"Can a US Supreme Court justice be impeached and removed from office?"

[LearnedHand]

Yes.

Under normal circumstances, a Supreme Court justice is awarded a lifetime commission.

A Supreme Court Justice may be impeached by the House of Representatives and removed from office if convicted in a Senate trial, but only for the same types of offenses that would trigger impeachment proceedings for any other government official under Article I and II of the Constitution.

Section 1 of Article III states that judges of Article III courts shall hold their offices "during good behavior." "The phrase "good behavior" has been interpreted by the courts to equate to the same level of seriousness the 'high crimes and misdemeanors" encompasses.

In addition, any federal judge may prosecuted in the criminal courts for criminal activity. If found guilty of a crime in a federal district court, the justice would face the same type of sentencing any other criminal defendant would. The district court could not remove him/her from the Bench. However, any justice found guilty in the criminal courts of any felony would certainly be impeached and, if found guilty, removed from office.

In the United States, impeachment is most often used to remove corrupt lower-court federal judges from office, but it's not unusual to find disgruntled special interest groups circulating petitions on the internet calling for the impeachment of one or all members of the High Court.

(more ...)

[arcadian]

1. I'll bet Alito could get caught banging a hooker in the Supreme Court chambers

while snorting a line of cocaine off of Roberts naked ass cheek and they would not be impeached.

[LearnedHand]

3. Ewwww, thanks for THAT image

(not) :puke:

[Roland99]

13. Where's JimmyJeff Gannon been lately?

[LearnedHand]

14. Oooh, he hasn't appeared in my nightmares in a while

Blech!

[tomm2thumbs]

18. if I, in theory, had a photograph of this, where would I send it?

just curious - not saying I actually possess this picture

[LearnedHand]

20. www dot blackmail-the-supremes dot house dot gov?

:evilgrin:

(Edited subject line to reflect that impeachment begins in the House)

[tomm2thumbs]

22. bwahahahah - love it

[TexasObserver]

2. They can't even pass a decent health bill.

But, yeah. Theoretically, the House could impeach the justices and the senate could remove them.

It would be easier to pack the court by having congress double the size of the supreme court, reducing the right wing voting justices to 5 of 18 members.

[LearnedHand]

5. That's a great idea!

But congress is already a wholly-owned subsidiary of the corporations, right. Guess I got my hopes up too soon.

[TexasObserver]

7. "Introducing the Justice from Monsanto, a 52 year old corporate lawyer from Omaha ..."

Let's face it. The deck is stacked, and we have to fight this every day, everywhere, even in our own party.

[LearnedHand]

11. For Sale to Highest Bidder: Health Care "Reform"

Climate change legislation
Union legislation
Fresh Air Act
Clean Water Act
...

[anonymous171]

8. Obama should do that. It probably wouldn't succeed, but it would send a message

The SC needs to learn that it is accountable to the people.

[TexasObserver]

10. When you have our political advantage, you POUND the other side into submission.

You don't act like they're in charge and you just want to know if they will please, please, please use their inside voice!

[anonymous171]

12. Totally agree. Obama and the American people need to put the SC in its place

[mopinko]

15. except that they are not accountable to the people.

just not. that's the way the thing is built.
it seemed like a good idea :shrug:

[anonymous171]

16. They are only accountable if we make them so.

Via Impeachment.

[LearnedHand]

17. Well, sort of

If a Supreme can be impeached by the Senate and the House, they ARE accountable to the people -- just through the Congress instead of directly.

[deminks]

4. Impeachment was removed from the table for war criminals

I can't imagine she would reset the table for a mere subversion of democracy. /sarcasm off.

[LearnedHand]

6. Oh, duh. I forgot.

{{{ slaps forehead }}}:eyes:

[LearnedHand]

9. Oh, and I forgot one more issue

The Senate just became de-testicled because they lost the power to end a fillibuster. Shit. How could the Senate possibly impeach a Supreme.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

19. impeachment begins in the house

[LearnedHand]

21. My bad. You're absolutely right!

:dunce:

[demosincebirth]

23. If it could have been done, FDR sure would have tried.

[MiniMe]

26. He did, but he did it the wrong way

The SCOTUS was trying to undo the New Deal, and FDR decided to try to add more Justices. However, the addition of more Justices requires something to be passed through the congress to increase the number. The President can't just appoint Justices. The fact that the dems did not filibuster Alito comes back to bite them in the ass.

[demosincebirth]

28. Thanks for the info.

[Dinger]

24. Just Curious. Has this Ever Happened?

If not, let's start now.

[LearnedHand]

25. IIRC, the linked article in the OP

mentions who has come close. I don't remember whether a justice has actually been removed.

[Thothmes]

27. No, no Supreme Court Justice has been removed from the bench

as a result of impeachment proceedings.