Georgetown Center for the Constitution

Privilege from Arrest

The Senators and Representatives . . . 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 . . .

Article I

Section 6

Clause 2

Ethan L. Carroll, Note, The Institutional Speech or Debate Protection: Nondisclosure As Separation of Powers, 63 Duke L.J. 1153, 1182-86 (2014).

Describing parliamentary abuse of the privilege from arrest and the drafting history of the privilege from arrest and Speech or Debate Clauses.
Bradford E. Biegon, Note, Presidential Immunity in Civil Actions: An Analysis Based Upon Text, History and Blackstone’s Commentaries, 82 Va. L. Rev. 677 (1996).

Arguing that the Privilege from Arrest Clause “confers immunity only from civil arrest and does not more broadly protect against answering lawsuits.