First Supreme Court Justice impeached

Princess Anne

March 12, 1804

Categories: Government, Legal, Politics
Tags: 1776 – 1816, Somerset County

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase is impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. Chase (born near Princess Anne) is accused of 8 counts of tampering with the judicial process with an “intemperate and inflammatory, indecent and unbecoming” political bias when he was a judge in the lower courts.

President Jefferson, opposing the independent power of the courts, begins a campaign to remove his judicial enemies. From the beginning of his career, Chase is characterized as a cantankerous “reckless incendiary.” In the subsequent Senate trial, his opponents cannot produce the votes needed for a 3/4 majority to convict. Despite their dislike for Chase, the majority chooses to keep the judiciary free of politics.

Chase is one of the four Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence.

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