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55 U.S.F. L. Rev. F. 479 (2021)

handle is hein.journals/usfor55 and id is 1 raw text is: Impeaching Brett Kavanaugh? ByBRIAN L. OWSLEY* Introduction IT MAY BE DIFFICULT TO RECALL ANY political drama before the coronavirus pandemic and before the impeachment process for President Donald Trump. However, there was a time when many, were advocating for the impeachment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. With the recent decision to acquit President Trump following the Senate impeachment trial, along with the recent global pandemic that has wreaked havoc across the United States, now may not be the best time to discuss the impeachment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Nonetheless, it is the most oppor- tune time with the November election coming shortly. This Article does not purport to establish whether Justice Kavanaugh should be impeached or whether he lied during his testimony before the Sen- ate Judiciary Committee in September 2018. Instead, this Article discusses the implications of Justice Kavanaugh's statements under oath along with the pos- sible consequences if such statements can be established as untruthful. In Part I, this Article addresses Justice Kavanaugh's nomination and con- firmation as well as the calls for his impeachment in 2018 and 2019. Next, Part II analyzes the history of impeaching federal judges, including mechanisms by which such Senate impeachment trials happen within a constitutional frame- work. In Part III, this Article discusses the only impeachment of a Supreme Court Justice, placing it in a historical context. Based on the unsuccessful im- peachment of Justice Samuel Chase along with the current divisive political climate, this Article posits that it may be more likely that Justice Kavanaugh be removed not based on impeachment, but on a federal prosecution for either perjury or making a false statement. Part IV provides not only these two po- tential federal offenses, but four distinct potential factual predicates for such prosecutions. Assistant Professor of Law, University of North Texas Dallas College of Law; B.A., Uni- versity of Notre Dame, J.D., Columbia University School of Law, M.I.A., Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. From 2005 until 2013, the author served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The author greatly appreciates the valuable insights and comments from Peter Alexander, Antony Kolenc, and Melanie Reid. 479

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