DATE: Thursday, April 3, 1997               TAG: 9704030001

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   60 lines

HANDS OFF THE JUDGES IMPEACHMENT OF FEDERAL JUDGES OUGHT TO BE USED ONLY FOR THOSE ACCUSED OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR.

The Republican majority in Congress seemed resigned to cooperating with Democrats and the president last year after the GOP's lackluster performance in the national elections.

But suddenly a few of the ultra- conservatives are back in the spotlight - with a newly divisive agenda.

Majority Whip Tom DeLay of Texas recently declared that he is developing an impeachment list of federal judges.

These are not jurists who have committed ``treason, bribery or other high crimes or misdemeanors'' as specified in Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution for removal of federal judges. These are judges who have committed a more heinous act in the eyes of DeLay and some other Republicans in Washington: They're liberal.

DeLay charges that the way some Democrat-appointed federal judges are interpreting law amounts to legislating from the bench. He says he will end this behavior by impeaching the offenders.

According to The New York Times, DeLay has already targeted three federal judges for impeachment proceedings: Harold Baer Jr. of Manhattan, who suppressed evidence last year in a drug case because the police did not have cause to stop the suspects; Fred S. Biery of San Antonio, who blocked the seating of two Republicans, who won local elections last year with slim majorities attributed to absentee ballots sent by military voters who had not lived in the district for many years; and Thelton E. Henderson of San Francisco, who has blocked implementation of a referendum ending affirmative action.

DeLay told The Times he is also looking at John T. Nixon, chief judge of the Federal District Court in Nashville, who has stopped executions in several capital cases.

These pronouncements from DeLay's office suggest that the majority whip lacks a basic understanding of our constitutional democracy. An independent judiciary is a cornerstone of our democracy, and federal judges must be able to rule free from threats and vendettas.

If history is any indicator, they will continue to be. DeLay's tactics - like those of political opportunists in the past - are almost certainly doomed to fail.

The American Bar Association reports that in the 221-year history of the United States, the House of Representatives has voted to impeach federal judges just 13 times. Only 11 judges were actually tried, and only seven of those were convicted and removed from office. Most of these impeachment proceedings were for alleged criminal behavior by the judges, not from unpopular decisions.

DeLay ought to be reminded that by engaging in this form of political warfare, he encourages his opponents on the other side of the aisle to attack the legions of Reagan appointees with similar threats if Democrats are returned to the majority position in Washington.

This sort of imprudent behavior is what we have come to expect from our overly partisan national leaders, but it is disgraceful nonetheless.

An independent judiciary is essential to the maintenance of liberty in the United States. Schoolchildren know this. So should the majority whip.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu