Resignations and Removals: A History of Federal Judicial Service. And Disservice. 1789-1992 (original) (raw)

1993, University of Pennsylvania Law Review

Thomas Jefferson's dismay over the failed impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase in 1805 led him later to complain that "impeachment is not even a scarecrow." 1 Subsequent events have proven Jefferson wrong. Although the full panoply of the impeachment process has been used rarely, its existence has given Congress an impressively big stick to wield in persuading miscreant judges to leave the bench. 2 Since Jefferson's time, our experience has suggested two important conclusions about judicial discipline and removal. The first is that investigations, threats of investigations, and threats of impeachment can be very powerful tools in inducing judges to resign from office voluntarily. The second is that these tools have a great potential for misuse. Judicial independence is a core value supported by the constitutional structure of the federal judiciary. The appointment process, salary protection, and removal mechanism are all means to ensure that federal judges be independent and impartial in their decisiont Visiting Associate Professor, Widener University School of Law. This Article is dedicated to the memory of my brother, Dirck Van Tassel. An earlier version of this Article was prepared as a report to the National Commission onjudicial Discipline and Removal, while I was Associate Historian with the Federal judicial History Office of the Federal Judicial Center. The views and conclusions expressed in this Article are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of the FederalJudicial Center, which, on matters of policy, speaks only through its Board. I would like to thank Commission Chair Robert Kastenmeier and Commission Director Michael Remington as well as the Commission staff for their support and assistance during the preparation of the initial report and during the transformation of the report into this Article. I am grateful for the invaluable comments and unstinting support of Cynthia Harrison and Russell Wheeler, without whom this project could never have been undertaken. William Weller, Assistant Director of the National Commission, offered especially valuable support and assistance. James Diehm, Charlie Geyh, Robert Power, and David Van Tassel read various and in some cases multiple versions and made insightful suggestions. Exemplary research assistance was provided by Beverly Wirtz