I. INTRODUCTION

A.  Art of the Week

• The shadows chasing the light along the wall, sitting back pondering and searching for the perfect expression, the contemplative thought at the typewriter seeking the text to capture the image and escape the mind into the universe and speak it into truth, French doors open the platform under a Moroccan style key-shaped window onto the world outside mirroring the mind within. An artistic articulation of the weekly entreaty to craft the Barnes Brief.  

B.  Recommendation of the Week

• A favorite of our Founders — The Law of Nations. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4618391-the-law-of-nations

C.  Wisdom of the Week

• “Here then is an infallible criterion, by which the nation may judge of the intentions of those who govern it ... if they corrupt the morals of the people, spread a taste for luxury, effeminacy, a rage for licentious pleasures, - if they stimulate the higher orders to a ruinous pomp and extravagance, - beware, citizens! beware of those corruptors! they only aim at purchasing slaves in order to exercise over them an arbitrary sway.” Emer de Vattel, The Law of Nations. 

D.  Appearances

• Sidebar w/ Col. Macgregor https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7601541/live-with-colonel-douglas-macgregor-are-we-on-the-brink-of-world-war
• Sidebar w/ Max Blumenthal https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7595594/live-with-max-blumenthal-trumps-action-in-venezuela-to-iran-chaos-what-comes-next-viva-barne
• LIVE w/ the Duran
  

II. THE EVIDENCE

A.   Barnes Library: Ten of the Top Curated Weekly Articles 

A reminder: links are NOT endorsements of the authors or their interpretation of events, but intended to expand our library of understanding as well as expose ideas of distinct perspective to our own. 

1. Democrats losing path on Immigration. https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/the-bankruptcy-of-the-democrats-elvis
2. Dems’ Identity Politics problem. https://josephklein.substack.com/p/dem-blindness
3. Gun-boat politics: the risks. https://www.chathamhouse.org/2026/01/what-would-trumps-threatened-strikes-colombia-mexico-or-cuba-achieve
4. Google as AI Dictator. https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/will-google-organize-the-worlds-prices
5. Trucker protest to secession. https://trendcompass.substack.com/p/breakup-of-canada-alberta-independence
6. The literary scam. https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/perhaps-people-are-cynical-about
7. Russia’s new weapon: Thor’s Lightning. https://bmanalysis.substack.com/p/oreshnik-vs-lviv-targets-i
8. Pardon problems. https://x.com/kenvogel/status/2012223411523588300?s=20
9. Iran: bombs not problem-solvers. https://substack.com/home/post/p-184501786
10. Iran CIA-Mossad coup fails. https://substack.com/home/post/p-184279171

*Bonus: Board member w/ The Duran on Venezuela

B.  Homework: Cases of the Week for Sunday

1. Powell Prosecution https://quoththeraven.substack.com/p/the-powell-affair-and-the-limits?
2. SCOTUS: 4th Amendment https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-624_b07d.pdf
3. SCOTUS: Elections. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-568_gfbh.pdf
4. SCOTUS: 2nd Amendment. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-1046/357868/20250501090640899_24-1046%20Amicus%20Brief.pdf
5. SCOTUS: Single conviction. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-5774_9nbe.pdf
6. Insurrection in Twin Cities https://newsletter.amuseonx.com/p/minnesota-is-rejecting-federal-sovereignty
7. ICE Sued. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/ACLU-v-Trump-Admin.pdf
8. Musk v ChatGPT https://courthousenews.com/elon-musks-fraud-claims-against-openai-set-to-go-to-trial/
9. 1A case goes to sanctions stage. https://courthousenews.com/judge-slams-government-for-conspiring-to-chill-free-speech-of-pro-palestine-students/
10. EPA’s forever chemicals. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/lawsuit-PFAS-environment.pdf
11. Tina Peters appeal.
12. Benshoof Municipal Appeal. 

