After a review of its findings, the Committee acts as a sheriff or prosecutor and may bring charges against the individual,[citation needed][dubious – discuss] in which case, the entire House takes on the role of jury and votes as to their guilt or innocence of "high crimes and misdemeanors".
On May 10, 1796, the House received a report from the Attorney General on the conduct of George Turner a judge in the Northwest Territory, which included demands for bribes, and the wanton levy of fines without trial.
[20] The acquittal of Chase – by lopsided margins on several of the counts – is believed to have helped ensure that an independent federal judiciary would survive partisan challenge.
As Chief Justice William Rehnquist noted in his book, Grand Inquests, some people expressed opinions at the time of Chase's trial that the Senate had absolute latitude in convicting a jurist it found unfit, but the acquittal set an unofficial precedent that judges would not be impeached based on their performance on the bench.
[36] On April 10, 1818, a resolution was introduced requesting that a special committee be appointed to investigate Judges William P. Van Ness and Matthias B. Tallmadge of the Southern District of New York.
[70] On March 4, 1862, Rep. Bingham introduced a report from the Judiciary Committee recommending impeachment of Judge Humphreys (D), for publicly calling for secession, giving aid to an armed rebellion, conspiring with Jefferson Davis, serving as a Confederate judge, confiscating the property of Military Governor Andrew Johnson and U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Catron, and imprisoning a Union sympathizer with "intent to injure him.
[85] Representatives Butler and Wilson emphasized the revived (previously settled by Blount in 1799) but still-minority position that resignation was no bar to later impeachment, yet voted with the rest of the committee to terminate proceedings.
He was accused of filing false travel vouchers, improper use of private railroad cars, unlawfully imprisoning two attorneys for contempt, and living outside of his district.
However, following an objection from the floor, the resolution was held over for consideration until August 27, 1913, at which time it was amended and adopted[113] A Select Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee conducted the investigation.
[148] The Senate accepted the House recommendation and ended the proceedings on December 13, 1926[149] John T. Rogers of St. Louis Post-Dispatch won the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for Reporting with his coverage of the inquiry leading to English's impeachment.
The Court of Claims dismissed the case and held it did not have jurisdiction because the Senate was given the "sole power" to try impeachments under Clause 6, Section 3 of Article I of the United States Constitution.
[179] Douglas's steps to supplement his income as a result of his financial situation also included the unusual move of becoming president of the Parvin Foundation, established by the "Mob's Accountant" from the sale of the infamous Flamingo Hotel.
Those who support this contention note Ford's well-known disappointment with the Senate over the failed nominations of Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell to succeed Fortas.
[187] Despite careful maneuvering by House Judiciary Chairman Emanuel Celler, and an apparent lack of proof of any criminal conduct on the part of Douglas (efforts by Attorney General John N. Mitchell and the Nixon administration to gather evidence to the contrary notwithstanding),[188] Congressman Ford moved forward in the first major attempt to impeach a Supreme Court Justice in the modern era.
U.S. Representative Ford was the main witness; he attacked Douglas's "liberal opinions", his "defense of the 'filthy' film I Am Curious (Yellow), and his ties with the aforementioned Parvin.
[192] The effort to impeach Douglas and the struggles over the Fortas, Haynesworth, and Carswell nominations marked the beginning of a more partisan climate during the confirmation process of Supreme Court nominees.
In 2019, Professor Joshua Kastenberg at the University of New Mexico School of Law published an examination into the impeachment and concluded that Nixon had several motives in goading Ford to move against Douglas.
Associate Justice Abe Fortas had accepted a $20,000 retainer from the family foundation of Wall Street financier Louis Wolfson, a friend and former client, in January 1966.
[180] Soon after impeachment proceedings formally began with a resolution introduced by Rep. H. R. Gross (R-Iowa), Fortas decided resignation would be best for him and for his wife's legal career, and told his colleagues.
Kerner had been convicted of bribery, and with all his appeals exhausted, he resigned in July 1974 after being told that the House Judiciary Committee would vote to impeach him immediately after they were done with proceedings against President Richard Nixon.
[203] The exact division on each Article is as follows: In 1981, Judge Alcee Hastings was charged with accepting a $150,000 bribe in exchange for a lenient sentence and a return of seized assets for 21 counts of racketeering by Frank and Thomas Romano, and of perjury in his testimony about the case.
Alleged co-conspirator, attorney William Borders went to jail again for refusing to testify in the impeachment proceedings, but was later given a full pardon by President Bill Clinton on his last day in office.
On March 17, 1988, U.S. Representative Peter W. Rodino (D-NJ) introduced an impeachment resolution, H.RES.407, against Nixon, and it was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, which held hearings on the matter.
On July 17, 2006, U.S. Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced H.RES.916, calling for an investigation of Judge Manuel Real and consider impeaching him.
Judge Thomas Porteous was not convicted of a crime, but was recommended for removal by the Judicial Council of the Fifth Circuit for egregious misconduct that included receiving gifts from attorneys who came before him, filing false statements in his personal bankruptcy case, and engaging in fraudulent and deceptive conduct concerning his debts and gambling losses.
The certificate stated that there was substantial evidence that Judge Porteous "repeatedly committed perjury by signing false financial disclosure forms under oath," thus concealing "cash and things of value that he solicited and received from lawyers appearing in litigation before him."
[211] On October 15, 2008, House Judiciary Chair John Conyers announced that Alan I. Barron had been hired as Special Counsel[212] to lead an inquiry into Judge Porteous's impeachment.
Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) were designated as chair and ranking member, respectively to lead the task force conducting the inquiry.
On July 10, 2024, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced articles of impeachment for Clarence Thomas, citing a "pattern of refusal to recuse from consequential matters before the court".
[226] On July 10, 2024, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced articles of impeachment for Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. She added, "Justices Thomas and Alito's year's long pattern of misconduct and failure to recuse in cases bearing their clear personal and financial involvement represents an abuse of power and threat to our democracy fundamentally incompatible with continued service on our nation’s highest court.