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The last paragraph of a now-deleted answer states that there was a court case brought to recall a federal representative.

The first federal recall election was held on January 14, 2014 in accordance with the provisions for good governance stipulated of the Continental Congress 2.0. The people have chosen to assert their federal powers with transitional government. The process of enforcement of the recall is a separate question.

What was the name of the court case? I have performed several web searches but was unable to find an answer.

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  • I think most of the information you are looking for is found here: the99declaration.org It does not appear there was an actual election then. It may have been an election for seats in the CC2.0 or for the group... but it does not appear to be a recall of a federal elected official. Commented Aug 1, 2014 at 21:15
  • hmmm. I did look there but did not see the case. Perhaps you are correct that it wasn't but since the answer cited above was posted recently I thought there would be more info. Maybe someone with enough points could comment on his answer and ask him. ;)
    – CramerTV
    Commented Aug 1, 2014 at 23:47
  • Yeah there is no case I am aware of an no binding or sanctioned election that I can find. Commented Aug 2, 2014 at 3:32
  • FYI, Asking about court cases that are political is not too narrow. This is a fine question! Commented Aug 4, 2014 at 14:22
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    Just a FYI to anyone trying to follow the link in this question: The specific answer it points to has since been deleted, but another answer to that question saying almost the same thing is still around.
    – Bobson
    Commented Feb 1, 2015 at 17:26

2 Answers 2

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There is no court case that has found the 'right to recall' a Congressional Representitive.

The Senate has published through the Congressional Research Service the reasoning why you cannot recall a Congressman/Senator. (You might be interested in the Judical branches rulings on similar matters pg. 10 in the pdf, pg. 7 as printed)

As to removal by recall, the United States Constitution does not provide for nor authorize the recall of United States officers such as Senators, Representatives, or the President or Vice President, and thus no Member of Congress has ever been recalled in the history of the United States. The recall of Members was considered during the time of the drafting of the federal Constitution in 1787, but no such provisions were included in the final version sent to the states for ratification, and the specific drafting and ratifying debates indicate an express understanding of the framers and ratifiers that no right or power to recall a Senator or Representative in Congress exists under the Constitution.

The organization, the99Declaration did meet in Philidelphia, PA at what they called the Continential Congress 2.0, not to be confused with the original Second Continential Congress. Of 800 people who voted for themselves to attend as representatives of their districts, only 78 attended. Although they mention in their list of grieviences that congressional representatives should not serve back-to-back terms, no recall is mentioned.

As to the99declarations Tenth Amendment argument, there have been some SCOTUS decisions on term limits, among others regarding federal officials, and they concluded:

Petitioners’ Tenth Amendment argument misconceives the nature of the right at issue because that Amendment could only “reserve” that which existed before. As Justice Story recognized, “the states can exercise no powers whatsoever, which exclusively spring out of the existence of the national government, which the constitution does not delegate to them .... No state can say, that is has reserved, what it never possessed.” 1 Story §627.41

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  • Yes the intent was that the people should understand this and thus should stay their hand from casting a vote for a candidate they did not trust to act in the interest of the people they represent. Of course they also envisioned that congress would be filled with people who would operate their jobs and businesses as their primary source of income and only travel to washington a few times a year for the limited amount of work they would need to do. Commented Aug 4, 2014 at 17:49
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A constitutional authority board (willofthepeople.agency) claims a people-initiated recall took place according to George Washington's process and cannot include the states' process because that is a conflict of powers. Maybe they have some info.

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    Definitely an interesting link - thanks for finally finding the source of that claim. But please elaborate on this answer. For example, what is "George Washington's process"?
    – Bobson
    Commented Feb 1, 2015 at 17:36
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    "Constitutional authority board" sounds official, but the site seems completely unofficial.
    – cpast
    Commented Feb 1, 2015 at 23:32

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