Impeachment of judges is rare, and removal is rarer still. And in others, the number of votes required to impeach or convict differs. But in some states (including New York and Nebraska), the trial following impeachment is conducted by a court comprised of state officials and/or state judges. Most states’ procedures for the impeachment and removal of judges are similar to the federal approach (see Pennsylvania, for example), requiring a majority vote of the lower house in the legislature and a two-thirds vote of the upper house. However, a judge may only be removed from office following a trial and a vote to convict by a two-thirds majority of the Senate. The House can impeach a judge with a simple majority vote. With respect to federal judges, under Article I of the United States Constitution, the House of Representatives has the power to impeach and the Senate the power to hold a trial to determine whether removal is appropriate. How does the impeachment process work?įederal and state constitutions provide different mechanisms for impeachment of judges, but impeachment is generally a two-step process. Because the impeachment power lies primarily in the hands of politicians, it is at times threatened for partisan reasons, but the impeachment and removal of judges is in fact rare and usually limited to grave ethical or criminal misconduct such as perjury, fraud, or conflicts of interest. Impeachment is a process by which the political branches of government - usually the legislature - can remove judges from office. Here’s what you need to know about impeachment: What is judicial impeachment? But if the legislators follow through, they would toss aside a centuries-old understanding that if the impeachment power is used to punish judges for their rulings, it undermines the vital independence of our judicial branch. This is not the first time partisan disagreement over a court decision has led to impeachment threats. This year, legislators in Ohio and a Republican Party official in North Carolina have threatened to impeach justices on their state supreme courts in response to decisions those legislators disagree with.
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