POSC 130g 1st Edition Lecture 11 Current LectureRemoval of Federal Judges cont. Goodwin Lu: professor at Berkley and was nominated by Obama. Some people thought he was too liberal and eventually withdrew his nomination. Some thought it was odd that he had written vouchers for schools and public policies that might be considered conservative. He was a brilliant jurist and professor at the law school. This is an example of someone who had too far ideology. He was then appointed to be on the California Supreme Court. He will have the opportunity to serve as a judge. Roosevelt’s court packing plan to save the New Deal policies: he wanted to add justices to position to get more judges on the bench with his own views. Congress wasn’t okay with that.Reganism: value packing; appoint judges that shared his viewsJimmy Carter: known for diversifying the bench; sometimes criticized as micromanaging and notas powerful as some of the other presidents. He appointed more judges of different backgrounds than any other president. He tried to be more inclusive in terms of backgrounds. Does it matter to have judges of different backgrounds on the bench? That is different from a quota system. In the state system, there is tremendous variation. Commissions on judicial performance: have some enforcement powers but pretty limited.ElectionsImpeachment system is what is used; federal judges enjoy life tenure and serve until death or chose to step down. Judge Harry Claiborne: judge on US District Court in Nevada: tax evasion, convicted and imprisoned in 1984. He was removed from the Senate, but didn’t vote on disqualifying him fromholding another federal office. He was authorized by the Supreme Court of Nevada to resume the private practice of law after serving seventeen years in jail. Judge Alcee L. Hastings: first black judge in Florida and impeached on 17 counts to receive a bribe. He disclosed private information. He was impeached. Judge G. Thomas Porteus: Impeached and was the 8th judge to be removed. He accepted gifts from attorneys and luxuries. A professor represented him from George Washing University. He was convicted and the Senate voted to bar him from holding a private practice.Judge Abe Fortas: He was the judge that had been the lawyer for Gideon. He was going to be chosen by Lyndon Johnson to be the Chief Justice. Because of some questions about ethics, it caused him to be stepped down. Notorious Misconduct1. Sexual assault- Judge David Lanier, from Tennessee, assaulted a dozen women and was a predator towards female employees and visitors to the courthouse. He thought he was above the law and he was prosecuted for 11 counts of sexual assault. The jury convicted him on five counts and the trial judge gave him a 25 year sentence. The US Court of Appeals in Cincinnati reversed that and the US Supreme Court reversed that and the FBI had to chase him because he ran away. US Supreme Court said that prosecuting the judge had not violated the fair warning for the judge. 2. Sexual harassment- Judge James Stevens; Judge in Northern California handed the court reporter a over large zucchini. She thought this was offensive, he fired her, and she filed against him a sexual harassment suit for 660,000. They settled the case for over half a million dollars. This didn’t help the reputation of the judiciary. 3. Porn on a website- Judge Alex Kozinski; chief justice for the Court of Appeals in the 9th circuit. He posted sexual things on his website that was publicly accessible. It was a joke about a donkey but some people thought it was pornographic. It was on a private website. He liked to distribute jokes to the people that worked with him. Should a judge have free speech rights and be able to do this stuff? Should judges adhere to a higher standards. It is irrelevant to his position as the judge, the lawyers said that. He also developed a friendship with an inmate that wanted to be a writer. They developed a correspondence, which led the California Attorney General to conduct an investigation. People thought if he was friendly with someone on death row, if he would be biased about not giving capital punishment to someone. Normally, the investigation was conducted by the head of the circuit, but he was the head of the circuit. Ultimately, he was warned that he should be more careful. 4. Drugs- Judge Lawrence Kords; judge in Florida who was smoking Marijuana in a park. He cut a deal in the misdemeanor case; the commission looked into if he was using the drugfrequently. The commission that looked into this was expected to advice the Florida Supreme Court to remove him from the bench. He was involved in the public eye with a decision on Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter. He publicly apologized for the embarrassmenthe caused the judiciary. He was given a paid leave. The NAACP filed a complaint, saying he made mean comments to litigants suggesting he was under the influence. Some people thought he was not fit to serve as a judge. Judges shouldn’t interact with lawyers outside of the courtroom if they have a case with him or her. Do Judges Have Free Speech?1. Public commentary on case- Judge Howard Broadman on sterilization decision. The girl beat her children while pregnant with another child. She was sentenced to prison fordoing something against her sentence. The judge required her to have birth control instead of going to prison. This was unusual to have someone go on birth control. Then he had a press conference about why he wanted to do this. He was then sentenced for commenting to the media about this unorthodox decision. He said he had freedom of speech but the California Supreme Court said he should not have free speech. He was just required to do a written apology. 2. Campaign for office- Republican Party of Minnesota v. White (2002): Could candidates make statements for the judiciary? There was a rule against candidates making statements that were about cases and issues that were likely to come in front of the court. Gregory Scolea lost three times for running for state Supreme Court. This principalof judicial ethics violated the judicial right of freedom speech. Justice Scolea got in trouble but The announced clause validated the first amendment and they were allowedto speak. 3. Judge made discrimination comment about being homophobic as a private citizen in a letter he wrote to the newspaper. He signed it with his name and wrote about his personal views on the rights of gays and lesbians.