... you're getting me excited.
You know what I mean, Congressman. The words you said yesterday in your letter to Harriet Miers, after she announced she would refuse to appear today. She's refusing to respond to a Congressional subpoena, on the orders of the President. Your letter told her:
A refusal to appear before the Subcommittee tomorrow could subject Ms. Miers to contempt proceedings, including but not limited to proceedings under 2 U.S.C. § 194 and under the inherent contempt authority of the House of Representatives.
"Inherent contempt." My heart fluttered.
In recent decades Congress has relied on having contempt of Congress cases handled in the federal courts. Inherent contempt charges are not: the House casts a majority vote to find the defendant in contempt, and the convicted defendant is then taken into custody by House employees and confined for up to the remainder of the session (that is, until January 2009).
The Bush Administration is planning to run out the clock on court-based contempt charges, with the Justice Department delaying or refusing to file charges, lots of court motions, and appeals. Inherent contempt proceedings short-circuit that.
Kagro X has been promoting this approach for some time now.
There are some concerns and questions:
- Why hasn't it been used since the mid-1930s? Not because of legal doubts -- the 1930s case went to SCOTUS, which upheld Congress' authority to use the inherent contempt procedure. But letting the Justice Department and the courts handle these violations is easier. It wasn't until Reagan's Justice Department sat on its hands after Congress voted contempt of Congress charges against EPA administrator Anne Gorsuch that the old procedure seemed to have any advantage.
- Could Miers appeal a conviction in the House through the court system? I don't believe so (IANAL). But she could file a habeas corpus claim -- that's what happened in the 1930s, and SCOTUS ruled that the inherent contempt proceedings provided due process.
- Could the President pardon her following an inherent contempt conviction? Major Danby argues 'No.'
Light the candles, put on Billie Holliday, and whisper those words again, Mr. Chairman.