Originally Posted - July 20, 2006

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LOS ANGELES---The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has begun impeachment proceedings against an 82-year-old judge in California accused of misconduct in a bankruptcy case.

Congressman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis) has introduced a resolution that would allow his committee to investigate U.S. District Judge Manuel Real.

Real has been on the bench since appointed in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Real, was cleared of judicial misconduct in October, 2005 by the Ninth Circuit Judicial Counsel who ruled that his expression of regret for "misunderstandings" concerning his actions in a bankruptcy case was "adequate corrective action" and that no additional sanctions were warranted.

In what his critics call a gross abuse of power, Real had allegedly taken control of a bankruptcy case involving a defendant with whom he was personally acquainted. He allowed her to live rent-free for years in the house that she'd been ordered to vacate.

In April, a federal disciplinary panel ruled 3-2 that it couldn't sanction Real because the chief judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hadn't properly investigated the complaint.

Sensenbrenner said that "when the judicial branch has failed to address serious allegations of judicial misconduct as the 9th Circuit arguably has in this matter, the Constitution provides the Congress only one course of action: opening an impeachment inquiry.

Real's attorney said Sensenbrenner's act was a "rush to judgment" and that there was no basis for any inquiry. According to the Constitution, federal judges, appointed to life terms, are subject to the same type of impeachment proceedings as president. First would come impeachment by the House followed by trial by the Senate.

Since the Constitution was ratified in 1789, only 13 federal judges have been impeached, the most recent one being Alcee Hastings of the Southern District of Florida. Hastings, now a Democratic congressman, was impeached from judicial office in 1989 on charges of perjury and conspiring to solicit a bribe. 7-20-06

© 2006 North Country Gazette