Congressman calls for impeaching dead federal judge
Senior U.S. District Judge John E. “Jay” Steele, who served on the federal court for the Middle District of Florida, died July 14. And one day later, U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, a Republican from Sarasota, Florida, introduced articles of impeachment against him. (Photo from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida)
Senior U.S. District Judge John E. “Jay” Steele, who served on the federal court for the Middle District of Florida, died July 14. And one day later, U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, a Republican from Sarasota, Florida, introduced articles of impeachment against him.
Steube said in a July 16 press release he was introducing the articles of impeachment over a July 8 decision made by Steele.
The ruling, likely one of the last that Steele ever wrote, ordered the release of a Cuban national being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending deportation. The Cuban national had been convicted in a 2003 plane hijacking. He had served a 22-year sentence and was apprehended after his release.
Steube likely did not know that Steele had died when he began a public campaign for Steele’s expulsion from the bench, according to a story by Law.com.
Steele, who died at age 77, had served more than 35 years in the federal judiciary, mostly on the Fort Myers Division bench of the Middle District of Florida.
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