Congressmen immune from arrest?

Factual Questions
1

Article 1, Section 6 of the constitution states:

"They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place."

I assume that this means a congressman could commit a misdeamenor and not be arrested for it. So does this mean that if I’m a congressman, I could be smoking marijuana while walking to the capitol building, and not be arrested?

2

According to the annotated version of the Constitution that is put up by the GPO, here is the interpretation of that clause

You can read more about it at http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/constitution/art1.html

3

Robert Byrd once used this to get out of a speeding ticket. It was originally so political enemies wouldn’t hassle Congressmen.

4

Darn. A pot-smoking Congressman would’ve been a hell of a sight. :wink:

5

But the phrase about any speech or debate is hardly obsolete. You cannot sue for libel no matter what a congressman says on the floor.

6

Yeah, Joe McCarthy abused that law to slander his enemies without fear of a lawsuit. Ever wonder why he never repeated his slander when he wasn’t on the floor? That’s why.

I would surely hope that the rule has since been modified to keep that from happening again, though.

7

Since the “rule” is part of the Constitution, the answer is no, it has not been modified.

Congress polices itself in this matter. McCarthy was censured by the Senate and that is how such matters are handled. I suppose if it were a particularly egregious case, expulsion would be an option.