Impeachment of Federal Judges in the United States - Essay Example

Running Head: INTRODUCTION TO ANERICAN LAW Introduction to American Law Name Institution Date Introduction to American Law Introduction The legal system of the United States is made up of several levels each with codified and uncodified types of acts. Among the various acts in the United States’ legal system, the most important of them is the United States Constitution. The US constitution is the bias for all the federal government in US. It outlines the limits of federal law which is made up of the acts of congress as stated in the constitution and also the agreements reached by the constitution as approved by the congress. Among the statements in the constitution is the impeachment of federal judges, operations of the state bars, suspect classification and protection among others (Campbell, & Hepperle, 1998). Impeachment of federal judges in the United States Impeachment is the process by which government officials are charged of criminal acts that may or may not lead to their removal from the government offices. It has two stages. In the first stage, the official is placed on statements of charges, and secondly he faces a legislative vote either by the body he is working with or by another different body. This second stage determines whether he is to be convicted or not. Most constitutions require the views of the majority to pass the conviction. The subject of impeachment is a criminal act but does not involve a criminal trial. The only issue is the removal of an official from office and chances of a subsequent vote that may hinder the person from holding an office once again in the authority from where he had been removed (Melone, & Karnes, 2008). Impeachment in the United States is an articulated authority by the legislature that permits official charges against a public officer in the government due to offences done in the office. Impeachment against federal judges was done when the judges disrespected the interests of the members of public, where they upset the wishes of the public, or where illogical powers were introduced by grabbing the duty of the policy makers. In the United State, about sixty one judges have been questioned for impeachment and out of them, thirteen have been impeached and seven of them have been convicted (Dimaond, 1994). The past’s generations used impeachment more often than today’s generations. Due to the fact that the reasons for impeachment were deliberately made public; articles of impeachment have stated all crimes form drunkenness and vulgarly to judicial dominance and corruption as reasons for removal from office. The current judiciary in United States has never been faced by major threats of impeachment like the judges in the past generation. Article 2, of section 4 of the United States’ constitution talks about impeachment and conviction due to treason, corruption and other big offences or misdemeanours. This article implies that the act of impeachment is not firmly associated to the criminal law. Impeachment does not therefore qualify for all crimes. The language used in the article means that for impeachment to be done, a criminal act may be needed. The constitution also states that a federal judge will remain in office only during the period of good behaviour. This good behaviour period is only if the judge does not commit any crime in office. According to the United States constitution, impeachment is the only means that can remove a federal judge form office. Several attempts by the congress to change the clause have failed and the ultimate conclusion has been that impeachment is the only means of removing a federal judge form office. This provision of the constitution seems to be outdated since the federal judges will struggle to maintain good behaviour only in the office in order to protect their positions. The constitution does not offer a proper definition of good behaviour since there can be acts such as violation of law or abuse of power which according to the definition of a crime, do not qualify for impeachment. Impeachment, being the sole means of removing a federal judge form office is an out dated decision which needs to be reconsidered. However, if impeachment remains the only way of removing federal judges, it should allow that in case of misbehaviour in office, the judge is removed from other ordinary courts after conviction of the committed crime. Most judges tend to commit crimes that are not related ot the will of the people. Initially, impeachment was to protect those who are being governed. It was to protect the will of the members of the public from being violated. However, the impeachment has turned the judiciary to be a political place where the federal judges face impeachment on political grounds (Melone, & Karnes, 2008). Impeachment is a burdensome process and reaching to the conviction of a federal judge is not a simple process. But on the hand, impeachment helps to maintain discipline among the federal judges since most of them start correcting their behaviour after they sense an approaching of impeachment on their side. Many have feared the consequences of impeachment and have improved on their behaviour in office. However, in the current judicial system, impeachment should not be the only means for removing federal judges from office. With their positions, they engage themselves in many acts that violate the law in one way or another. To reach an impeachment for a judge, it only involves the crimes that concerns his office while could be he has committed most of those do not concern the office. The use of impeachment is therefore outdated in the current judicial system and the constitution should be reviewed to include other means that could lead to removal of judges from office. Other means should be such as public complains where the members of public feel that their will is violated by the federal judges. Admission to US law schools Law schools in the United States are institutions where students go to study law after they have completed a first degree. The law schools in the United States give a Juris Doctor degree, which is a professional doctorate in law and for the