By Washington
Examiner | MARCH 27,
2014
This may come as a
shock to Lois Lerner, but the House of Representatives
has the authority to jail her unless she changes her mind about refusing to
answer questions about her role in the IRS scandal. Essentially, what is required for
that to happen is for a House majority to vote for a motion holding her in
contempt and House Speaker John Boehner to then direct the House sergeant
at arms to arrest and confine her. Under the Constitution, the House can do that under its
“inherent contempt” authority, which was initially exercised in 1795 during the
First Congress and on multiple occasions thereafter. Lerner could be held until
January 2015 when a new Congress is seated, which could issue another subpoena
and throw her in the clink again if she still balks at testifying.
According to a
2012 Congressional Research Service report, inherent contempt has the unique
advantage that it doesn’t require “the cooperation or assistance of either the
executive or judicial branches. The House or Senate can, on its own, conduct
summary proceedings and cite the offender for contempt.” The prospect of an
eight or nine month stretch in the congressional slammer might have a sobering
effect on Lerner. On the other hand, neither the House nor the Senate has used
this authority since 1935, according to the CRS report, because the process can
be “unseemly” and time-consuming……..T0 Read More……
No comments:
Post a Comment