Nixon v. United States
| Nixon v. United States | ||||
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| Negotiated October 14, 1992 |
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| Decided January 13, 1993 |
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| Certiorari to clarify the question of whether in the context of impeachment ( impeachment ) consultation and Beweissichtung only by a Senatskommittee according to the Senate Regulation XI ( Senate Rule XI ) and not by the Senate in its entirety the requirement of the Constitution of the United States to such a procedure enough. | ||||
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| The wording of Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 of the United States Constitution gives the Senate full authority over the manner in which the hearing and examination of evidence in impeachment proceedings are conducted. An impeachment decided by the House of Representatives and the Senate can only be legally challenged in the event of obvious procedural errors. | ||||
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| Applied Law | ||||
| Article I Section 3, Clause 6 of the United States Constitution |
Nixon v. United States is the Supreme Court of the United States negotiated case on the question whether in the context of impeachment ( impeachment hearings and Beweissichtung only in a Senate committee instead) in the full Senate must be performed.
background
Walter Nixon, a district court judge in the US state of Mississippi, was convicted of perjury in a criminal case but refused to step down even after serving his sentence. The House of Representatives then initiated impeachment proceedings against Nixon under Article I Section 3 Clause 6 of the United States Constitution . The Senate responsible for carrying out the impeachment trial set up a committee to hear and examine evidence of the proceedings , with reference to an applicable Senate Ordinance ( Senate Rule XI ). This committee reported to the plenary meeting of the Senate, whereupon the Senate decided to impeach Nixon with the necessary two-thirds majority.
Nixon then sued against his impeachment, on the grounds that the examination of evidence only in a committee and not in the plenary assembly of the Senate did not meet the constitutional requirements for impeachment proceedings. After the plaintiff had failed in all lower courts, the United States Supreme Court took the case for final decision.
judgment
Nixon's lawsuit was dismissed by the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision. The wording of the United States Constitution ( "The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments." ) Gives the Senate extensive discretion in deciding how to conduct an impeachment process. A removal from office decided by the House of Representatives and the Senate is not legally contestable ( nonjusticiable ). The only exception were obvious procedural errors, for example if the majorities prescribed in the constitution were not adhered to. This is also in the sense of the separation of powers desired by the founding fathers of the United States , since impeachment proceedings are an instrument of control of the judiciary by the legislature and must therefore be removed from contestability by the judiciary.