WASHINGTON -- The House voted 406-0 Tuesday to impeach a federal judge for the first time in 50 years, asking the Senate to throw Judge Harry Claiborne of Nevada off the bench because he was convicted of income tax evasion.
Invoking a rarely used constitutional power, the House approved four articles of impeachment against Claiborne and sent them to the Senate where he must stand trial. He would be removed from his lifetime post if convicted.
No date for action in the Senate has been set, but Senate Republican Leader Robert Dole of Kansas said he expected a Senate trial in the fall.
Claiborne, the only federal judge in history to be convicted and jailed while still on the federal bench, has refused to resign and continues to draw his $78,700 yearly salary while serving a two-year prison term for tax evasion.
'The facts of this case are clear and compelling,' said House Judiciary Chairman Peter Rodino, D-N.J., who also led the impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon in 1974, which were never considered by the full House because Nixon resigned.
'We must send a message to the American people. We will not tolerate felons on the federal bench. They will be removed,' declared Rep. Bruce Morison, D-Conn.
Republicans also called for Claiborne's removal.
'Judge Claiborne is more than a mere embarrassment. He is a disgrace and affront to the branch of government that he was appointed to serve,' said Rep. Hamilton Fish, R-N.Y..
And Rep. Michael DeWine, R-Ohio, declared, 'There is no other remdy. The buck stops here.'
Last month, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the impeachment articles against Claiborne, based on his conviction on two counts of tax evasion and for bringing 'disrepute on the federal judiciary.'
The House vote is the first time since 1936 it has approved the impeachment of a federal judge. In the last case, U.S. District Judge Halsted Ritter of Florida was impeached, convicted by the Senate and removed from office after he was charged with filing false tax returns.
In impeachment, the House acts like a grand jury bringing an indictment and the Senate is charged with conducting the trial and removing a federal official if convicted.
Claiborne, 69, a colorful member of Nevada's legal circles for years, was appointed to the federal bench by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. He has resisted pressure to resign from a number of lawmakers, including Sen. Paul Laxalt, R-Nev.
If the Senate does not vote to remove Claiborne from office, he could return to the bench after serving his sentence since federal judges are appointed for life. On Sept. 1, 1988, he will be eligible to retire and draw a full salary.
Ten federal judges have been impeached by the House since 1804, but only four actually convicted and removed from office by the Senate.
Claiborne's lawyer, Oscar Goodman, maintains the Nevada judge is the victim of a Justice Department vendetta and said he will use the Senate trial to clear his client's name.
Goodman said Claiborne 'absolutely' intends to testify if he stands trial, and he expects to bring out evidence that will result in acquittal.
The last impeachment resolution in modern times occurred in 1974 when the House Judiciary Committee voted three articles of impeachment against Nixon, but he resigned the presidency before the full House acted.
Claiborne was convicted in 1984 of falsifying his 1979 and 1980 tax returns by omitting $106,000 of income. Earlier, he was charged with taking an $85,000 bribe from former Nevada brothel owner Joe Conforte, but prosecutors dropped the case after a jury failed to reach a verdict.
Nine House members have been designated to serve as managers of the Senate trial against Claiborne. They are House Judiciary Committee chairman Peter Rodino, D-N.J. and Reps. Kastenmeier, William Hughes, D-N.J., Romano Mazzoli, D-Ky., Dan Glickman, D-Kan., Hamilton Fish, R-N.Y., Henry Hyde, R-Ill., Thomas Kindness, R-Ohio, and DeWine, R-Ohio.
Invoking a rarely used constitutional power, the House overwhelmingly approved four articles of impeachment against Claiborne and sent them to the Senate where he must stand trial. He would be removed from his lifetime post if convicted.
No date for action in the Senate has been set.
Claiborne, the only federal judge in history to be convicted and jailed while still on the federal bench, has refused to resign and continues to draw his $78,700 yearly salary while serving a two-year prison term for tax evasion.
'The facts of this case are clear and compelling,' said House Judiciary Chairman Peter Rodino, D-N.J., who also led the impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon in 1974, which were never considered by the full House because Nixon resigned.
'The compelling circumstances of this case and a clear constitutional responsibility require this body to act to restore sound government and public trust through impeachment,' Rodino said.
Republicans joined in the call for Claiborne's impeachment and no one rose to speak in his defense.
'Judge Claiborne is more than a mere embarrassment. He is a disgrace and affront to the branch of government that he was appointed to serve,' said Rep. Hamilton Fish, R-N.Y..
'As we approach the 200th anniversary of our cherished Constitution, the House of Representatives is facing a question that it has never seen before: a convicted and incarcerated federal judge is the subject of an impeachment resolution. There is substantial evidence that Judge Claiborne's conduct warrants impeachment,' Rep. Robert Kastenmeier, D-Wis., said before debate began.
