NACDL - National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
News Release
Background and History of Impeachment
November 09, 1998
NACDL Statement before the House Judiciary Committee
Washington, DC (November 9, 1998) -- The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers announces the availability of a new historical treatise, "The Background and History of Impeachment: Defining the Constitutional Limits on Presidential Impeachment" by Professors Frank O. Bowman and Stephen L. Sepinuck, Gonzaga University School of Law, submitted on behalf of NACDL to the House Committee on the Judiciary today. Professor Bowman teaches criminal law and is a former federal prosecutor. Professor Sepinuck is Associate Dean of the law school and an expert in the history of the American impeachment process.
This 69-page written testimony includes an invaluable Appendix, "United States Impeachments 1789 to Present" describing in detail the 15 impeachments and three near-impeachments since the founding of the Republic, and a two-page reference chart of House impeachment actions by the official's name, office, date of impeachment, grounds and result.
A non-partisan, objective analysis of historical impeachment proceedings in an easy-to-read style, the testimony, Appendix and reference chart should be of interest and assistance to historians, students, journalists, and the general public, who wish to gain a historical perspective on the impeachment hearings begun today regarding President William Jefferson Clinton.
The article is available now on the NACDL website at: http://www.criminaljustice.org/testify/test0022.htm
The Appendix and chart, "United States Impeachments 1789 to Present" are at: http://www.criminaljustice.org/testify/test0023.htm
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.
