And Over in the Senate, an Impeachment Trial for a Judge
Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr.
The proceedings in the Senate on Tuesday were as remarkable as the charges that lawmakers there were asked to weigh. As tax policy debates swirled around the Capitol, the Senate on Tuesday began pondering the fate of Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. of Federal District Court in Louisiana, whom the House of Representatives impeached in March on four articles of “high crimes and misdemeanors” stemming from charges that he received cash and favors from those with business in his court.
This is only the 12th impeachment trial of a judge in Senate history.
In lengthy arguments before members of the Senate — some who sat riveted, others who thumbed their BlackBerry and others still who appeared to be fighting off the urge to nod off — the chief lawyer for Judge Porteous, Jonathan Turley, argued that the conduct of which he was accused all happened before he was a federal judge.
“In the history of this republic, no one has ever been removed from office on the basis of pre-federal conduct,” said Mr. Turley, “No one.”
He called for some articles to be dismissed.
But Representative Adam B. Schiff, a Democrat from California who is the head of the House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Judicial Impeachment, would have none of it, arguing that the charge against Mr. Porteous — which include perjury and taking payments from lawyers to whom he steered work — constituted “abuse of power at its most venal.” Mr. Schiff said the judge was “not only a corrupt state judge, but would become a corrupt federal judge as well.”
It is highly unusual for anyone but senators themselves to address the body from the floor, save a visiting chaplain. As Mr. Turley directed members to turn to “page 1,861 in the green books before you,” one or two Senators, like John McCain of Arizona, did as instructed, while others stared ahead, taking in the situation.
The charges against Judge Porteous are like something out of a novel. Two lawyers who once worked with the judge said in pre-trial hearings that they gave him thousands of dollars in cash before he decided a civil case in favor of their client. He is also accused of accepting free meals, trips and other goodies in exchange for judicial favors.
This week, Senator Claire McCaskill’s office sent a note to Senate staffers urging them to make sure that senators stay in their seats throughout the proceedings, “with some limited flex space for folks to step in and out.” The note continued: “If too many folks take liberty with stepping out for meetings or events and we lose a quorum, the proceedings will be stopped, which will only lengthen the process and, frankly, will be embarrassing to the Senate. So I urge you to make sure your boss’s schedules are adjusted as best as possible.”
Judge Porteous has been suspended without pay since 2008, and was stripped of his legal duties by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. If he is convicted on any of the four charges, which requires a two thirds vote, he would be immediately removed from the federal bench — shortly before he is set to retire anyway — and would lose his $174,000 salary. If he is acquitted, he would remain on the bench until 2011, when he becomes eligible to receive a federal pension.
Mark Kirk, a new Republican senator from Illinois, recused himself from the proceedings because he was a member of the House when the body impeached the judge.
A vote on the matter is expected Wednesday.
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