Posted by Jonathan Adler:
Should Obama Retake the Oath of Office?
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_01_18-2009_01_24.shtml#1232571735
Carolyn Lochhead has an [1]interesting story in the San Francisco
Chronicle on teh flubbed oath at yesterday's inauguration:
The oath reads: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute
the office of president of the United States and will to the best
of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the
United States."
In giving the oath, Roberts misplaced the word "faithfully," at
which point Obama paused quizzically. Roberts then corrected
himself, but Obama repeated the words as Roberts initially said
them.
A do-over "would take him 30 seconds, he can do it in private, it's
not a big deal, and he ought to do it just to be safe," said Boston
University constitutional scholar and Supreme Court watcher Jack
Beermann. "It's an open question whether he's president until he
takes the proper oath."
The courts would probably never hear a challenge, and some might
argue that Obama automatically took office at noon because that's
when President Bush left the office. But because the procedure is
so explicitly prescribed in the Constitution, Beermann said if he
were Obama's lawyer, he would recommend retaking it, just as two
previous presidents, Calvin Coolidge and Chester Arthur, did under
similar circumstances.
References
1.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/20/MNAF15E20I.DTL&type=printable
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