Halsted L. Ritter

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Halsted L. Ritter (14 July 1868 – 15 October 1957) was a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of Florida. He was the twelfth federal official of the United States to be served with Articles of Impeachment and only the fourth to be removed from office.

Ritter was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and studied Law at DePauw University, Indiana, graduating in 1892. He practiced in Indiana until 1895 when he moved to Denver, Colorado where he would become an Assistant United States Attorney. In 1922 he moved to Florida and resumed his Law practice. In 1929 he was appointed to the Southern District Court of Florida by President Calvin Coolidge.

On 2 March 1936 the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach Ritter by 181 votes to 146 on 7 articles: ordering the payment of "exorbitant" legal fees with intent to embezzle, showing favouritism in bankruptcy cases, two charges of practising law whilst a Judge, two charges of tax evasion and bringing the judiciary into disrepute.

On 6 April 1936 the U.S. Senate began its trial and eleven days later voted to acquit him of all but the last article of bringing the judiciary into disrepute, which it convicted him of by 56 votes to 28 - the minimum ratio necessary for a conviction under the Constitution. He was removed from office and a motion to disqualify the Judge from further office was defeated unanimously by the Senate.

Ritter challenged the conviction in the federal Court of Claims on the grounds that the Senate could not convict him on a general charge of bringing the Judiciary into disrepute if it was not able to convict him of a specific offence. The court dismissed the case for want of jurisdiction, remarking that under Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 the Senate was granted "sole power" to try impeachments.