Can the Illinois Senate impose any penalty (fines, etc) on the governor beyond removal from office?
No. But a conviction by the Senate would mean that in the future, Blagojevich would be disqualified from holding any public office in Illinois. If Blagojevich is convicted by the state Senate, can he subsequently be indicted in a federal court for any crimes he may have committed? Yes. Is the impeachment and trial process fair? After all, many of the people serving as jurors in the Illinois Senate are now his political adversaries. His fate won’t be in the hands of an impartial and disinterested jury, will it? No, he won’t be facing a disinterested jury. But the impeachment process, both the federal level and state level, is a political process. That’s what the Framers of the United States Constitution deliberately chose. And most state constitutions follow the U.S. Constitution in this design. But Illinois state Sen. Kwame Raoul, a Democrat, told Chris Matthews in an interview on MSNBC’s Hardball Friday that he would keep an open mind and “judge whatever is presented before us objecti
Related Questions
- What is the function of the Office of Executive Inspector General for the Agencies of the Illinois Governor (OEIG)?
- Can the U.S. Senate really block Governor Blagojevich from seating Roland Burris as the new Illinois senator?
- Can the Illinois Senate impose any penalty (fines, etc) on the governor beyond removal from office?