Chapter 2: The Constitution
5/17/99

The Second Amendment to the Constitution contains the provision that 'the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed'. Recently, this provision has been subject to considerable debate as to its meaning. Does the provision mean that people have the right to acquire all the firearms that they want as a reflection of their individual liberties? Or does it mean that individual possession of firearms should be limited to those who would be called to duty as part of a militia force to defend the nation against some type of external attack? The Supreme Court has not directly ruled on the proper meaning of this provision of the Second Amendment. So we are left to ponder its meaning as an increasing number of people become aware of the danger of guns through such incidents as what happened at Columbine High in Colorado.

For more information about this debate, you might want to consult National Concealed Carry Incorporated at http://www.moa.sonnet.com/nvrpc/index.html, Handgun Control, Inc. and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence at http://www.handguncontrol.org/default2.htm, and The Lawyers' Second Amendment Society at http://www.mcs.net/~lpyleprn/lsas/.

4/5/99

Many political observers and scholars labeled the events leading up to the Senate impeachment trial and the subsequent trial a 'constitutional crisis'. Even the White House offered up a defense that the trial proceedings should be delayed, if not postponed until Clinton's departure from the presidency, because they would distract him from performing his duties for the nation. There were predictions of dire consequences for the economic and political well-being of the country.

Yet as the Senate trial concluded, the stock market had not crashed, the economy did not falter, and the government didn't collapse. For most people, their daily lives were unaffected. This reflects a silver lining from the Lewinsky-Clinton scandal and that is the design of government provided in the Constitution can handle even the drastic situation of a presidency in turmoil.

Each branch of the government performed their duties in regard to the impeachment proceedings. The House charged, the Senate held the trial, and the Chief Justice presided at the trial. While performing these duties, each branch also went about conducting their normal responsibilities of governance as outlined in the Constitution. Thus, the nation was able to survive and even prosper in a situation that might have brought about a regime collapse in many other nations in the world.

1/14/99

In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee wrote and released a report on the "Constitutional Grounds for Presidential Impeachment". The report was produced in the aftermath of the Watergate crisis that involved impeachment proceedings against President Nixon. Recently, the report was made available on the web due to many questions and concerns that emerged about impeachment with the release of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's Report about President Clinton. The web address for the report is: www.house.gov/lofgren/watergatereport.html.

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