*Bonus: Constitutional questions about the Federal Reserve. https://southerncalifornialawreview.com/2024/05/14/the-federal-reserve-and-the-constitution/

**Bonus: Subs w/o consent. https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/open-lawsuit-settlements/625000-educative-subscription-class-action-settlement/

***Bonus: Bondi burying cases of corporate corruption. https://www.citizen.org/article/canceled-corporate-enforcement-trump-first-year-second-term/

C.  Best of the Board: Ten of the Top Posts

1. A delicious photo. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7607864/title
2. Beware of dangerous Karens when out in the wild. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7607634/https-x-com-tarabull-status-2012125177245466820-s-20-i-blame-the-cia-fbi-for-creating-these-der
3. Music industry vs Big Tech. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7607465/for-those-interested-elon-musk-vs-the-music-industry-jan-16-2025-top-music-attorney
4. Bill Brown effective comedic memes. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7606729/title
5. The color revolution behind ICE protests. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7607435/this-is-organized-crime-https-thepostmillennial-com-radical-anti-ice-network-uses-mass-signal-cha
6. Types of TDS multiply. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7607854/tds-trump-derangement-syndrome-type-a-and-b-type-a-oppose-hate-trump-at-all-costs-even-when-he-i
7. Biblical blessing of obstacles. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7607379/james-1-2-4-have-you-ever-wondered-why-would-a-loving-heavenly-father-allow-his-children-to-go
8. Trump 2nd term portrait? https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7606837/i-d-be-ok-with-this
9. Good health news from a Board member. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7606735/just-another-update-on-ken-s-progress-following-his-esophagectomy-i-m-honestly-amazed-at-his-re
10. Ideas for improving cars. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7605241/policy-proposals-to-improve-modern-cars-ban-def-in-new-designs-for-diesel-engines-ban-it-becaus

III.   Closing Argument: The Constitution, Article I: The Law of Nations

• Contrary to some claims, the Constitution recognizes international law and its potential applicability to the actions of the various branches of the government. 
• The Preamble provides the purpose: provide for the common dense, insure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty. 
• Section 8 of Article 1 empowers Congress to both law and collect duties on foreign goods; “to regulate commerce with foreign nations”, “establish a uniform rule of naturalization”, to “borrow money on the credit of the United States”, to “define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the High Seas”; to define and punish “offenses against the Law of Nation”; to “make rules concerning captures on land and water”;and no person holding “office of profit or trust” may accept any “present, emolument, office, title of any kind” from a foreign state. 
• Section 2 of Article 2 provides for the power of the President “to make Treaties” which become legally binding when “two thirds of the Senators present concur.” 
• Of note, the judicial power in Article 3, section 2 provides for the all cases arising under the Treaties made to be adjudicated, along with all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction and controversies concerning foreign states, citizens or subjects. 
• Article 6 provides for debts to be “valid against the United States” while making “all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States” as “the supreme law of the land” binding all judges in every state “notwithstanding” any contradiction in their own state laws or state constitution.
• What is the “Law of Nations” referenced by our founders in the Constitution charging Congress with drafting its criminal enforcement mechanism? Colloquially called in the Latin as Jus Gentium, it forms the legal precepts governing relations between sovereign states, rooted in custom and treaties, defining the rights, duties and conduct of nations in areas like international waters, conflict between nations, emigration and immigration between nations, extradition and deportation between nations, and commerce between nations. The origin of this derives from Roman law and concepts of universal jurisdiction. Catholic scholars would add natural law from universal moral precepts and principles as part of it, from which doctrines like jus cogens originate. 
• A prominent scholar recognized and respected by the Founders informed their judgment — the Swiss jurist Emer de Vattell, entitled The Law of Nations. Every thoughtful writer of the Constitution included the text in their library and amongst their lexicon for inspiring their own construct of the justifications for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution itself. 
• The same doctrine animated the most celebrated application of natural law to the law between nations and citizens in foreign lands — the Nuremberg trials. A good index can be found here: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/imt.asp
• Later codified into the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, America led the way in establishing universal norms of conduct for both citizens and states to engage in. A critical constituent justification for the jus cogens norms derived from the existence of God and natural law. In other words, those that claim “no international law exists” are not just ignoring the Constitution and American-led legal precedent, they are rejecting natural law and the divine inspiration that shapes and justifies it. As always, in general guide to law and life, trust the Founders first, and second, never trust taking the side of the Nazis or those so aligned. 

