The Nation - News from March 17, 1989

The Senate refused to dismiss impeachment counts charging that federal District Judge Alcee L. Hastings of Miami conspired to get a $150,000 bribe and later lied about it at his trial. The Senate voted 92 to 1 against dismissal of 15 of the 17 articles of impeachment against the 52-year-old Miami judge. The lawmakers then voted 93 to 0 against dismissal of another article. Hastings had not sought dismissal of still another charge, that he disclosed information obtained from a federal wiretap and thus torpedoed a federal investigation of Miami-area corruption. The Senate acted after 2 1/2 hours of deliberation on the judge’s move for dismissal of the charges on grounds that he had been acquitted in a 1983 trial and could not get a fair hearing in the Senate because too much time has passed.