October 1, 1998 Contact: Ann Marie Deer Owens (615) 322-2706 annmarie.owens@vanderbilt.edu

Vanderbilt legal, political science professors

provide views on impeachment

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Three of Vanderbilt University's top legal minds and a political science professor who is an expert on Congress can provide a range of viewpoints on articles of impeachment that could be brought against President Clinton.

The professors and a brief synopsis of their views are:

• Rebecca Brown, a former Supreme Court Clerk and constitutional law scholar, believes that "the remedy of impeachment is worse than the disease in this case." She adds that impeachment is subversive to many of the bedrock constitutional procedures that are established in our system of government-popular vote of elected officials, stability in government and separation of powers.
• James Blumstein, another constitutional law authority, suggests an unconventional middle ground position, noting that the 25th amendment to the Constitution provides a vehicle for the president to temporarily relinquish office-in essence to take a presidential sabbatical of, for example, 30 to 60 days. Blumstein said that Clinton could take the time to be with his family and receive religious, pschological or psychiatric counseling. Under such a circumstance, Clinton would hand over the presidential powers to Vice President Al Gore and then resume his presidency when he felt ready to do so.
• Thomas McCoy, a law professor and constitutional scholar, describes Clinton's actions as "disgusting" and "reprehensible" but not grounds for impeachment based on charges contained in the Kenneth Starr report. The Constitution lists the articles of impeachment as "treason, bribery and other high crimes or dismeanors" and he feels Starr's report does not meet that test.
• Bruce Oppenheimer, a political science professor, says the highly partisan nature of the House of Representatives makes it highly unlikely that it will reach resolution of the impeachment issue any time soon but predicts there will be a compromise of some sort after the November elections.

-VU-

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