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Art of the Week

• At the Capitol spending time with young idealists working for their farmer-engineer turned dissident Congressman representing the heart of Appalachia against the attacks of the left and right alike. A Congressman of Constitutional Conscience. 

 B. Recommendation of the Week

• Revolt from the Heartland. Rediscovering true conservatism. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1556981.Revolt_from_the_Heartland

C. Wisdom of the Week

• Between “Us or Laos”, “I am wondering if it is not time for us to quit treating the good American in our own house as a louse.” Rep. Siler, Kentucky, 1959. 

https://appalachianhistorian.org/the-story-of-eugene-siler-from-whitley-kentucky/

D. Appearances

• Live w/ Baris
  
• Live w/ Rekieta https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7577211/nite-owl-special-live-w-rekieta

II. BEST OF THE BOARD

1. Arrest our own crooks. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7590540/this
2. New game: Blockgino! https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7590401/title
3. Our own artists. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7590177/this-painting-a-commission-is-almost-ready-to-be-signed-and-varnished-i-used-my-own-references-an
4. Viva: gatekeeping gate-keeps itself. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7587292/there-will-be-gatekeeping-deep-thought-of-the-day
5. A different time. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7589759/baltimores-marble-steps-a-distinctive-architectural-feature-popular-from-the-mid-19th-to
6. Truth about who wins promotion. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7589681/https-x-com-shreyas-status-2009773326059876719-s-46-t-kq-szkcyjrqpongym3k4q
7. Good news from Dave. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7586825/today-i-will-be-released-from-the-hospital-i-cannot-stand-being-confined-to-a-small-space-i-have
8. Freedom of horses. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7589702/title
9. Permanent wisdom. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7588878/title
10. A good, good opportunity. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7588873/man-when-i-went-to-university-the-first-time-i-never-looked-up-what-my-grades-were-i-found-out-by

III. BARNES LIBRARY: CURATED STORIES OF THE WEEK

1. Blue-collar job loss. https://www.apricitas.io/p/america-is-losing-blue-collar-jobs
2. The populist moment comes to Democrats too. https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/a-deeper-look-at-americas-anti-establishment
3. Limits on Venezuelan oil. https://prospect.org/2026/01/06/trump-maduro-venezuela-oil-imperialism/
4. Banksters are still the problem. https://quoththeraven.substack.com/p/monetary-policy-is-monetary-piracy
5. Venezuela recap. https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/big-surprise-legal-story-changesCBS new neocon network. https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-new-neoconservatives/
6. New food guidelines. https://realfood.gov
7. Vaccine schedule changes. https://x.com/AaronSiriSG/status/2009366832340455656?s=20=
8. New fraud AAG. https://www.govexec.com/management/2026/01/white-house-creates-new-assistant-attorney-general-focused-fraud/410583/
9. Credit card rate cap. https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-content/uploads/sites/412/2025/09/03183755/Capping-Credit-Card-Rates.pdf
10. Labor share low. 

IV. HOMEWORK: CASES OF THE WEEK FOR THE SUNDAY SHOW

1. ICE shooting. https://x.com/AlphaNews/status/2009679932289626385?s=20
2. Anti-trust betrayal. https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/real-estate-brokerages-avoided-merger-investigation-after-justice-department-rift-e846c797?
3. Habeas reform. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/scotus-bowe-us-opinion.pdf
4. Third Amendment? https://courthousenews.com/hotel-dispute-with-trump-administration-tests-rarely-cited-constitutional-rights/
5. Election reform efforts blocked. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/washington-oregon-trump-election-eo-order.pdf
6. Fraud programs protected. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/subramanian-ruling-on-childcare-emergency-motion.pdf
7. WWE class action. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/wwe-lawsuit-class-action-espn.pdf
8. Right to high school highlights. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/laurel-beeler-order-granting-in-part-and-denying-in-part.pdf
9. Ohio Abortion Law. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/ohio-coa-abortion-injunction-opinion.pdf
10. AI settlement. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/technology/google-characterai-teenager-lawsuit.html

