Cline on the Constitution

December 23, 2019 by philcline in Blog / Cline on the Constitution / Congress / Presidency

Impeachment Chronicles – Part III I admit to being somewhat mystified. My goal in writing these posts is to make the Constitution understandable to the citizens to whom it belongs. However, even for someone steeped in the more intricate elegance of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the events of the last couple of weeks […]

Impeachment continued

December 8, 2019 by philcline in Blog / Cline on the Constitution / Congress / Presidency

Cline on the Constitution Impeachment Chronicles – Part Two The Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives held a hearing last week. It was a yeoman’s attempt to underpin all the speculations and opinions being passed off as facts with legal speculations and opinions on whether all the speculations and opinions would be enough to […]

Impeachment

November 24, 2019 by philcline in Blog / Cline on the Constitution / Presidency

The Impeachment Chronicles-Part One Demands for the impeachment of President Trump have come from various quarters since before he was sworn into office. Any pretext has sufficed. If one turned out to be groundless, another has been quickly adopted. There are two major characteristics in the demands. The first is that there is an intense desire to remove […]

Right to Confront Witnesses

October 20, 2019 by philcline in Bill of Rights / Blog / Cline on the Constitution / Congress / Presidency

In 1603, Sir Walter Raleigh, one of the most celebrated men of his era, was brought to trial for treason based upon accusations generated by the Spanish Ambassador. The evidence used against him was testimony taken in secret and a letter by an alleged accomplice, a man named Cobham. Raleigh demanded the witness against him be […]

Cline on the Constitution

September 8, 2019 by philcline in Blog / Cline on the Constitution / Judiciary

Cline on the Constitution – the Census Question and the Politization of the Court Summer vacation is over, and the Supreme Court’s traditional opening for the new term the first week of October draws nigh. With a brutal campaign for President unfolding the stage is set for what could be a turning point for the Supreme […]

Double Jeopardy

July 21, 2019 by philcline in Bill of Rights / Blog / Cline on the Constitution / Federalism / Judiciary

The Supreme Court recently, and for the first time in a hundred years, issued a definitive opinion on Double Jeopardy. A close reading, however, leaves an impression that the opinion was about more. As privacy issues (such as the “right” to an abortion) make their way back to the Court, this case may provide a road map […]

Cline on the Constitution

July 1, 2019 by philcline in Blog / Cline on the Constitution / Free Speech / Judiciary

While I was on vacation the Supreme Court began to wind down their current term and issue opinions on a few highly anticipated cases. As usual there were a few smart opinions and a few stupid ones. And following the trend over the past decade, a lot of 5-4 votes. Though there has been some discussion that […]

Cline on the Constitution – Interpretation

May 27, 2019 by philcline in Blog / Cline on the Constitution / Judiciary / Presidency

In November, President Trump referred to a federal District Court Judge as an “Obama judge.” Uncharacteristically, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, rebutted the President in a public statement. He said, “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges, . . . (an) independent judiciary is something we should […]

Executive Privilege

May 12, 2019 by philcline in Blog / Cline on the Constitution / Congress / Presidency

This week’s edition of Cline on the Constitution Executive Privilege It seems every year we have at least one descriptive term that evolves into a sacrosanct badge of being politically correct. We’ve had “diversity”, we’ve had “homeless”, and a number of others it wouldn’t take long to conjure. The terms are over-used, frequently misused and so […]

Impeachment

April 28, 2019 by philcline in Blog / Cline on the Constitution / Congress / Presidency

The Impeachment of a President Calls for the impeachment of President Trump have been circulated since before he assumed office. Any pretext seems to suffice. If one is shown to be groundless, another is quickly adopted. With the Democrat party now in control of the House of Representatives, and a lineup of committee chairpersons right out of […]

Category: Cline on the Constitution