The U.S. Congress
 
 
There is an interesting election campaign in progress in Florida’s 23rd Congressional District. Alcee Hastings, a member of Congress since 1993 is being challenged in the Democratic primary election to be held on August 26th by Ray Torres Sanchez, (former Mayor of Belle Glade, FL). This would be just another run of the mill contest with the incumbent crushing the challenger because of all of the “incumbent advantages” except that Mr. Hastings is not only a member of the U.S. Congress but also an impeached federal judge. Mr. Hastings was convicted, impeached and removed from the federal bench by the U.S. Senate in 1989. The impeachment proceedings centered around a 1981 case (United States v Romano) that was tried before Federal Judge Alcee Hastings. The articles of impeachment that the Senate considered, charged Judge Hastings with engaging in a corrupt conspiracy to obtain $150,000 from the defendants in the case in return for the imposition of sentences which would not require incarceration. Some of the articles of impeachment in this case also charged Judge Hastings with lying under oath. The senate found Judge Hastings guilty on eight of the articles. Ray Torres Sanchez has filed complaints before both the Federal and State Election Boards with the goal of having Congressman Hastings declared ineligible to run for election to the Congress in 2008 based upon Article 1, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution. Section 3 contains the following language “Judgement in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States” In plain English, Dr. Sanchez’ complaint makes the argument that if the Senate convicts, impeaches and removes you from your position, the U.S. Constitution states that you may never hold public office again. It will be interesting to see if the election commissions agree with this argument. In researching this blog entry, I found it difficult to judge how effectively Congressman Hastings has represented his constituents during his sixteen years in office. Since entering the Congress, Mr. Hastings has missed 908 votes. His voting record is considered poor when compared to his peers in the Congress. He has sponsored 209 bills (163 of which never made it out of committee). Only 5 have successfully passed. There is a great deal of information on the internet regarding the impeachment of Judge Hastings. I think that the the entry of Byron York of The National Review published on November 17, 2006 provides a factual and unbiased account of the the case. Mr. York’s article can be found at: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZjhiODMwNDA0ZGEwMGI3ZGExOGFjYmIzNzQzZjhjYjc= http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZjhiODMwNDA0ZGEwMGI3ZGExOGFjYmIzNzQzZjhjYjcshapeimage_1_link_0
ALCEE HASTINGS Impeached Federal Judge Current Member Of U.S. Congress
Sunday, August 10, 2008
A Matter of Ethics?