C. Meade, the same Meade for whom the Southern Maryland Army base was named. That base, Fort Meade, was home to the NSA.
The power of the statue, however, paled in comparison to the force wielded within the halls of the courthouse. Article III of the US Constitution provided for the establishment of the Supreme Court and all inferior federal courts. It gave them the power to interpret and apply the law.
Unlike federal criminal cases, in which defendants usually went to trial within seventy days of arrest, civil cases could take months or even years to resolve. There was no such promise of a speedy trial in civil disagreements.
Blackmon’s case against Speaker Jackson was to be handled with lightning speed. It was a constitutional question that could not be shelved on some future docket. Unfortunately for the judge who received the case, he’d “won” the random drawing used to assign equal caseloads among the district’s twelve active judges.
Even before the sun peeked over the dome of the Capitol to the east, the judge was at work. He knew his opinion would draw immediate and loud reaction worldwide. While he would not rule until after both Blackmon’s and Jackson’s attorneys made their arguments later in the morning, he needed to be ready with questions for both sides.
It was complicated. Should the Speaker of the House be second in the line of presidential succession ahead of the cabinet officers? On the surface, the answer was yes.
But as the judge looked at previous versions of the Succession Act, and as he read the argument that James Madison made to Pendleton, he understood the argument against the constitutionality of the current Act.
He read with interest the case that Blackmon’s team of constitutional lawyers made for the “irreparable harm” that would come to his client and to the nation should Speaker of the House Jackson be allowed to take the oath of office.
“The question might be asked as to why the plaintiff has not taken the oath of office for the vice presidency,” the attorneys reasoned in the brief. It was a moot point on two fronts. The line of succession according to Article III, Section 1 of United States Code automatically applied when there was a simultaneous presidential and vice presidential vacancy. Taking the oath subsequent to the president’s death would not place the plaintiff atop the line of succession.
However, the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution required no such oath. It read “Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.”
The judge reasoned that, according to Blackmon’s interpretation of the Constitutional amendment, the vice president automatically assumed power once both houses confirmed the nomination. It was, the judge noted, an unorthodox, but potentially effective argument.
It answered the question why Blackmon had not tried to outmaneuver Jackson with a quickie oath. By his own attorneys’ assessments, the oath either didn’t matter or wasn’t necessary. The key was to stop Jackson from becoming president, not speeding up Blackmon’s ascension. The judge thought it was a brilliant strategy.
The response that Jackson’s legal team had filed was straightforward and clean, but uninspired. It relied primarily on the current Act signed in 1947 and on existing US Code. It did not make a constitutional argument, given that no mention of the Speaker of the House was made in the document as it related to succession.
The only two places, constitutionally, that discussed succession were the Twenty-Fifth Amendment and Article II, Section 1. Those both directly named the vice president as successor. Article II, Section 1 did discuss “officers”, but Jackson’s lawyers thought it better to avoid that question until arguing the definition before the judge. It was an outwardly
The power of the statue, however, paled in comparison to the force wielded within the halls of the courthouse. Article III of the US Constitution provided for the establishment of the Supreme Court and all inferior federal courts. It gave them the power to interpret and apply the law.
Unlike federal criminal cases, in which defendants usually went to trial within seventy days of arrest, civil cases could take months or even years to resolve. There was no such promise of a speedy trial in civil disagreements.
Blackmon’s case against Speaker Jackson was to be handled with lightning speed. It was a constitutional question that could not be shelved on some future docket. Unfortunately for the judge who received the case, he’d “won” the random drawing used to assign equal caseloads among the district’s twelve active judges.
Even before the sun peeked over the dome of the Capitol to the east, the judge was at work. He knew his opinion would draw immediate and loud reaction worldwide. While he would not rule until after both Blackmon’s and Jackson’s attorneys made their arguments later in the morning, he needed to be ready with questions for both sides.
It was complicated. Should the Speaker of the House be second in the line of presidential succession ahead of the cabinet officers? On the surface, the answer was yes.
But as the judge looked at previous versions of the Succession Act, and as he read the argument that James Madison made to Pendleton, he understood the argument against the constitutionality of the current Act.
He read with interest the case that Blackmon’s team of constitutional lawyers made for the “irreparable harm” that would come to his client and to the nation should Speaker of the House Jackson be allowed to take the oath of office.
“The question might be asked as to why the plaintiff has not taken the oath of office for the vice presidency,” the attorneys reasoned in the brief. It was a moot point on two fronts. The line of succession according to Article III, Section 1 of United States Code automatically applied when there was a simultaneous presidential and vice presidential vacancy. Taking the oath subsequent to the president’s death would not place the plaintiff atop the line of succession.
However, the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution required no such oath. It read “Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.”
The judge reasoned that, according to Blackmon’s interpretation of the Constitutional amendment, the vice president automatically assumed power once both houses confirmed the nomination. It was, the judge noted, an unorthodox, but potentially effective argument.
It answered the question why Blackmon had not tried to outmaneuver Jackson with a quickie oath. By his own attorneys’ assessments, the oath either didn’t matter or wasn’t necessary. The key was to stop Jackson from becoming president, not speeding up Blackmon’s ascension. The judge thought it was a brilliant strategy.
The response that Jackson’s legal team had filed was straightforward and clean, but uninspired. It relied primarily on the current Act signed in 1947 and on existing US Code. It did not make a constitutional argument, given that no mention of the Speaker of the House was made in the document as it related to succession.
The only two places, constitutionally, that discussed succession were the Twenty-Fifth Amendment and Article II, Section 1. Those both directly named the vice president as successor. Article II, Section 1 did discuss “officers”, but Jackson’s lawyers thought it better to avoid that question until arguing the definition before the judge. It was an outwardly
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