About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

35 U. Fla. L. Rev. 296 (1983)
Indictment of Federal Judges: Chilling Judicial Independence

handle is hein.journals/uflr35 and id is 302 raw text is: NOTES INDICTMENT OF FEDERAL JUDGES: CHILLING JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE INTRODUCTION In the past decade federal grand juries have criminally indicted' two article III federal judges for impeachable offenses.2 These events are unprecedented in the history of the American Republic,3 and bring into clear contrast the impeachment4 and criminal processes. The indictments pose the issue of whether an article III federal judge5 may be indicted, tried, judged, and punished according to law6 on charges of official misconduct prior to impeach- i. On December 15, 1971, a federal grand jury returned a nineteen count indictment against the Honorable Otto Kerner, Jr., then a judge on the United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. United States v. Isaacs, 493 F.2d 1124, 1131 (7th Cir. 1974). On December 29, 1981, a four count indictment was returned against the Honorable Alcee L. Hastings, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida. United States v. Hastings, 681 F.2d 706, 707 (11th Cir. 1982). 2. The indictment against Judge Kerner alleged that he accepted bribes while Governor of Illinois in return for financial interests in certain horse racing businesses, and that he commited perjury during the ensuing investigation. 493 F.2d at 1131. The indictment against Judge Hastings alleged a scheme to solicit a bribe in return for a favorable decision from the bench. 681 F.2d at 707. A fundamental distinction between these two cases is that Judge Kerner was alleged to have committed the crimes before he assumed the federal bench. It is unclear if a judge may be impeached for offenses committed prior to appointment. 3. Although Judges Kerner and Hastings are the only article III judges to be criminally prosecuted for arguably impeachable offenses while on the bench, numerous federal judges have resigned during investigation by the House Judiciary Committee or have been cleared of criminal charges. See J. BoRgiu,, THE CORRUPT JUDGE 198-204 (1962). Martin T. Manton, Senior Judge of the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals, was the first federal judge criminally indicted for corruption in office. The prosecution of Judge Manton com- menced after his resignation. Id. at 25-94. Judge Francis Winslow was charged with indiscretions by a grand jury on the day the House investigation was to begin. Whether a charge of indiscretions amounts to an indict- ment is not apparent from the record. Judge Winslow subsequently resigned before trial was commenced. Id. at 256. Judge Warren Davis was indicted and tried after he retired from the bench. Acquitted at trial, Davis resigned under threat of impeachment. Id. at 116, 119. 4. Eight United States article III judges have been impeached. Four were convicted: Robert N. Archbald (Comm. Ct., 1913); Halsted L. Ritter (S.D. Fla., 1936); West H. Humphreys (D. Tenn., 1862); John Pickering (D.N.H., 1804). The other judges include: Samuel Chase (U.S. Sup. Ct., 1805) (acquitted); Harold Louderback (N.D. Fla., 1932) (ac- quitted); Charles H. Swayne, (N.D. Fla., 1905) (acquitted); James H. Peck (D. Mo., 1830) (ac- quitted). Id. at 198-204. 5. The judicial power of the United States is vested in the Supreme Court and lower courts. U.S. CONST. art. III, § 1. All federal judges established under article III hold their offices during good behavior. Id. 6. Although the appellate court affirmed the trial court's order denying Judge Hastings' motion to quash the indictment for lack of jurisdiction, it declined to decide whether the government would be able to imprison an article III judge while still in office. 681 F.2d at 712 n.19. In dictum, the Eleventh Circuit questioned whether the executive branch may in

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most