Misconduct Findings Against Federal Judge Forwarded to House
The U.S. Judicial Conference has forwarded to the House of Representatives its misconduct findings against U.S. District Judge Thomas Porteous.
The impeachment recommendation said the group had found substantial evidence that Porteous committed perjury and failed to disclose gifts he accepted from lawyers appearing before him, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.
A two-page summary (PDF) says Porteous signed false financial disclosures to conceal income and gifts he solicited from lawyers appearing before him, making it impossible for litigants to seek his recusal in appropriate cases, the story says. The summary also says the judge committed perjury in a bankruptcy case “while continuing his lifestyle at the expense of his creditors.”
The summary says in one case involving a hospital that was tried without a jury, Porteous refused to recuse himself while failing to disclose he had accepted cash gifts from lawyers in the case.
Porteous himself shed more light on the bankruptcy allegations in an effort to force disclosure of a secret dissent to the impeachment recommendation, according to an earlier Times-Picayune story. Court papers say the panel found Porteous and his wife filed for bankruptcy using the names G.T. Ortous and C.A. Ortous. The couple later amended the court papers and supplied their real names. Porteous also was found to have concealed assets during the case, failed to identify gambling losses and omitted creditors. He continued to get short-term loans from casinos and renewed a loan six months before he sought to discharge his debts by signing a form that said he was not contemplating bankruptcy.
The House Judiciary Committee now must decide whether to call a vote on the initiation of impeachment proceedings.
A hat tip to How Appealing.