majority of the practitioners they issue terminal degree. Other degrees issued at the school of law are master of law and the doctor of juridical sciences. Most institutions of law in the United States are colleges, schools and other institutions offering post secondary education. A legal education in the United States is very different from that of other countries in the world. To be admitted in most law schools in the United States, one must have successfully completed a bachelor’s degree and attained an average point grade. One must also have scored a satisfactory grade in law school admission test (LSAT). The law school admission test is an examination which is offered by the law school for those who are wishing to join the law school. The test is meant to gauge logic and reasonable skills. The test is given four times each year for all law aspiring students. The test is composed of five questions having multiple choices and must be done within thirty five minutes. Different examinations are given with different forms of questions. The different forms in which the tests appear are to ensure that the students do not cheat in the examination (Hall, 2006). The test that is being used currently has two sections in logical reasoning, usually referred to as “arguments”. Each of the questions in the examination starts with a paragraph that poses either an argument or a number of questions requiring facts. The paragraph is then followed by a command asking the test taker to identify the assumption made in the argument, omissions or errors in the argument, or to give a statement that would either add strength or weaken the argument. Other than the test, individual aspects are very important and the schools usually take students from outside the traditional team to promote racial, social economic and practical diversity in the laws school. The requirement by the law schools in the United States that for admission, one must have completed an undergraduate degree for four years is the major hindrance to most people wishing to join the school. Students are advised to take an undergraduate course in the area that appeals to them. This will make them attain a better grade that will secure them a chance in the school of law. The undergraduate degree does not however have to be a pre law course to guarantee them entry to the school of law. On admission, law schools in the United States require a person to produce their transcripts indicating a high gross point average. Students who possess a wide variety of skills stand a better chance to be taken into the school of law than those with a limited range. Taking a range of classes and portraying ability in a variety of subjects is as important as having a higher gross point average. Studying law is a long process in the United States. It takes three years for an individual to complete the Juris Degree. From there, one has to get admission to the bar, which is an association of law professionals that has the mandate to allow one to practice law in United States. The completion of the three year law course does not therefore guarantee a person to pass the bar examinations. The bar exams are given twice a year and one has to wait for several months to get the results (Hall, 2006). The whole process is cumbersome and time consuming. The requirement of one having completed a four year undergraduate degree is a heavy one and acts as a barrier to many people. This should be reviewed and the requirement reconsidered. This means that one spends a total of seven years before getting the Juris degree, from where one is still not credible to practise. This is a long journey which is not easy for most citizens. The requirements should at least be made that one can join the school of law if he has attained the best grade in the secondary education. Under this, the whole course can be med to take at least five years. Else, the law school admission test should be used to qualify and disqualify those wishing to join the law school. The bar examinations should then follow after the five year law course which will give the law graduates license to practise. The requirement for an undergraduate four year degree is not necessary and adjustments should be made by the relevant authority. State bar associations in the United States In the United States, after completion of the law course in the school of law, one has to get permission to practise law in their system. This permission granted is referred to as admission to the bar and is offered by certain court system that allows lawyers to practise. Each state in the United States and territory has its own rules for admission to the bar and there are different standards for working of each court. A lawyer will therefore have to pass the bar examination administered in each state after attaining the Juris doctor degree from the school of law. Since each state has its own bar with its own rules and standards, lawyers who are allowed to practice in one bra cannot practise in other bars. The lawyers can only specifically practise in the bars the admitted them. However, some states make mutual accords that allow attorneys form different states to practise in their states without having to sit for the bar exam in the state where they want to practise. These accords are however reached differently in different states (American Bar Association, 1999). The state bar association in the United States is an association of bars that represents each of the attorneys from different states. The requirement for membership into the association may be mandatory in some states while in others it is voluntary. The role of the state bar association is to administer the bar examination for those who are wishing to join the bar and offering other services to the members such as keeping the records for all attorneys in the state, organizing for social events for the attorneys and publication of bar journal. Mandatory bar association, also known as the integrated bar association is the one where the power to control the issuance of permission to attorneys wishing to practise in that state is delegated. In these associations, one has to be a member of the state bar association in