Senator Sherrod Brown
Democrat of Ohio

Up for re-election in 2012
UNITED STATES SENATE WASHINGTON DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2315
Click here to contact Senator Brown
Click here to review his official biography
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The Senate Oath of Office:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

This is the central commitment of every member of the United States Senate: to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Not to support and defend the American people. Not to support and defend the land itself. To support and defend the binding contract we Americans make with ourselves and each other, the American Constitution.

The Irregular Times Oath Of Office Index for the 110th Congress measures the extent to which our Senators actually support and defend the Constitution in their legislative actions. Do your Senators support or oppose the central tenet of Americanism: support for the Constitution? Or in their opposition to the Constitution have your Senators embraced unAmericanism? Have your Senators been faithful to or violated their solemn oath of office? Check our index and find out.

Oath of Office Index Score: 50

A score of 50 means that Sen. Brown has acted to support 50% of a slate of bills in the 110th Congress of 2007-2008 that support, protect and defend the United States Constitution.
Senator Brown has supported and protected the Constitution by adding his support to the following bills:
  • From the transfer of Total Information Awareness into the National Security Agency under codenames like topsail and basketball, through warrantless wiretape, seizures of massive amounts of cell phone and email records, and even the systematic entry of the DNA of innocent Americans into gigantic government databases, we have seen a dramatic effort by the government to watch over the most personal aspects of our lives. Because of these secretive government programs, Americans can no longer assume that their postal mail, email, phone calls, commercial activity, and other kinds of personal activity are at all private.

    Through it all, there has been almost no congressional oversight. Now, a few senators are asking for that to change. Two bills have been introduced this year that would force the White House to cooperate with efforts by Congress to gain oversight of the growing network of government databases used to spy on Americans. The bills, S. 236 and S. 495 (entitled the Federal Agency Data Mining Reporting Act of 2007 and the Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2007, respectively), are co-sponsored by a small group of senators, including Senator Brown, who has cosponsored S. 495.
    Actions to support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America that Sen. Brown could have taken but unfortunately chose not to take:

    • S. 576 is a bill proposed in the Senate to repeal many of the most onerous features of the Military Commissions Act. If passed, some of its main acts would be to:
      • Restore the right of habeas corpus for people detained by the U.S.
      • Narrow the definition of the MCA term "unlawful enemy combatant" to individuals who directly participate in attacks against the United States.
      • Let United States detainees invoke the ethical codes of the Geneva Conventions again.
      • Let U.S. detainees obtain a civilian lawyer for their defense.
      • Prohibit the use of evidence garnered through torture.
      • Prohibit the use of hearsay, upon the judge's discretion.
      • Let juries know how statements were obtained from detainees.
      • Permit federal appeals courts to review the decisions of military commissions.


      In short, S. 576 would restore respect for the Constitution and a modicum of humanity to the government of the United States. Sadly, Senator Brown has failed to recognize how important the restoration of constitutional standards are to our country. Perhaps he ought to review his oath of office again.

    • Anti-Constitution Score: 0

    A score of 0 means that Senator Brown has acted to support 0% of a slate of unconstitutional and anti-constitutional policies in the 110th Congress.

    We are happy to report that among the political decisions by Senator Brown that we have tracked to date, not one qualifies as anti-constitutional.