Impeachment by Any Other Name

Abstract

The subject of how and when Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court leave their jobs has been thoroughly and ably masticated. What more remains to be chewed up and spit out? Perhaps not much, but still a little. By examining and framing the departures from office of some Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court — and the persistence in office of some others — from the perspective of government actors seeking to influence those departures, I hope to provide some perspective on both the efficacy and the legitimacy of such efforts. This little paper is, in other words, a historical introduction to the informal removal of judges.

Keywords: constitution, impeach, senate, representatives, president, good behaviour, 25th amendment, Rehnquist, Marshall, Brennan, Hunt, Hayes, Garfield, Conkling, Douglas, Fortas, Johnson, Swayne, Goldberg, Matthews, Curtis, Taney, Dred Scott, Burger, retire