admission of attorneys to practise while the voluntary associations are for encouraging relations in the legal society. For example in the state of Virginia in the United States, the mandatory organization is the Virginia State Bar while the voluntary association is the Virginia Bar Association. Most of the state bar associations call for completion of Continuing Legal Education by their members and also give training for their lawyers at a lower fee for the members of their own bar association. For instance the state bar of Texas requires that every attorney who is permitted to practise must sit for fifteen hours class of continuing legal education every year (American Bar Association, 1999). On the other hand is there is the national bar association which is found in most countries in the world. Unlike the state bar association that offers representation of member attorneys, the national bar association offers representation of all legal professionals national wide. The national bar association also helps to create worldwide networks for lawyers and offers great opportunities for the lawyers to practise. This also allows the lawyers to practise anywhere in the country as long as he or she is a member. Other benefits of a national bar association is that there are no barriers for registration. When one is a member, there is automatic registration to the official National Bar Association Membership Directory which networks all the lawyers in the world. The national bar association also keeps updating its members with the latest developments in the legal system and also offers sponsorship for the Continuing Legal Education. The United States legal system should therefore adopt the national bar association system rather than the state bar association so as to create wide opportunities for its lawyers ot practise. The state bar association limits the lawyers since one has to practise in the state where he or she is a member of the state bar. A national will bar in contrary allow for all lawyers to practise in any state of the country. When lawyers are practising nationally, all members of the country stand equal chance of benefitting from all lawyers, and the lawyers also stand equal chance of benefiting from all nationals. This is because there are different terms of practise in different states depending on the economic status and the living standards of the members of a particular state (Gunther, 1998). Morbid obesity as a "quasi-suspect class” Morbidly obese people are those individuals whose body mass index ranges at forty and above. These people also categorized together with those who have extra one hundred pounds on top of the required normal body weight. At this state, one is recommended for surgery to aid in weight loss. The department of medicine that is concerned with the matters of obesity is referred to as bariatrics. Obesity has become a major health concern in the United States and this has led to separation of bariatrics form the medical and surgery field. The excessive body weight can lead to many health risks such as high blood pressure, non-insulin dependent diabetes, high risk of heart diseases, infertility and various forms of cancer. In the United States, approximately three hundred thousand deaths occur per year due to obesity related diseases earning it the title of the “second leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States” ( Lundmark, 2008). Obesity results from an extreme imbalance between weight gain and weight loss where the body takes in more energy than it expels. The excess energy is therefore stored as fat in the body fat storage tissues known as the adipose tissues. Morbid obesity is the extreme condition of obesity. Other factors apart from energy consumption also contribute to development of morbid obesity. Such factors include genetic factors that determine the ability of the body to control the appetite and the conversion of food into energy. An individual’s feeding habits and his or her involvement in physical activity also influence the predisposition of an individual to genetic obesity. Food containing fat easily contributes to the body fat than energy containing food such as carbohydrates. A person who consumes more of fatty foods is at a very high risk of obesity. The lifestyle in the United States is more of sedentary especially among the wealthy societies. This contributes greatly to the rate of weight gain. In the American legal system, there is a suspect classification of groups of people who meet a sequence of criterion suggesting that they should be subject to a form of discrimination. Those identified undergo close examination by the courts. Strict scrutiny is used in individuals who fall under the suspect classification group. However, the state and federal constitutions in the United States requires that there should be equal protection and treatment for all people (Gunther, 1998). The government is also required to pass laws that may hinder some groups of people from engaging in some activities. For example there is a restriction on sale of alcohol and tobacco in some countries where alcohol should not be sold to children under the age of eighteen years. To assess whether the restriction follows the constitution, courts have designed an examination on classification of particular groups. These are the suspect class, quasi-suspect and non -suspect class. Those found to belong to suspect and quasi suspect class are allowed more constitutional protection than the non-suspects. For their restriction, the state must give very convincing reasons which the laws must examine with very strict conditions. People in the suspect class face strict scrutiny while those in the quasi-suspect class face intermediate scrutiny. Morbidly obese people should not fall in the quasi-suspect class that requires intermediate scrutiny. This is because quasi-suspect class is for those people who have been reserved for government supported discrimination on the grounds of sex or legal issues. Morbid obesity is a medical condition that develops form a series of weight gains to a point where the individual cannot control it. It should be a medical concern rather than face government