The attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 has emphasized the need for vigilant voters to vote only for politicians with the highest integrity. Our founders drafted the Constitution to help ensure political candidates are men of integrity and they state that politicians can only stay in office if they display good behavior. Members of Congress from the United States Senate and the House of Representatives have fueled lies and incited voters to act in unlawful ways. Our individual ability to solicit our congressional representation remains ethically limited.
When the Founders drafted the Constitution, they were primarily concerned with forming a government that would last. They make mistakes as they form Const. US Art. I, Sec. 6, cl. 1, known as a Speech or Debate clause, (1) grants members of Congress immunity for their behavior during the session. The US Supreme Court has stated that Congress is immune from civil lawsuits and some crimes. Although the Founders did not grant Congress immunity from committing crimes of breach of the peace, felony or treason, the US Supreme Court severely limited the ability of prosecutors to bring criminal charges against members of congress. This protection from civil and criminal penalties causes members of congress to act inappropriately. Independently we have few legal avenues to persuade our representatives to comply with ethical and legal standards.
The constitution gives each house of Congress the power to make rules and discipline other members, but you rarely see or hear of congress expel members of congress for misconduct. Party loyalty and other considerations create an atmosphere in which ethical standards are not met or enforced. As a result of a limited system of checks and balances for members of congress, they are becoming less ethical every year. If State political parties became better organized, they would have the ability to band together to persuade congressmen to uphold laws and ethical standards.
Political parties in every State need to encourage their members to formally join a State political party which will unite a large bloc of voters who can have lobbying powers. Each member’s contact information can be used to send monthly messages to their side trying to create a uniform message to their representatives about what you want them to support. A message to your Senator or State Representative stating, “We have 2,000,000 voters willing to elect a politician who will uphold ethical standards by impeaching a US Senator _____ for inciting violence.” A large, united political party actively seeking the ethical standards of our politicians will get results. People generally don’t like to be bothered too much so it will only work if party messages are limited to once a month, 12 years.
On July 3, 1980 Congress enacted the “Code of Ethics for Government Service.” (2) It has ten ethical standards such as placing the state above political parties and other admirable requirements. However, United States Attorneys rendered legal opinions in court, arguing that these laws are not enforceable in a civil or criminal context. The lawyer removed ethical standards that were impossible to uphold. I believe I read that the US Attorney who wrote the legal opinion was unanimously nominated as a judge by congress. Congress also rarely upholds the law or ethical standards for perjury members of the Executive nor does it do enough to ensure the Court upholds the Constitution. The blame for the attack on the US Capitol rests with the American people because we did not participate actively enough to make good changes to our government. The digital age with lightning-fast communications and political party press releases seeking party organizing and unification gives us the ability to come together to ensure our government does not embarrass us and our nation further.
(1) Todd Garvey, (December 1, 2017), “Understanding Speech or Debate Clauses” Congressional Research Service (CRS). Federation of American Scientists (FAS). R45043. [p. 6]. Publicly available at https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45043.pdf
(2) LII Staff, (1980), “Appendix Section 73 – Code of Ethics for Government Services” LII/Legal Information Agency. Cornell Law School. Publicly available at https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/34/appendix-to_part_73
