Jamie Case: Constitutional Basis Explored

Jamin Ben Jamie Raskin, born in Washington, D.C., on December 13, 1962, is an American attorney, law professor, and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2017. He was a professor of constitutional law and the First Amendment at American University's Washington College of Law for 25 years, where he co-founded the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project. Raskin has authored several books, including The Wealth Primary: Campaign Fundraising and the Constitution and Overruling Democracy: The Supreme Court versus the American People. He was the lead impeachment manager for the second impeachment of President Donald Trump in response to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, an event that has become known as the Insurrection.

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Jamie Raskin's political career

Jamin Ben Raskin, born on December 13, 1962, is an American attorney, law professor, and politician. He has served as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2017. Raskin is a member of the Democratic Party and served in the Maryland State Senate from 2007 to 2016. He was elected to the Maryland Senate in 2006 after defeating incumbent state senator Ida G. Ruben in the Democratic primary election. During his time in the Maryland Senate, he served as the Senate Majority Whip and chaired the Montgomery County Senate Delegation and the Select Committee on Ethics Reform. He also sponsored bills advocating for marriage equality, the abolition of the death penalty, and the establishment of benefit corporations.

In 2016, Raskin ran for Congress and prevailed in what was then the most expensive House primary election in American history. He was endorsed by progressive groups and was viewed as the most liberal candidate in the race. Raskin was sworn into his fourth term at the start of the 118th Congress on January 6, 2023. During his time in Congress, he has served on various committees and subcommittees, including the House Judiciary Committee, the Committee on House Administration, the Rules Committee, and the Coronavirus Select Subcommittee. He was also the lead impeachment manager for the second impeachment of President Donald Trump in response to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Prior to his political career, Raskin was a constitutional law professor at American University's Washington College of Law for more than 25 years. He has authored several books, including "Overruling Democracy: The Supreme Court versus the American People" and "We the Students: Supreme Court Cases for and about America's Students." He has also written dozens of essays and founded the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project. As a politician, he has supported banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and voted in favor of the Equality Act. He has also defended voting rights, free speech, reproductive freedom, and the rights of women.

The Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project

The program has been implemented in several law schools across the country, including American University Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., Howard University School of Law, Mitchell Hamline School of Law in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Thomas R. Kline School of Law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder, Colorado. The project is designed as a partnership between the law schools and underserved local public high schools, with both law students and high school students earning academic credit for their participation.

The impeachment of Donald Trump

Jamie Raskin, an American attorney, law professor, and politician, served as the lead impeachment manager for the second impeachment of President Donald Trump. Trump was impeached twice during his single term in office, but he was acquitted on all counts by the Senate.

The first impeachment trial stemmed from a call President Trump had with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. During the call, President Trump asked the Ukrainian President to announce two investigations: one involving his potential opponent in the upcoming 2020 presidential election and a second into allegations that entities within Ukraine had interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

The second impeachment was in response to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. On that day, Trump incited a violent insurrection against the Constitution and attempted a political coup to block the counting of electoral college votes. Following the attack, Raskin drafted an impeachment article against Trump with his colleagues Ted Lieu, Joe Neguse, and David Cicilline. The House voted to impeach Trump by 232-197 for trying to seize the presidency and prevent the peaceful transfer of power.

Trump's impeachment trials were characterized by deep partisan divides and complicated disagreements over questions of law and fact, including presidential motive. A central constitutional conflict that arose during the trials involved the relationship between impeachment and criminal law. The House managers and President Trump’s attorneys disagreed on whether high crimes and misdemeanors require evidence of a criminal act or other legal violation. The House, consistent with past impeachment practice, asserted that high Crimes and Misdemeanors need not be indictable criminal offenses. However, Trump's attorneys argued that an impeachable offense must be a violation of established law.

In addition to the two impeachment trials, there have been other calls for Trump's impeachment. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) supported Congressman Al Green's efforts to impeach Trump, citing Trump's bigoted statements and policies. Trump has been accused of inciting hate and hostility, particularly towards Muslims and the LGBTQ+ community.

More recently, there have been concerns about Trump's potential pursuit of a third term, with some calling for his impeachment to prevent this. However, some Democrats have pressed for abandoning impeachment efforts due to the difficulty of holding him accountable in a hyper-partisan climate and the Republican control of Congress. While some predict that another impeachment attempt will occur if House control flips during the midterms in 2026, it remains uncertain if this will happen.

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Voting rights and free speech

Jamin Ben "Jamie" Raskin is an American attorney, law professor, and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the Maryland State Senate from 2007 to 2016.

Raskin has been a vocal supporter of voting rights, free speech, and other civil liberties. As a law professor and political leader, he has authored several essays and books on law and government. Raskin co-founded the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, which aims to educate people about their constitutional rights.

In 2018, when the Democrats recaptured the House majority, Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings appointed Raskin as Chair of the Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. In this role, he zealously defended voting rights, free speech, labour rights, and reproductive freedom. Raskin also played a crucial role in the impeachment of former President Donald Trump following the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. He was chosen by his Democratic colleagues in the 118th Congress to lead them on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, where he successfully debunked the GOP's "impeachment drive" against President Joe Biden.

Raskin has also been an advocate for banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2019, he voted in favour of the Equality Act and urged other Congress members to do the same. Additionally, he has sponsored legislation to establish a congressional "oversight" commission tasked with determining the president's fitness for office, both physically and mentally, under the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The MAGA assault on the Constitution

Jamin Ben "Jamie" Raskin is an American attorney, law professor, and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the Maryland State Senate from 2007 to 2016. Before his election to Congress, Raskin was a professor of constitutional law and the First Amendment for 25 years at American University's Washington College of Law, where he co-founded and directed the LL.M. program on law and government and co-founded the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project.

Raskin has been vocal about his opposition to the MAGA movement, which he sees as an assault on the Constitution. He has stated that he will lead the Democrats in rebuffing the MAGA assault on the Constitution, the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice, voting rights, birthright citizenship, immigrant rights, and the reproductive freedoms of American women.

Raskin was the lead impeachment manager for the second impeachment of President Donald Trump in response to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump had incited a violent insurrection against the Constitution and attempted a political coup to block the counting of electoral college votes. Raskin drafted an impeachment article against Trump with his colleagues Ted Lieu, Joe Neguse, and David Cicilline. The House voted to impeach Trump by a margin of 232-197 for trying to seize the presidency and prevent the peaceful transfer of power.

In addition to his work on impeachment, Raskin has also been active in defending voting rights, free speech, the rights of labor and working people, and reproductive freedom and the rights of women. He was appointed Chair of the Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties by Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings when the Democrats recaptured the House majority in 2018. Raskin was also chosen by his Democratic colleagues in the 118th Congress to lead the Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, where he worked to debunk the GOP's "impeachment drive" against President Joe Biden.

Raskin has authored several books, including "We the Students: Supreme Court Cases for and about America's Students" and "Overruling Democracy: The Supreme Court vs." He has also written dozens of essays and is the founder and leader of Democracy Summer, a nationwide program that has engaged thousands of young people in training for political activism and leadership for strong democracy and freedom.

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