discrimination. The government should take it as a health concern that requires immediate intervention. The government together with the courts should formulate policies that guide the treatment of morbid obesity. The courts should also play a role in passing laws that restrict sale of foods that cause morbid obesity. Statutory construction Statutory construction, also known as statutory interpretation is the process of translating and making use of legislation. Translation is highly necessary in cases that require acts or laws. However, some times the terms in the act have plain meaning that does not require much interpretation but in most cases there is uncertainty in the terms of the act that must be well explained by the judges. To elaborate the terms in the acts, the judges use different methods and tools in the interpretation process. Methods used include traditional canons of statutory interpretation, legislative history and purpose. The role of the judiciary in this process is to interpret how legislation should be used in certain cases since no legislation can address the matters specifically and with no uncertainty. Uncertainty in the legislation may result due to use of words which are incorrect symbols to indicate intentions since they change their meaning as time changes. There are unavoidable unanticipated situations that may come with changes in technology and culture making the existing law inapplicable. The unanticipated situations may need to be passed with the law to allow for compromising depending on the special interests of the involved groups. The court must therefore decide how the acts will be enforced and this call for statutory interpretation. It is a principle of statutory construction that the legislature is the highest body in law creation and the court is just an interpreter of the law. During interpretation of the law, the court can change the way the law can operate (Campbell, & Hepperle, 1998). Canons of statutory construction are methods that offer common sense direction to the courts while they are interpreting the language of the acts. Canons come from the process of common law where the choice of the judges is followed. The supporters of the use of canons explain that canons limit the judges and the capacity of the courts to legislate from the bar. On the other hand, the opponents of the canons states that a judge usually has a choice to make among competing canons that bring dissimilar result, therefore the diplomacy of the judiciary is hidden by use of canons and not decreased. There are textual canons, substantive and deference canons. Textual canons are laws of thumb for comprehending the terms in the text. Substantive canons direct the courts to support interpretations that encourage particular values or policy outcomes. Deference canons direct the courts to postpone the interpretation of a different institution for example the congress or an administrative body. They indicate the fact that the judiciary is not the sole body that is mandated with the responsibility of the constitution. The other method of statutory construction is use of legislative history. Legislative history method entails all the legislative occurrences which have taken place in the course of passing the projected legislation, including all the existing documentation that is created in the procedure. These include the statement, its redraft, the statements given on hearing and the message given by the executive during the process of passing the bill or rejecting it. At other times, legislative history can also be referred to as “bill tracking”, meaning that it the process of back tracking the steps that were taken while the act was being passed by the legislature. Legislative history is used by the courts to translate vague terms that are used in statutory, or to determine the intention of the legislature while they were writing the law and phrasing it in that manner (Gunther, 1998). It is however argued that use of canons in statutory construction gives the judges authority to translate the statutory language in a way that favours them, or according to how they want to apply the acts. This might then result in false interpretation of the acts, or interpretation in the opposite direction since every canon has its counter-canon. The method that is most appropriate to be used in today’s world is the use of legislative history. This is because the legislative history will enable the judges to relate the situation under which the language was applied together with the intention of the legislators while passing the act and apply it in their current situation. This will help avoid bias by the judges in use of canons. For uniformity of statutory construction, it would be better that the congress passes a law requiring the judges to use a similar method of statutory construction. This will ensure that all citizens receive judgement using laws that have been interpreted uniformly. Use of different methods of statutory interpretation means then different terms of law are used on citizens. Conclusion The United States constitution has some clauses that need review since some of them have become outdated. To be applicable in the current world where technology has changed and people have changed their ways of doing things, there are some changes than need to be made in the constitution. The functioning of the courts and the judicial system also needs to be changed to meet the changing interests of the citizens. References Campbell, D., & Hepperle, W., (1998). The U.S. legal system: a practice handbook. New York: M. Nijhoff. Melone, A., & Karnes, A., (2008). The American legal system: perspectives, politics, processes, and policies. New York: Rowman & Littlefield. Dimaond, R., (1994). Impeachment and the U.S. Congress. Michigan: Congressional quarterly. Gunther, G., (1998). Constitutional law. New York: Foundation Press. American Bar Association, (1999). Public relations guide for State and local bar associations. Texas: ABA. Hall, J., (2006).American law school degrees. Chicago: University of Chicago. Lundmark, T., (2008).Power & Rights in US Constitutional Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More