Senate trial – Opinions

Jan. 20, Chris Jenks, professor at Dedman School of Law, SMU Dallas, for a piece advocating the U.S. Senate do away with an “oath of impartiality” in the highly political impeachment trial. Published in The Hill under the heading Why pretend senators can ‘do impartial justice’?: http://bit.ly/2LGvRrz

One of the first events that would occur at a Senate trial of Donald Trump is that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts would administer an oath for the senators to “do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws” as they sit in judgment.

If the Senate tries Trump, this oath-taking should not happen.

Why shouldn’t senators take such an oath? Because such a trial would be for the Senate to determine whether Trump incited a mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, killed five people including a police officer and injured dozens more, occupied the Senate floor and forced Congress to evacuate. Senators were the victims of Trump’s alleged misconduct and, as such, cannot possibly “do impartial justice.” The House and its members were equal victims and they impeached Trump — but did not take an oath to be impartial before doing so.

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