Impeachment trial a referendum on voters' constitutional responsibility
Feb. 8, 2021, 4:30 AM EST
By Steve Vladeck, professor at the University of Texas School of Law
We should expect a fair amount of discussion of the Constitution during this week's Senate impeachment trial ...
... even though the overwhelming consensus of constitutional scholars is that each of Trump's constitutional arguments is meritless, that's just not going to matter so long as 34 or more senators conclude otherwise, either because of genuine legal theorizing or, more likely, because they see the arguments as a useful way to avoid having to either condemn or condone Trump's misconduct leading up to and during the Jan. 6 insurrection ...
... where the Constitution leaves specific questions to be resolved by the political branches (as it does with impeachment), the ultimate arbiters aren't the members of Congress, but rather their constituents. Unlike federal judges (who, by design, are not directly accountable to voters), senators can be replaced for taking positions to which their constituents object. And adopting weak constitutional arguments to let Trump (or anyone else) off the hook ought to be one of them ...
... there are circumstances in which the public does a better job of promoting constitutional values than the courts ...
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-senate-impeachment-trial-referendum-voters-constitutional-responsibility-ncna1256982
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