Calls for Impeachment of Thomas, Sotomayor and Roberts Unlikely to Go Far
Both the left and the right have called for the impeachment of three current justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, but those pleas are unlikely to go very far, if history is any guide.
The targeted justices are Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor, and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the Washington Post reports. “None of the complaints is gaining traction,” the Post says, “but they do seem to indicate a desire to do something about the court’s rulings or recent developments that some say violate testimony given at justices’ confirmation hearings.”
The Post outlines the impeachment efforts:
• Liberals who want to impeach Thomas cite recent statements by his former girlfriend, Lillian McEwen, who said she believed accusations by Anita Hill, based on what she knew of Thomas.
• Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., wants to impeach Roberts because of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling finding corporations have a First Amendment right to advocate in elections. DeFazio claims Roberts was lying when he told senators he wouldn’t be an activist.
• Republicans are angry with Sotomayor because she said during her confirmation hearings that the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller was settled law, then dissented when the court extended the ruling to state and local governments.
The Post spoke to University of Chicago law professor Dennis Hutchinson, who said the only justice ever served with impeachment was Samuel Chase in 1805. The Senate refused to oust the justice, who was accused of being overly partisan, and he served another six years.
