Congressman Investigating Impeachment for Chief Justice John Roberts

[catgirl]

Huffington Post:

With Democrats increasingly outraged over the Supreme Court's Citizen United decision that allowed unlimited corporate spending in elections -- a change conservatives have been more successful at taking advantage of -- a Democratic congressman is raising the prospect of impeaching the Supreme Court's chief justice over the issue.

"I mean, the Supreme Court has done a tremendous disservice to the United States of America," Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) told The Huffington Post on Tuesday. "They have done more to undermine our democracy with their Citizens United decision than all of the Republican operatives in the world in this campaign. They've opened the floodgates, and personally, I'm investigating articles of impeachment against Justice Roberts for perjuring during his Senate hearings, where he said he wouldn't be a judicial activist, and he wouldn't overturn precedents."

In his 2005 confirmation hearings, Roberts famously said, "Judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules; they apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules. But it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ball game to see the umpire."

According to DeFazio, Roberts hasn't stood by his own doctrine. He pointed to former Justice John Paul Stevens's dissent in the case, in which he said the Citizens United case was not properly brought before the Supreme Court. "This procedure is unusual and inadvisable for a court," Stevens said of the process. "Our colleagues' suggestion that 'we are asked to reconsider Austin and, in effect, McConnell," ante, at 1, would be more accurate if rephrased to state that 'we have asked ourselves' to reconsider those cases."

Link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/22/peter-defazio-impeachment-chief-justice-john-roberts_n_771431.html

[AnnieBW]

1. Scalia and Thomas first

Their conflicts of interest are much more egregious.

[HughMoran]

2. Might as well add Thomas and Scalia for their right-wing affiliations

Go for the trifecta - these may be the most biased Justices ever.

[BootinUp]

3. Shit, I'll contribute hard cash if it will help

with this effort.

[bigmonkey]

4. Second that!

For sure.

[femrap]

5. I hope something like this will

happen, but there's too much $$$$ on their side....

[onenote]

6. what a fucking waste of time

I'm sorry, but as crappy a justice as Roberts is, this has as much chance of going anywhere as my flying to the moon by flapping my arms.

Roberts was one of five justices that ruled in CU case; if he's open to impeachment so are the others. But more importantly, for Congress to start an impeachment proceeding because they don't like the outcome of a SCOTUS decision would set a precedent that would be horrific.

[spin]

7. Agreed. It would also set a precedent that could be used to attack liberal justices. (n/t)

[Bitwit1234]

8. Hey didn't Alitio say the same thing.

[hulka38]

9. Welcome to fantasy island.