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| A Justice in Trouble | A Justice in Trouble |
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| The first and only Supreme Court justice to be impeached was Samuel Chase of Maryland in 1805, and he was, in the end, acquitted.I mentioned Chase in my column on Tuesday as one of the anti-Federalist critics of the Constitution during the battle for ratification. One of the Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence, Chase opposed ratification because the Constitution did not include a Bill of Rights. But once the Constitution went into effect, Chase became an ardent Federalist and, Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote in his account of the Chase impeachment, “brought to that commitment the intense dedication with which he held all of his beliefs.” | The first and only Supreme Court justice to be impeached was Samuel Chase of Maryland in 1805, and he was, in the end, acquitted.I mentioned Chase in my column on Tuesday as one of the anti-Federalist critics of the Constitution during the battle for ratification. One of the Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence, Chase opposed ratification because the Constitution did not include a Bill of Rights. But once the Constitution went into effect, Chase became an ardent Federalist and, Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote in his account of the Chase impeachment, “brought to that commitment the intense dedication with which he held all of his beliefs.” |
| In 1791 Chase became chief judge of the Maryland General Court, and in 1796 he was appointed to the Supreme Court by George Washington. The journey to Chase’s impeachment trial began in 1798 with the Alien and Sedition Acts, aimed at the Democratic-Republican critics of President John Adams, also a Federalist. Chase relished prosecutions of Democratic-Republican newspaper printers and even campaigned for Adams in the 1800 election. | In 1791 Chase became chief judge of the Maryland General Court, and in 1796 he was appointed to the Supreme Court by George Washington. The journey to Chase’s impeachment trial began in 1798 with the Alien and Sedition Acts, aimed at the Democratic-Republican critics of President John Adams, also a Federalist. Chase relished prosecutions of Democratic-Republican newspaper printers and even campaigned for Adams in the 1800 election. |
| Adams lost, of course, and in the wake of his defeat he — and the departing Federalist majority in Congress — confirmed a bevy of judges to the federal court system and reduced the size of the Supreme Court from six members to five, effective upon the next vacancy, to secure Federalist power on the courts. | Adams lost, of course, and in the wake of his defeat he — and the departing Federalist majority in Congress — confirmed a bevy of judges to the federal court system and reduced the size of the Supreme Court from six members to five, effective upon the next vacancy, to secure Federalist power on the courts. |
| When Thomas Jefferson took office, he set out to repeal the Judiciary Act of 1801, which enabled Adams’s so-called midnight appointments, and remove or neutralize Federalist influence within the judiciary. Which is to say that there was almost no question that Chase would, at some point, be in the cross hairs of Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party. | When Thomas Jefferson took office, he set out to repeal the Judiciary Act of 1801, which enabled Adams’s so-called midnight appointments, and remove or neutralize Federalist influence within the judiciary. Which is to say that there was almost no question that Chase would, at some point, be in the cross hairs of Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party. |