Until now, 14 federal judges were impeached by the House of Representatives in the history of our nation. Today, a fifteenth has been added to the list, Judge Thomas Porteous, who served in the federal court for eastern Louisiana. He was appointed to the federal court by Clinton in 1994. Previously, he was a state judge in Louisiana, where some of the incidents occurred.

There were four counts in the impeachment vote; taking money, meals, and gifts from attorneys and a bail bondsman with cases before him, and making false statements in a personal bankruptcy hearing. The votes for his impeachment ranged from 410-0 to 423-0. The matter now goes to the Senate for adjudication, which has only removed 8 judges from office in history. Many of the other judges resigned rather than face public humiliation.