Fifteen-Week Seminar Examines All Aspects of Clinton Impeachment Process

As the U.S. Senate proceeds with the first presidential impeachment trial in 131 years, the DePaul University College of Law will offer a 15-week seminar examining the process of impeachment with special emphasis on the case against President Clinton. The class begins Jan.13 and runs through April 21, 1999.

"The impeachment of President Clinton is probably the most important legal issue going on this academic year," said Donald H.J. Hermann, a professor of law at DePaul who will teach the course. "Impeachment is something that is very obscure in law schools. Most students are unfamiliar with the process and most current students are not familiar even with the Nixon impeachment. This course will examine the political aspects of high crimes and misdemeanors in the Clinton impeachment and go back and look at the Nixon impeachment as well."

The class, which will be limited to 18 students, will study the process and criteria for impeachment, especially as they have been applied in the case against Clinton. Legal and historical materials will be studied including an in-depth review of the Nixon impeachment hearings.

The first part of the seminar will include reading and group discussion of materials related to the investigations and impeachment inquiry involving Clinton. The second part will involve preparation and discussion of a series of memoranda written by each student relating to general issues relevant to the impeachment process. The third part will involve written and oral reports on a significant aspect of the investigations in the Clinton impeachment inquiry.

Materials for the course will include the Washington Post editions of the Starr Report and the Starr Evidence. Students also will read such recent works as Ann Coulter’s "High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton."

"Students will leave this course with a much deeper understanding of one of the most highly visible and important legal and political issues of their lives," said Hermann. "They will have a professional understanding and expertise that rivals someone who works with the committee on impeachment."

Editors note: The impeachment class meets Tuesdays from 3 p.m. to 4:40 p.m. Reporters interested in visiting a class should contact Valerie Phillips at 312/362-5039. Donald Hermann can be reached at 312/362-8383.