What I find interesting about this case, other than it's a federal judge, is that the judge is represented by one of my favorite MSNBC Countdown visitor's, Constitution scholar and Professor
Jonathan Turley. From
Jurist:
Senate begins impeachment trial of federal judge The US Senate Impeachment Trial Committee began hearing arguments Monday in the case against federal judge Thomas Porteous who is charged with perjury and accepting bribes from lawyers while a judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Porteous's lawyer Jonathan Turley claimed in his opening statement that "Judge Porteous's actions, while in some instances showing poor judgment, were in fact entirely legal." Each side will have 20 hours to present its case. The committee will submit its findings to the Senate and decide whether to recommend a conviction. If two-thirds of the Senate votes to convict Porteous, he will be removed from office. Last week, the Judicial Council of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit voted to continue Porteous' suspension from the bench through the remainder of the year. This marks the Senate's first impeachment trial since the proceedings against then-president Bill Clinton in the 1990s.
The US House of Representatives voted unanimously in March to impeach Porteous. After an investigation [report text, PDF] by a special committee, the Judicial Conference found "substantial evidence" that Porteous had signed false financial disclosure forms, falsified statements in a personal bankruptcy proceeding, made false representations to secure a bank loan and violated criminal laws and ethical rules by soliciting and receiving "cash and other things of value" from lawyers in a bench trial over which he was presiding. Porteous' decision in that case, In re Liljeberg enters v. Lifemark Hospitals, was later partially reversed [opinion text] by the Fifth Circuit, which earlier this year reprimanded Porteous. A House committee began investigating Porteous in 2008.The US Constitution gives the House the power to impeach "all civil Officers of the United States" on suspicion of "high Crimes and Misdemeanors." Thirteen federal judges have been impeached, of which seven have been convicted.
And the fact he is a Louisana judge doesn't surprise me one fucking bit folks. Well, well...he could be number eight. But then, I never bet against Professor Turley.