V. CLOSING ARGUMENT: THE CONSTITUTION, ARTICLE I, THE POWER OVER WAR

• Clause 11 of Section of Article I entitles Congress exclusively “to declare war” as well as to “grant letters of marque and reprisal” along with “Rules concerning captures on Land and water.” This executes the Preamble’s commitment to provide for “the common defense.” In addition, Congress alone defines offenses against the law of nations; the means to raise and support armies as well as establishing a navy; the rules for armed forces; and calling forth of the Militia. It removes this power from the states as “No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance or Confederation” nor “grant letters of Marque and reprisal” as well as “engage in War” unless invaded and in imminent danger. Indeed, treason is defined as “levying War” against the United States. 
• Article 2, by contrast, only affords the President the power to be “Commander in Chief” of the Army, Navy, and the Militia “when called into the actual service of the United States.” 
• Equally, the power to control Letters of Marque confirm this Constitutional power of Congress, distilling the power of war into many hands across representatives of the people subject to elections throughout the nation. A letter of Marque and Reprisal turned pirates into privateers, authorizing private enterprise to both attack and seize ships as well as cargo, arguably the foundation for modern sanctions as well as the use of force on the high seas. If sanctions power was intended as incidental to the Commander in Chief,  it wouldn’t;t be explicitly afforded Congress and explicitly denied the states. 
• The history of the Roman republic contextualizes this segregation of military power — the fear the Republic devolved into an Empire the moment it let one man cross the Rubicon and hoard the power to make war. 
• The analogy to the States serves the purpose to confine the Presidential power to unilaterally declare war, a necessary Constitutional predicate to making war. States could only make war without Congress if “actually invaded” and “in imminent danger.” This standard compares to the universal law of self-defense recognized the the law of nations, which Congress also gets to define the offenses against in the Constitution. 
• The only efficacious means of Constitutional enforcement of these provisions derives from the balance of powers (Congress control over the purse and Judicial control over property or person disputes derivative of the use of military force) and the Impeachment Clause of the Constitution for the kind of “high crime” derivative of the use of military force (trespass, kidnapping, piracy, battery, assault, murder). 
• The anti-Federalists feared even this power to precarious in the hands of a centralized, nationalized government, where “swayed by elites” they would devolve into “wars for conquest, not defense”, preferring this power devolve even further to the local and state level, enforced through the prohibition on standing armies, quartering armies in the community, and the power of arms in the hands of the people through the Militia and the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights. They especially worried about the capacity of a single man in the Presidency usurping the powers of the Commander in Chief to make war without even Congressional blessing. The Federalists promised the President could never do that without Congressional pre-approval, with John Jay promising this check effectively muted the fear of abuse of executive power. 
• Our founding generation abhorred emperors, despised empire, and feared any crossing of the Rubicon by a small elite or single person to kill a Republic for a would-be empire. Our founders denied the right to make conquest a legitimate objective of the national government. Why? Because they saw how adventurous, avaricious empires killed republics quicker than anything could. Don’t need to be a Star Wars fun to understand that; just need a Cliffs Notes history of the world. 

I.   INTRODUCTION

A. Art of the Day

Christmas music, my favorite season thanks to my father, by wondrous choirs, which also was my father’s favorite form of Holiday cheer. This particular album from the Vienna Boys Choir.

B. Wisdom of the Day

“Ignore them, and you get Fuentes, but worse.” Carl Benjamin on young men in the west.

C. Cultural Recommendation

Greatest Christmas movie ever. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097958/

D. Appearances

• LIVE w/ Tom Woods
• LIVE w/ Dr. Bowden & Brook Jackson

II.   THE EVIDENCE

 *Note: A reminder — links are NOT endorsements of the ideas contained therein. The Library is big, and it often consists of ideas I do not personally share, but whose ideas are worth further exploring.

