Alcee Hastings

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Alcee Hastings

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 23rd district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 5, 1993–
Preceded by	None (District Created After 1990 Census)
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	September 05, 1936 (age 70) Altamonte Springs, Florida
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Divorced
Religion	African Methodist Episcopal

Alcee Lamar Hastings (born September 5, 1936) is a member of the United States House of Representatives representing Florida's 23rd congressional district (map). He was born in Altamonte Springs, Florida, and was educated at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee; Howard University in Washington, D.C.; and Florida A&M University.

A Representative since 1993 and a Democrat, Hastings was a lawyer and judge of the circuit court of Broward County, Florida, and United States District Court judge for the Southern District of Florida (1979 to 1989), until he was impeached and removed from office for corruption and perjury.

Hastings was elected to the House of Representatives in 1992. He is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and was elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in July 2004. Today, as a Senior Democratic Whip, Hastings is an influential member of the Democratic Leadership. Congressman Hastings is also a member of the powerful House Rules Committee and is a senior Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). On the HPSCI, Hastings is the Ranking Democratic Member of the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security. ^[1]

1 Impeachment
2 House Intelligence Committee controversy
3 See also
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] Impeachment

In 1981 Judge Hastings was charged with accepting a $150,000 bribe in exchange for a lenient sentence and a return of seized assets for 21 counts of racketeering by Frank and Thomas Romano, and of perjury in his testimony about the case. He was acquitted by a jury after his alleged co-conspirator, William Borders, refused to testify in court (resulting in a jail sentence for Borders).

In 1988, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives took up the case, and Hastings was impeached for bribery and perjury by a vote of 413-3. Voters to impeach included Democratic Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, John Conyers and Charles Rangel. He was then convicted in 1989 by the United States Senate, becoming the sixth federal judge in the history of the United States to be removed from office by the Senate. The Senate had the option to forbid Hastings from ever seeking federal office again, but did not do so. Alleged co-conspirator William Borders went to jail again for refusing to testify in the impeachment proceedings, but was later given a full pardon by Bill Clinton on his last day in office.^[2]

Hastings filed suit in federal court claiming that his impeachment trial was invalid because he was tried by a Senate committee, not in front of the full Senate, and that he had been acquitted in a criminal trial. Judge Stanley Sporkin ruled in favor of Hastings, remanding the case back to the Senate, but stayed his ruling pending the outcome of an appeal to the Supreme Court in a similar case regarding Judge Walter Nixon, who had also been impeached and removed.^[3]

Sporkin found some "crucial distinctions"^[4] between Nixon's case and Hastings', specifically, that Nixon had been convicted criminally, and that Hastings was not found guilty by two-thirds of the committee who actually "tried" his impeachment in the Senate. He further added that Hastings had a right to trial by the full Senate.

The Supreme Court, however, ruled in Nixon v. United States that the federal courts have no jurisdiction over Senate impeachment matters, so Sporkin's ruling was vacated and Hastings' conviction and removal were upheld.

[edit] House Intelligence Committee controversy

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After the 2006 United States House of Representatives elections, Hastings attracted controversy after it was reported that incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi might appoint him as head of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Pelosi reportedly favored Hastings instead of the ranking Democrat Jane Harman due to political differences and support for Hastings by the Congressional Black Caucus.^[5]

However, Hastings' impeachment led to accusations that Democrats, who had campaigned against a Republican "culture of corruption," were themselves elevating a corrupt official to a committee chair. On November 28, 2006, Pelosi announced that Hastings would not be the next chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence.^[6]

[edit] See also

Impeachment in the United States

[edit] Notes

Ruth Marcus, "Senate Removes Hastings" Washington Post, October 21, 1989; Page A01. [2]
Kenneth J. Cooper, "Hastings Joins His Former Accusers" Washington Post, January 6, 1993; Page A10.[3]
"Alcee Hastings scandal proves H. Paul Rico a gifted gangster" By Howie Carr, Boston Herald Columnist; Wednesday, November 22, 2006 - Updated: 12:35 AM EST [4]