Litigation

Impeachment Trial to Start in Senate

By Peter Hardin

For the first time since 1989, the impeachment trial of a federal judge will begin in the Senate next week.

Judge G. Thomas Porteous of Louisiana, who has been suspended from the bench, stands accused of accepting cash improperly and of lying during his confirmation proceedings before the Senate.

In the first phase of his trial, House members will serve as prosecutors and 12 senators will comprise a presiding trial committee, a National Law Journal article explained. The full Senate will be asked later whether to convict him.

Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor representing Judge Porteous, noted that the charges involve alleged acts before Judge Porteous took the federal bench. If the Senate were to convict him based on actions before he was a federal judge, it “would not only contradict the views of most constitutional experts but also would wipe out centuries of precedent in the Senate,” Turley asserted.

To learn more about the background of the case, check out Gavel Grab.

Full post as published by The Gavel on September 09, 2010 (boomark / email).