Alcee L Hastings
From Corruptapedia
Alcee Hastings is a Democratic member of the House of Representatives representing Florida's 23rd congressional district. He has held his position since 1993. Hastings was a lawyer and a judge of the circuit court of Broward County, Florida and a United States District Court judge for the Southern District of Florida for the years of 1979-1989. He was was impeached and removed from his federal judicial position based on corruption and perjury. He is currently one of six federal judges to be impeached and removed from office in the history of the United States.
He is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and was elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. He currently serves as the Senior Democratic Whip. He is a powerful member of the House Rules Committee and is a senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). On the HPSCI, Hastings is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
[edit] Congressional District
[edit] Litigation
[edit] Impeachment
In 1981 Alcee Hastings was charged with accepting a $150,000 bribe in exchange for a lenient sentence and a return of seized assets for 21 counts of racketeering by Frank and Thomas Romano. He was also charged with perjury related to his testimony of the case. His co-conspirator, William Borders, refused to testify in court which resulted in a jail sentence for Borders. However, this also allowed Hastings to be acquitted.
In 1988, the Democratic controlled House of Representatives took the case and Hastings was impeached for bribery and perjury by a vote of 413-3. Voters to impeach include current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, John Conyers and Charles Rangel. Very interestingly, these leading House Democrats are currently seeking to place Hastings in charge of the House Intelligence Committee.
In 1989, the US Senate convicted Alcee Hastings which made him the sixth federal judge to be impeached and removed from office. A two-thirds vote was needed to convict and the vote received a final count of 69-26. Once again, co-conspirator William Borders refused to testify in the hearings and was again jailed.
Hastings challenged his decision, which was put on hold while the Supreme Court ruled on the Nixon v. United States. The verdict of this case was that the federal courts have no jurisdiction over Senate impeachment matters, and therefore Hastings conviction was upheld.
The Senate had the option of adding preventing Hastings from seeking future public offices, but declined to do so. In the upcoming election cycle, 1992, Hastings was elected to the House of Representatives.
