[free-sklyarov] pointless quip

[James S. Tyre]

At 03:44 AM 7/27/2001 -0700, Seth David Schoen wrote:
>Declan McCullagh writes:
>
> > I think Nick's idea is he won't "question" congresscritters who pass
> > really bad laws for their "speech or debate," but for their votes. :)
>
>It seems that the clause is interpreted as applying to votes as well;
>if Jim isn't too busy, maybe he can explain why.  I think this is going
>off-topic, though.

Keeping it short:

"The Speech or Debate Clause, adopted by the Constitutional
Convention without debate or opposition, 19 finds its roots
in the conflict between Parliament and the Crown culminating
in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the English Bill of
Rights of 1689. 20 Drawing upon this history, we concluded in
United States v. Johnson, supra, at 181, that the purpose of
this clause was "to prevent intimidation [of legislators] by
the executive and accountability before a possibly hostile
judiciary." Although the clause sprang from a fear of seditious
libel actions instituted by the Crown to punish unfavorable
speeches made in Parliament, 21 we have held that it would be a
"narrow view" to confine the protection of the Speech or Debate
Clause to words spoken in debate.  Committee reports, resolutions,
and the act of voting are equally covered, as are "things generally
done in a session of the House by one of its members in relation to
the business before it." Kilbourn v. Thompson, supra, at 204.
Furthermore, the clause not only provides a [395 U.S. 486, 503]
defense on the merits but also protects a legislator from the burden
of defending himself.  Dombrowski v. Eastland, supra, at 85; see
Tenney v. Brandhove, supra, at 377."

         Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486 (1969)
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=395&invol=486

--------------------------------------------------------------------
James S. Tyre                               mailto:jstyre at jstyre.com
Law Offices of James S. Tyre          310-839-4114/310-839-4602(fax)
10736 Jefferson Blvd., #512               Culver City, CA 90230-4969
Co-founder, The Censorware Project             http://censorware.net