Impeached U.S. Judge Granted Reduced Duties

U.S. District Judge Alcee Hastings said Friday that he had asked to be relieved of most his duties while his impeachment trial is pending in the Senate, and the chief district judge later issued a memo granting the request.

Hastings, the first black federal judge in Florida, has vowed to fight the charges, which he contends are racially motivated, and he said that he will not resign from his $89,500-a-year post. “I am never going to resign--underline, exclamation point--never,” Hastings said.

“Judge Hastings will not preside over hearings or trials until those matters demanding his personal attention are resolved or until further order of the court,” Chief U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King said in a memo to judges in Florida’s Southern District.

Perjury, Conspiracy Charges

The House voted, 413 to 3, Wednesday to impeach Hastings, 51, on charges ranging from perjury to conspiracy to solicit a bribe. The case goes next to the Senate for trial, probably early next year.

The impeachment charges stem from an indictment seven years ago that accused Hastings of conspiring with a Washington attorney to receive a $150,000 bribe from two convicted racketeers.