House Unanimous in Vote to Impeach Judge Claiborne

The House Tuesday unanimously approved its first impeachment resolution in a half century, voting 406 to 0 to bounce from the bench a judge who is not only a convicted felon but who also continues to draw his $78,700 yearly salary while behind bars.

Las Vegas federal District Judge Harry E. Claiborne was found guilty two years ago of failing to report $106,000 in income on his 1979 and 1980 tax returns. He entered a federal prison camp in Alabama on May 16, but has stubbornly clung to the job to which he--like all other federal judges--was appointed for life.

Under the Constitution, the only way to forceably expel a federal jurist is through the impeachment process. The resolution, akin to a grand jury indictment, sends the matter to the Senate for trial. If the Senate votes to convict Claiborne--an act considered virtually certain given the universal outrage expressed by lawmakers over his refusal to resign--he will be formally stripped of his office and the federal paychecks will stop coming to his jail cell.

“The judge is mocking us, the judge is laughing at us,” complained Rep. George W. Gekas (R-Pa.) as he urged support for impeachment. “ . . . He disgraces the whole judicial system.”

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) said that a Senate trial probably would be scheduled sometime in the fall.

It was only the 14th time that the House has voted to impeach a federal official and the first time it has acted to remove a jailed felon. Claiborne was not the first judge convicted of a crime while in office, but he was the first to refuse to step down before serving time.

Officials Impeached

The roster of officials impeached by the House includes President Andrew Johnson--acquitted in 1867 by one vote in the Senate on charges that he improperly fired a Cabinet officer--as well as a secretary of war and a senator. All other officials impeached were judges.

In all, only four persons impeached by the House eventually were convicted by the Senate. All were judges. Some, like Claiborne, had been charged with criminal misconduct. But one, New Hampshire federal Judge John Pickering, the first to be expelled in 1804, was accused of being a drunk, having loose morals and following odd procedures on the bench. Pickering failed to attend his Senate trial because he was insane, according to historical accounts.

The last federal jurist to be impeached and convicted was Halsted L. Ritter, removed from the bench in Florida in 1936 for income tax evasion, taking payoffs and practicing law while on the bench.

In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach then President Richard M. Nixon for his part in the Watergate scandal, but Nixon resigned before the matter came to the floor for consideration.

Appointed by Carter

Claiborne, 69, had been a successful defense lawyer in Las Vegas when he was appointed to the bench in 1978 by then President Jimmy Carter. After his appointment, according to the charges against him, he continued to receive fees for previous legal work but failed to pay taxes on them. During his trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Claiborne, while a judge, bypassed banks and normal record-keeping procedures and cashed those fee checks at local casinos instead.

Oscar Goodman, Claiborne’s attorney, said that his client is the victim of a Justice Department vendetta and claims prosecutors’ evidence was seized illegally from the judge’s home to convict him. Claiborne, who has the right to defend himself before the Senate, wants to use the trial to clear his name, Goodman has said.

However, Rep. Robert W. Kastenmeir (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on the courts, said that such allegations are irrelevant and urged the Senate to refuse to hear them.

Convicted by Peers

“Notwithstanding the motivations of the people who prosecuted the case, he committed wrongful acts,” Kastenmeir said. “He was convicted by a jury of his peers.”

House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill Jr. appointed a committee of five Democrats and three Republicans, led by Rep. William J. Hughes (D-N.J.), to serve as prosecutors during the Senate trial. Senate leaders are not clear what procedure they will follow in conducting the trial, though, because of a crowded calendar, they are considering the possibility of appointing a panel of 12 members to hear the case rather than the full body. However, the full Senate, acting on recommendations of the panel, would still have to vote to remove Claiborne.