John Pickering (lawyer)

John Pickering (born September 22, 1737 in Newington , New Hampshire Colony , † April 11, 1805 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire ) was a lawyer and politician in New Hampshire, and finally a federal judge responsible for New Hampshire.

John Pickering achieved notoriety by carrying out the first impeachment proceedings against him under US federal law.

career

Pickering graduated from Harvard University in law in 1761 and opened his own law firm in Greenland . From July 4, 1776 to 1783 he worked in his own law firm in Portsmouth.

From 1781 to 1783 and 1791 to 1792 he was a member of the council that drafted the New Hampshire Constitution. Meanwhile, from 1783 to 1787, he was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. He ratified the American Constitution in 1788 on behalf of his state. He served as his state's senator until 1790, and was also governor of New Hampshire in 1790. From 1790 to 1795 he was the chairman of the New Hampshire Superior Court of Judicature, the Supreme Court of New Hampshire.

In 1791 Pickering was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

Federal judge

On February 10, 1795, Pickering was nominated by President George Washington as a federal judge to the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire to occupy the seat of John Sullivan . On February 11, it was ratified by the United States Senate.

Impeachment

In 1800 Pickering showed the first signs of mental decline. This worsened, so on April 25, 1801, court officials asked the United States Circuit Court of the First Circuit to find a temporary replacement. Then, on the basis of Article 25 of the Judiciary Act , passed in 1801, Jeremiah Smith , a Circuit Court judge , was appointed to take charge of Pickering's business.

The Judiciary Act , passed in 1802, explicitly repealed the previous law. The replacement of picking was thus reversed.

On February 3, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson submitted evidence to the House of Representatives in favor of impeachment picking. It stated that Pickering had passed several unlawful judgments and that his drunkenness made him unsuitable for judicial office. Specifically, it was about his misconduct in a court case, which concerned defamation in connection with unpaid customs duties on a cargo ship.

On March 2, 1803, the House of Representatives voted to initiate impeachment proceedings. This was received by politicians as very controversial, as the Federalist Party accused the Democratic-Republican Party of removing the judge from his office for purely political reasons; Pickering committed neither high crimes nor misdemeanors in his office - the necessary reasons for impeachment.

The Senate discussed the indictment in Pickering's absence. After the deliberations, which lasted from January 4 to March 12, 1804, Pickering was convicted of abuse of office by 19 to 7 votes and removed from office. The federalists voted unanimously against Pickering, the Republicans unanimously supported the judge.

Death and resting place

Pickering died on April 11, 1805 in Portsmouth. He was buried in the Old North Cemetery , where numerous regionally and nationally famous personalities were buried.

literature

• Daniel H. Pollitt (1970): The Impeachment of Federal Judges: An Historical Overview. North Carolina Law Review.