How Many Federal Judges Have Been Impeached: 8 Removed, 4 Acquitted

Fifteen federal judges have been impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives since the founding. Of those, eight were convicted by the Senate and removed from the bench, four were acquitted, and three resigned before the Senate finished its proceedings. Only one Supreme Court justice, Samuel Chase, has ever been impeached, and he was acquitted; every other case involved a district or circuit judge.1Federal Judicial Center. Impeachments of Federal Judges

The Eight Judges Convicted and Removed

These are the only federal judges the Senate has actually thrown off the bench:1Federal Judicial Center. Impeachments of Federal Judges

  • John Pickering, U.S. District Court, New Hampshire. Impeached 1803 for mental instability and intoxication on the bench. Convicted 1804.
  • West H. Humphreys, U.S. District Court, Tennessee. Impeached 1862 for refusing to hold court and supporting the Confederacy. Convicted 1862, and also disqualified from future federal office.
  • Robert W. Archbald, Commerce Court and Third Circuit. Impeached 1912 for improper business relationships with litigants. Convicted 1913.
  • Halsted L. Ritter, U.S. District Court, Southern Florida. Impeached 1936 for favoritism in appointing bankruptcy receivers and practicing law while on the bench. Convicted 1936.
  • Harry E. Claiborne, U.S. District Court, Nevada. Impeached 1986 for income tax evasion. Convicted 1986.
  • Alcee L. Hastings, U.S. District Court, Southern Florida. Impeached 1988 for bribery conspiracy and perjury. Convicted 1989.
  • Walter L. Nixon, U.S. District Court, Southern Mississippi. Impeached 1989 for making false statements to a grand jury. Convicted 1989.
  • G. Thomas Porteous Jr., U.S. District Court, Eastern Louisiana. Impeached 2010 for corruption, perjury, and making false statements to obtain his judgeship. Convicted 2010, and also disqualified from future federal office.

The Four Judges Acquitted by the Senate

  • Samuel Chase, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Impeached 1804 for arbitrary and oppressive conduct of trials. Acquitted 1805.
  • James H. Peck, U.S. District Court, Missouri. Impeached 1830 for abuse of contempt power. Acquitted 1831.
  • Charles Swayne, U.S. District Court, Northern Florida. Impeached 1904 for abuse of contempt power and misuse of office. Acquitted 1905.
  • Harold Louderback, U.S. District Court, Northern California. Impeached 1933 for favoritism in appointing bankruptcy receivers. Acquitted 1933.

The Three Who Resigned Before the Senate Finished

  • Mark W. Delahay, U.S. District Court, Kansas. Impeached 1873 for intoxication on the bench. Resigned before the trial began.
  • George W. English, U.S. District Court, Eastern Illinois. Impeached 1926 for abuse of power. Resigned, and the proceedings were dismissed at the House’s request.
  • Samuel B. Kent, U.S. District Court, Southern Texas. Impeached 2009 for sexual assault and obstruction of justice. Resigned, and the Senate dismissed the articles.

What Gets a Federal Judge Impeached

Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution allows removal for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”2Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution Article II Section 4 – Impeachment Article III, Section 1 adds a standard specific to judges: they hold their offices “during good Behaviour,” so life tenure depends on meeting a baseline of conduct.3Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution Article III Section 1

The phrase is deliberately broad. Some judges have been removed for straightforward criminal conduct like bribery, tax evasion, and perjury. Others were removed for things that do not fit neatly into the criminal code. Pickering was drunk and erratic on the bench. Humphreys walked away from his post to serve the Confederacy. Neither was charged with a statutory crime, and both were removed anyway.

Impeachment and criminal prosecution run on separate tracks with different standards. A judge can be acquitted in criminal court and still be removed by the Senate, which is what happened to Alcee Hastings after a federal jury acquitted him in 1983 on the bribery conspiracy charge; the House impeached him in 1988 on 17 articles, and the Senate convicted him on 8 of them in 1989.4United States Senate. Impeachment Trial of Judge Alcee L. Hastings, 1989 A felony conviction also does not remove a judge automatically. Impeachment and a Senate vote are still required.

What Happens After the Senate Votes to Convict

Removal is immediate. The judge loses all judicial authority the moment the Senate votes to convict, and the vote requires a two-thirds majority of the senators present.5Constitution Annotated. ArtI.S3.C6.3 Impeachment Trial Procedures

The Senate can also take a separate vote to permanently disqualify the judge from holding any future federal office. Senate practice treats this as needing only a simple majority. It has been imposed in only a handful of cases. In Hastings’ case, the Senate declined to impose it, which is why he was later able to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives for nearly three decades. In Porteous’ case, the Senate did impose it.

A removed judge also loses the lifetime salary provided under 28 U.S.C. § 371. Federal judges do not participate in the standard federal retirement system; their retirement income depends on remaining in good standing, so removal can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in expected pay.

What impeachment does not do is impose any criminal penalty. It is only a mechanism for removal. Criminal prosecution, if warranted, proceeds separately through the Department of Justice, as it did for Claiborne and Nixon, both of whom were criminally convicted before the House impeached them.

How the Process Works

The House holds the sole power of impeachment, which operates like a formal indictment. A simple majority vote in the House is enough to impeach.6U.S. Senate. About Impeachment Impeachment by itself does not remove anyone. The case then goes to the Senate for trial, and conviction requires that two-thirds supermajority.

Most modern judicial impeachments do not originate in Congress. They come out of the judiciary. Under 28 U.S.C. § 355, the Judicial Conference of the United States can investigate a federal judge and, if it concludes impeachment may be warranted, certify that finding and transmit the record to the House. There is also a faster route for judges who have exhausted appeals of a felony conviction: the Judicial Conference can send a recommendation to the House by majority vote without running the full complaint-and-investigation process.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 355 Action by Judicial Conference Several of the more recent removals started this way.