Alcee Hastings Trial and Impeachment: 1983 & 1989

But his troubles were far from over. Shortly after his acquittal, two of his fellow judges in the Eleventh Circuit filed a complaint with their Judicial Council that led to a three-year investigation of Hastings. After the Council's investigation committee turned in its report concluding that Hastings had broken the law, the full Council endorsed this conclusion and passed it on to the Judicial Conference of the United States. In March 1987, this Conference, composed of federal judges, then informed the House of Representatives that impeachment might be warranted. In May 1988, a special House subcommittee began to examine the case and the evidence. Hastings again tried to stop this, arguing that impeachment would expose him to double jeopardy, and that the whole action was motivated by a racial and political vendetta. But the subcommittee recommended impeachment and on August 8, 1988, the House voted 413 to 3 to accept 17 articles of impeachment. On March 16, 1989, the Senate voted to proceed with all 17 of them.