you leak his wife's CIA status to try to pressure him to lie for you---and then in the war effort singularly point fingers at a country and claim that their support of insurgents are the ones who are killing US troops when you know that Saudi backed insurgents are actually just as guilty or perhaps even more so because your military has told the media that is the case ---because your family has close ties to the Saudis and you can't implicate your friends---so regardless of the truth you keep blaming Iran for reasons to go to war with them!!!!

Pheeewww!

I think that qualifies as High Crimes and Misdemeanors!!!

Here's the Saudi supporting the Sunnis link reported in USAToday!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-12-08-saudis-sunnis_x.htm

Answer 7

If you look at the Constitution, you will see that they are "undefined".

But, don't get your hopes up. The Dem's aren't going there, inspite of what they have hinted at. In addition to not having a case, they don't have the votes in the Senate to pull it off.

I guess that you are just going to have to wait until 2008!

Answer 8

Look up Bill Clinton in Wikipedia

Answer 9

Yes. Hillary Clinton. And, next on the list is Billary Clinton.

Answer 10

not an expert, but misdemeanors are not high crimes. Felonies are high crimes.

Answer 11

High crimes are the heinous crimes like kidnapping, rape, drug trafficking, robbery and murder

Misdemeanors are minor crimes like traffic violations, verbal assault and unjust vexation.