A.  Daily News of Interest

1. Erika Kirk announces support for Vance 2028. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/erika-kirk-endorses-jd-vance-for-president/ar-AA1SEd5F
2. Left populism rebuild. https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/the-future-of-the-left-in-the-21st-ef0
3. Big MAHA wins on trans interventions. https://www.themahareport.com/p/breaking-kennedy-signs-medical-declaration
4. Somali fraud. https://archive.is/lMATr
5. Georgia comes clean on 2020, in part. https://thefederalist.com/2025/12/17/fulton-county-we-dont-dispute-315000-votes-lacking-poll-workers-signatures-were-counted-in-2020/

*Bonus: Kimchi heals. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/12/251216081945.htm

B. Daily Deep Dive: Zoomer Men Rebel

1. Zoomer men missing relationships. https://isaiahmccall.substack.com/p/gen-z-men-have-given-up-on-dating
2. Condemned for their gender. https://yougov.co.uk/society/articles/52863-young-men-masculinity-and-misogyny
3. No good jobs. https://fortune.com/2025/08/25/gen-zers-neets-jobless-men-unemployed-higher-rates-women-healthcare-coding-ai/
4. No home. https://fortune.com/2025/12/12/gen-z-giving-up-on-owning-home-spending-more-saving-less-working-less-risky-investments/
5. Carl Benjamin explains.

*Bonus: Hollywood attacks young men. https://slate.com/culture/2024/11/entertainment-hollywood-masculinity-male-role-models-movies-tv-social-media.html

C. Cases of Consequence

1. Brown University murder case. https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/claudio-neves-valente-reddit-brown-shooting-b2887811.html
2. Epstein Files release.
3. Bongino retires. https://x.com/barnes_law/status/2001725595022160288?s=20
4. Judge convicted. https://www.npr.org/2025/12/18/nx-s1-5648584/judge-hannah-dugan-guilty-obstruction-ice
5. 1stA & immigration judges. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/opinion-immigration-judges-free-speech-trump.pdf
6. Maryland reparations legislation. https://apnews.com/article/slavery-reparations-wes-moore-veto-maryland-9c134edbf0410228035743a8dc546171
7. Luigi. https://courthousenews.com/luigi-mangione-faces-uphill-battle-after-marathon-evidence-hearing/
8. 1A & new antisemitism laws. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/antisemitism-lawsuit.pdf
9. Minnesota whistleblower suit: bogus child abuse grant scam. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/sharon-vs-harper-complaint.pdf
10. Walmart sexual assault. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/walmart-could-have-foreseen-sexual-assault.pdf

*Bonus: Baby Shark suit. https://ww3.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/892398f9-ac03-458a-8ba1-dce37861e63c/1/doc/24-313_opn.pdf#xml=https://ww3.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/892398f9-ac03-458a-8ba1-dce37861e63c/1/hilite/

III.     Best of the Board: Trump Admin Grade

On the 1^st year of the 2^nd term of the Trump administration

• UncleBugbite: I'm a young man with decades ahead of me to suffer under our bullshit kleptocracy. Sure, Kamala Harris isn't president right now. But Trump's absolute failure to address the structural problems is laying the groundwork for something much worse and better prepared than stupid Kamala Harris, with a desperate population willing to risk more extreme measures for any sort of relief. Trump's weakness is wasting the tiny opportunity we had to fix things, and frankly I'm terrified.
• JoeKD: This Country was a FUCKING MESS. You just don't clean up a Mess like that in 9 months. Give the man some time. It'll get there. As far as Foreign Affairs goes, he needed to spend alot of time on that to get our Allies back in line.
• TJefferson: Positives: Immigration/border; JD vance/RFK jr/Tulsi; Multiple pardons; A single month of DOGE. Negatives: Everything else
• Iceni2103: what are we comparing it to? compared to the alternative, it is B+ to A range. Kamala or Biden 2 would have been an utter disaster. compared to the promises: D+? some good things (mostly border, hard changes to trade, and some executive reforms), but he is falling down way too much (hyping up 'peace deals' that don't last, warmongering Venezuela, dragging out Ukraine, unforced errors on staffing and by extension big issues like Epstein, DOGE/BBB, and MAHA, listening to neo-cons like he needs to please them, focus on donors not voters).
• Bdmichael09: The only thing hes actually done that truly matters is stop the insane flow of mass migration. That is great, but he hasn't delivered really on anything else. Russia/Ukraine is still a shit show. He bends over and takes it up thr ass for Israel daily rather than put them in their place as the welfare recipients of the US that they are. This nonsense with Venezuela needs to stop, now. He hasn't handled any of the corruption in the bureaucratic state. His push to lower interest rates is a recipe for disaster. We need more restrictive monetary policy after the covid insanity, not easy money policy. Its going to take at least a decade to recover from those awful Congressional decisions in 2020 and 2021. He hasn't actually held the DEI bureaucracy to account in Universities. Many universities kept all of the DEI people but renamed the departments/roles and there has been 0 follow up on actually stomping that out.
• Ktrimbach: I go back and forth between B- and C+. He’s still the best President of my life (starting with Nixon), but Oh so much less than he could be!

IV.    Closing Argument: The Constitution, Article 1, The Power of Impeachment

• Aside from the power of the purse, the other principal power afforded the legislative branch is the power to remove executive officers, including the President and Judges, in the power of Impeachment.
• As always, we start, first and foremost, with the text. Section 3 of Article 1 provides the House
  shall have the sole Power of impeachment” while ascribing to the Senate “the sole Power to try all Impeachments.” The Constitution requires “no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.” The constitution constricts the impact of impeachment to “not extend further than to removal from Office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.” Further, “the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment according to Law” by authorities other than the legislative branch.
• Of note, Article 1 otherwise remains mute on the issue of impeachment. The other Articles answer who can be impeached and the legal predicates for cause to issue such impeachments. Section 4 of Article 2 provides impeachment for the President, Vice President “and all civil Officers of the United States.” The cause permitted for their impeachment is limited to “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” The power to impeach judges is only indirectly referenced, as section 1 of Article 3 provides judges can only hold their offices “during good behaviour.” The only other reference to cause for removal is the obligation for all judicial officers to be “bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution” in Article 6. The rules of impeachment permit “each house may determine the rules of its proceedings” in section 5 of Article 1. The “civil officers” subject to impeachment parallel the “principal officers” the Senate must be “advised” and “consented” to the appointment of under Article 2.
• While executive officers can only be impeached for “treason, bribery or high crimes and misdemeanors”, judges can be impeached simply for not holding office during “good behaviour.” Some scholars argue the ‘good behaviour” phrase was just a limitation on at-will firing, and not an independent grounds for impeachment and removal, but early American practice and ancient English practice belies that construction. The contrast evidences that good behavior is a broader provision than treason, bribery or high crimes and misdemeanors. A judge can be impeached for non-criminal conduct. The phrase derives from the Latin – as long as they shall behave themselves well. The legacy of the phrase derives from old English practice dating to the 12^th century, intended to protect against arbitrary removal or removal without any limits on discretion, comparable to the principle difference between “at will” employment and “for cause” limits on firing.
• What constitutes such cause for judicial removal? Consider early American practice: merely being drink on the bench was sufficient for impeachment. The principal and paramount precedent of impeachment of judicial officers is the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase in 1804. What grounds did the House recite: “arbitrary, oppressive and unjust” handling of a trial, including partisan prejudice especially, as reflected in the application of the law, exclusions of evidence, and inaccurate recitations of the law to grand juries. Two examples include the failure to remove biased jurors, excluding defense witnesses, and generally “tending to prostitute the high judicial character with which he was invested, to the low purpose of an electioneering partizan.”
• Sound like any Judges you know?