Congressional Oversight of Judges and Justices
Abstract
This report addresses Congress oversight authority over individual federal judges or Supreme Court Justices. Congressional oversight authority, although broad, is limited to subjects related to the exercise of legitimate congressional power. While Congress has the power to regulate the structure, administration and jurisdiction of the courts, its power over the judicial acts of individual judges or Justices is more restricted. For instance, Congress has limited authority to remove or discipline a judge for decisions made on the bench. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution provides that judges have "good behavior" tenure, which effectively has come to mean lifetime tenure for Article III judges subject to removal only through conviction on impeachment. However, impeachment of a judge or Justice requires a finding that such judge or Justice has engaged in a High Crime or Misdemeanor. Thus, an investigation into decisions or other actions by a particular judge pursuant to an impeachment would appear to require some connection between an alleged High Crime or Misdemeanor and a particular case or cases.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 31, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA465341
Entities
People
- Elizabeth B. Bazan
- Morton Rosenberg
Organizations
- Library of Congress