Porteous impeachment vote scheduled for today
by Bruce Alpert - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote today on whether to impeach New Orleans U.S. District Judge Thomas Porteous. On Jan. 27, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved four articles of impeachment against Porteous, accusing him of taking money, expensive meals and other gifts from lawyers and a bail bond company with business before him and making false statements in a personal bankruptcy filing. Though much of the "improper conduct" occurred when he was a state judge, the Judiciary Committee decided he had an obligation to disclose his actions during his nomination and confirmation process in 1994. He was appointed to the U.S. District Court in New Orleans by President Bill Clinton. In concluding that Porteous committed "high crimes and misdemeanors," the Constitution's criteria for impeachment, the Judiciary Committee accused the judge of engaging "in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with the trust and confidence placed in him as a federal judge."