Can U.S. Supreme Court justices be impeached?

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The answer surprisingly is yes. In fact, Associate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase from Maryland was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1805. He was ultimately acquitted by the Senate.

“Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons are commanded to keep silence on pain of imprisonment while the grand jury of the nation is exhibiting to the Senate of the United States sitting as a Court of Impeachments, articles of impeachment against Samuel Chase, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court of the United States.” Vice President Aaron Burr presiding.

Chase was born in Somerset County, Maryland, on April 17, 1741. He was admitted to the bar in 1761 and commenced practice in Annapolis. He served as a member of the Maryland General Assembly from 1764 to 1784. He was also a member of the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1778 and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

He moved to Baltimore in 1786 where he became a Baltimore Criminal Court judge in 1788. In 1791, President George Washington appointed Chase as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.

On March 12, 1804, eight charges were filed against Chase. They included: alleged misconduct in presiding over the treason trial of one John Fries in 1800 by prejudicing the jury against him, including the rejection of some of Fries’ defenses; improperly acting in the trial of John Bassett by not excusing a particular juror; refusing to allow a particular witness in the trial of James Callender to testify on Callender’s behalf; intemperance and “manifest injustice” during the Callender trial; and highly indecent and extrajudicial conduct before a Baltimore grand jury.

The Constitution gives Congress the authority to impeach and remove the president, vice president, and all federal civil officers for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. The House of Representatives initiates the impeachment. The Senate tries the impeachment. (See Articles 1 and 2 of the Constitution.)

Much has been written about this particular impeachment, with speculation it was brought about by political rivalry between the Jefferson Democratic-Republicans and the Federalist Party, as Jeffersonians were angered over the power of the Judiciary supported by the Federalists.

So after impeachment was initiated by the House, Samuel Chase was tried by the Senate, with proceedings commencing on Feb. 4, 1805. Among his defense team was outstanding Maryland lawyer Luther Martin, whose opening remarks included the following:

“Did I only appear in defense of a friend, with whom I have been in habits of intimacy for nearly thirty years, I should feel less anxiety on the present occasion, though that circumstance would be a sufficient inducement; but I am at this time actuated by superior motives. I consider this cause not only of importance to the respondent and his accusers, but to my fellow citizens in general whose eyes are now fixed upon us, and to their posterity, for the decision at this time will establish a most important precedent as to future cases of impeachment.”

During the proceedings, numerous — but typical — issues arose. For example, witness George Hay announced that a statement he had prepared in the past to which he wanted to refer during his testimony was ruled not permissible.

Following John Randolph’s peroration for the grounds for the finding of impeachment, the proceedings closed. Randolph was the leader of the House managers in support of the charges. Here is an excerpt from his closing argument:

“We have performed our duty, we have bound the criminal and dragged him to your altar. The nation expects from you that award which the evidence and the law require. It remains for you to say whether he shall be again the scourge of an exasperated people …”

There were 34 senators present (25 Democratic-Republicans and nine Federalists), with 23 votes needed to reach the required two-thirds majority for conviction/removal from office. Of the eight ballots taken, the closest vote was 18 for conviction/removal from office and 16 for acquittal in regard to the Baltimore grand jury charge.

It was ultimately Chase’s legal team that convinced several wavering senators that Chase’s conduct did not warrant his removal from office. With at least six Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans joining the nine Federalists who voted not guilty on each article, the Senate—on March 1, 1805—acquitted Samuel Chase on all counts. A majority voted guilty on three of the eight articles, but on each article, the vote fell far short of the two-thirds required for conviction.

Upon acquittal, Chase resumed his duties on the bench, where he remained until his death in Washington, D.C., on June 19, 1811. He is interred in Old St. Paul’s Cemetery in Baltimore.

(Sources include  “Grand Inquests,” by William Rehnquist.)

Paul Mark Sandler, trial attorney and author, can be reached at [email protected].