Most Likely To Be Impeached?
by James Gill - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

The race to be named federal judge most likely to be impeached has been nip and tuck, but we always knew the winner would come from this very circuit. The smart money for a long while was on the Louisiana-bred Thomas Porteous, with Samuel Kent of Texas the only other candidate with an exacta shot. Kent's odds just shortened considerably, and maybe we should put him on top, because he appears penitentiary bound. He copped a plea Monday, with prosecutors agreeing to settle for a sentence of three years.

Don't write Porteous off, though, for he has pretty good form. After being caught filing for bankruptcy under a false name and putting the arm on attorneys appearing before him, he was suspended by the Fifth Circuit and recommended for impeachment by the Judicial Conference of the United States, chaired by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, no less.

A U.S. House of Representatives investigation was cranked up again a few weeks ago after being interrupted by last fall's elections. Porteous appeared to top the sleaze rankings.

But he has never been charged with, let along convicted of, a crime so that Kent, in pleading guilty to obstruction of justice, may now have stolen a march on him. U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, who sits on the judiciary committee, has already called for impeachment after Kent is sentenced in May.