IMPEACH THOMAS & ALITO

Expand the Court to match the 13 Federal Judicial Districts

The political action group MoveOn has launched a petition calling for the impeachment of Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito from the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court due to their conflicts of interest, the gratuities they have enjoyed from conflicted parties, and the partisan stance of both Justices who have contorted the law to suite prejudicial findings. There has been tremendous pressure on both Justices to resign their court seats or at least to recuse themselves from particular cases. Both have resisted without comment.

Perhaps the Founding Fathers were remiss in making Supreme Court appointments good for the lifetime of the Justice, regardless of age, condition of health, or competence. Presumably, a Justice could be impeached and convicted and removed – but that would require Congressional and Presidential approval – and be particularly difficult to secure. Likewise, it would be perhaps even harder to alter the Constitutional provision enabling lifetime appointments to the Court. So, what are the odds that MoveOn can be successful at some point down the line? Obviously, a petition cannot be an effective instrument for impeachment. It can only influence those who have the power. Impeachment takes place in the House of Representatives and that certainly will not happen this year under Republican leadership, even though it only takes a simple majority to impeach.  A Senate conviction requires a vote of two-thirds of its members.

The Constitution does not explicitly identify Justices as subject to impeachment, only stipulating that “all Civil Officers” shall be removed upon impeachment. Although some federal judges have been removed following impeachment, it has never been tested whether a Supreme Court Justice is properly characterized as a “Civil Officer”. If, in 2025, the House of Representatives is controlled by Democrats, is it likely that Thomas and Alito will be impeached? I regard it as probable. If so, will they be convicted and removed by the Senate? That is still unlikely since a two-thirds vote is required – and even fi the Senate is controlled by Democrats, it is likely that Republicans will still constitute more than a third of Senate membership and will be uniformly resistant to removal.

The only recourse will be to expand the Court with Democratic appointees, a move that would probably require Senate approval (though only with a majority).