Question for our lawyers in DU.. can a jury member give a judgement

[Peacetrain]

if they leave the trial proceedings or do not show up.. I am reading that Cruz was in another room.. a number of the senators did not show up for the presentation.. Hawley was in the balcony doing some other kind of work.. if they are the jurors, can they be allowed to give a judgement if they are not there for the trial..

[TwilightZone]

1. They just have to be there for the vote.

This isn't a criminal or civil proceeding, and they're not jurors in the classic sense. They're not required to pay attention or even be there. They're supposed to be impartial but in an inherently political process, that's not going to happen, either.

Edit: they also can't be removed for displaying bias, etc.

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/verify/verify-are-senators-required-to-be-impartial-jurors-during-impeachment-trial/65-4d2847d1-a65b-4ed7-9e97-b093741c9245

[Peacetrain]

2. Thank you!!.. a lawyer I am not.. po'd I am!!

but it is what it is..

[TwilightZone]

3. Not a lawyer, either...

but I've read up on it extensively and there's a consensus that there's really not much that can be done to ensure involvement, unfortunately. There's little detail in the Constitution about impeachment so the Senate rules are the guidelines, but as the article notes, there's no enforcement for partisanship, etc.

I think we all knew this was going to happen, but as you noted, it's still highly frustrating.

[MineralMan]

4. The rules of courtrooms do not apply to the Senate.

The Senate sets its own rules.

[Peacetrain]

5. Yep. I was making and erroneous assumption..