Senate Begins Impeachment Trial

[babylonsister]

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/09/13/senate_begins_impeachment_trial.html

Senate Begins Impeachment Trial

The first Senate impeachment trial in more than a decade begins today.

The House voted unanimously in March to impeach U.S. District Judge Thomas Porteous, the Washington Post notes, for "allegations that he lied during background investigations related to his 1994 nomination to the federal bench."

"The proceedings will be similar to a trial, with each side allotted up to 20 hours to call witnesses and present evidence, according to the committee. Senators are allowed to ask questions of the witnesses. The hearings will run from about 8 a.m. through 7 p.m. each day through Thursday and likely will continue next Tuesday."

[Wednesdays]

1. 1994...a Clinton appointee, then?

Lied during an investigation...hmm. Was there a blue dress involved? My, but that mighty Clenis still reigns supreme.

But, of course no Raygun, Poppy, or Shrub appointees did anything impeachable in the last 10 years, eh?. :eyes:

[depakid]

2. Background from the wiki

On August 25, 1994, Porteous was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana vacated by Robert F. Collins. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 7, 1994<1>, and received his commission on October 11, 1994.

He has controversially ruled in several landmark cases against the state, including one 2002 case in which he ruled that the state of Louisiana was illegally using federal money to promote religion in its abstinence-only sex education programs. He ordered the state to stop giving money to individuals or organizations that "convey religious messages or otherwise advance religion" with tax dollars. Judge Porteous also said there was ample evidence that many of the groups participating in the Governor's Program on Abstinence were "furthering religious objectives."

Also in 2002, Porteous overturned a federal ban on rave paraphernalia such as glowsticks, pacifiers, and dust masks, originally banned due to the subculture's ties to recreational drugs such as Ecstasy, after the American Civil Liberties Union successfully claimed the ban to be unconstitutional. He had previously ruled in 1999 against a Louisiana law aimed at banning the late-term abortion procedure known as partial birth abortion in a procedure known as dilation and extraction.

In 2001, Porteous filed for bankruptcy, which led to revelations in the press about his private life, specifically the fact that he was alleged to have had close ties with local bail bond magnate Louis Marcotte III, at the center of a corruption probe, which has more recently led to his being the subject of investigation himself by federal investigators.

In May 2006, Porteous, beset by the recent loss of his home due to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and the death of his wife a few months later, and still under investigation by a federal grand jury, was granted temporary medical leave and began a year-long furlough from the federal bench.

More on the allegations and proceedings here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Porteous

[66 dmhlt]

6. The "Articles of Impeachment" from the House

Note: PDF

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:hr1031rh.txt.pdf

[glinda]

3. Maybe they can impeach a few SC Justices also.

[depakid]

4. Alito lied during his first confirmation as a federal judge

and claimed that he'd recuse himself from litigation involving a corporation that he had a pecuniary interest in.

He of course is a fundy Republican- and so not only gets a pass- but a promotion to the Supreme Court, confirmed with Democratic votes.

From the wiki:

On a questionnaire for the Senate Judiciary Committee in his Third Circuit Court-of-Appeals confirmation process in 1990, Alito said he would avoid a conflict of interest by not voting on cases involving First Federal Savings & Loan of Rochester, NY, and two investment firms, Smith Barney and Vanguard Group, because he held accounts with them. However, in 2002, Alito upheld a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit filed against multiple investment company defendants, including Vanguard Group. When notified of the situation, Alito denied doing anything improper but recused himself from further involvement in the case. The case was reheard with the new panel coming to the same conclusion.

On November 10, Judge Alito wrote to Senator Specter, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, explaining his participation in the case.<1> He said that when he had originally listed Vanguard and Smith Barney in 1990, "my intention was to state that I would never knowingly hear a case where a conflict of interest existed. <...> As my service continued, I realized that I had been unduly restrictive."

During witness testimony of Alito's confirmation hearings, witness John Payton (member of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary) testified: "In the end, he did acknowledge that it was his responsibility that a mistake and error had been made. Those cases should have been caught and he should have not heard those cases."

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Alito_Supreme_Court_nomination

[glinda]

8. I know but nothing happens ever. Unless it is to get rid of a Dem somewhere.

[AnArmyVeteran]

5. Let's also impeach the Supreme Court 5 who voted for the Citizens United case.

[BlueIris]

7. That is news. Almost never happens.

Yikers.