Porteous
The Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch (LLAW) released a statement announcing the online petition and Facebook page to support the impeachment of U.S. District Judge Tomas Porteous of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
A senate impeachment committee concluded five days of testimony today and is expected to vote on whether to impeach Porteous after Thanksgiving. Porteous is facing four articles of impeachment, including taking kickbacks from a law firm and a bail-bond company while serving as a state judge in Jefferson Parish, as well as lying during background investigations before being appointed to federal court in 1994.
"By seeking bribes, taking kickbacks and falsifying statements, Judge Porteous misused his judicial power and eroded the public's trust," said LLAW Executive Director Melissa Landry in the press release.
In 2008, the Judicial Council of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals suspended Porteous from being assigned any new cases and stripped him of his hiring ability. On Sept. 10, the order was extended through Dec. 31. Porteous has refused to resign and continues to take in his $174,000 salary.
If convicted, Porteous would be just the eighth federal judge in American history to be impeached and removed from office.
LLAW's petition can be found at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/impeachjudgeporteous/.