The Kentucky Supreme Court is ordering lawmakers to drop impeachment proceedings against a circuit judge in Lexington.
In a 5-1 opinion issued Monday afternoon, the state’s high court said that the legislature’s impeachment of Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Goodman “encroaches upon the inherent powers of the Judicial Branch” and violates the separation of powers among branches of government.
“Judges must remain free to exercise the constitutional authority bestowed upon them by the electorate to decide the cases and controversies before them without fear that a legally incorrect ruling or even an appellate finding of abuse of discretion will result in the extreme sanction of impeachment,” says the opinion written by Chief Justice Debra Hembree Lambert.
Concurring in the opinion were Justices Kelly Thompson, Angela McCormick Bisig and Deputy Chief Justice Robert Conley. Justice Shea Nickell dissented. Thompson wrote a concurring opinion. Justice Pamela Goodwine recused herself from the case.
The Kentucky House forwarded articles of impeachment against Goodman to the Senate earlier this month. The resolution accuses Goodman of committing “misdemeanors in office,” but House lawmakers did not unanimously agree about Goodman’s conduct while debating the petition.
The majority opinion says that the impeachment petition against Goodman was invalid, as it lacked a signed affidavit, and “did not allege that Judge Goodman committed any impeachable offenses.” The justices say that the allegations of misconduct against Goodman should have instead been referred to the Judicial Conduct Commission.
In conclusion, Lambert wrote that the Kentucky Constitution does not give the legislature “unfettered authority to conduct unconstitutional impeachment proceedings based on the mundane, discretionary actions of a judge that are within the exclusive authority of this branch to address,” as the state has “co-equal branches of government.”
“Yet the Respondents would have us interpret it (or more to the point, not interpret it) such that the Legislature may have the complete, unchecked power to impeach judicial branch officials for matters which our Constitution gives this branch the authority to address,” she said. “This would not be co-equal. It would not be constitutional. It would be tyrannical.”
Thompson wrote in his concurring opinion that impeachment should rarely “be needed” and only used in cases where official misconduct occurred, or a “misdemeanor in office” as described in the Kentucky Constitution.
“Officials cannot be impeached for a traffic ticket. They cannot be impeached based on a political disagreement or an unpopular decision,” Thompson wrote. “They cannot be impeached because they have blue eyes. They can only be impeached for criminal conduct that occurs during their term of office.”
Nickell said in his dissent that he “discern[s] no basis in our Constitution, precedents, and tradition to support the issuance of a supervisory writ to control the legislature’s authority over impeachment” in contrast to the majority opinion. He also disagreed with the defects in the petition being “a fundamental, fatal flaw” in the impeachment of Goodwine.
In his conclusion, Nickell said that his “determination that the General Assembly possesses constitutional authority to initiate and maintain the instant impeachment proceedings should not be understood as condoning its exercise of that authority,” but he disagreed with other justices that the state Constitution “authorizes courts to adjudicate questions relative to impeachments,” which is a legislative power.
Goodman first asked the Franklin Circuit Court to intervene in the legislative proceedings, but Judge Phillip Shepherd declined. She then appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
However, Shepherd issued a ruling last week declaring the impeachment “null and void,” but noted the outcome would lie with the state Supreme Court and Senate. In his opinion, he pointed out that the Judicial Conduct Commission has the power to remove judges, but the allegations against Goodman were not referred to it. Under Kentucky law, the commission was created by the Judicial Article adopted in 1976.
Thompson also wrote about the efficiency of the JCC, saying it “works vigorously to address complaints against judges” and the high court has the power to review those decisions.
Thompson warned that allowing the impeachment against Goodman “to go unchecked even though it does not meet the constitutional standards to impeach, would be allowing the legislature to fully control the judiciary.”
“The legislature’s aggressive actions toward the judiciary appear to be an organized assault on the independence of the judiciary utilizing the legislature as the weapon. We cannot allow the legislature to arbitrarily threaten impeachment based on its dislike of any of our rulings,” Thompson said, noting that three of the five impeachment petitions reviewed by the House committee this year involved judges.
The court case has shaped up as a test of the judicial and legislative branches’ system of checks and balances. The legislative process does not allow for appeal of the Senate’s decision in impeachment proceedings.
An attorney for House Republicans asked that Justice Pamela Goodwine recuse herself from ruling on the Goodman matter because the House Impeachment Committee had reviewed a separate impeachment petition against Goodwine this year, which had stemmed from a ruling criticized by Republicans. However, an attorney for Goodman argued that the petitions were “completely unrelated” and had asked Goodwine to reconsider her recusal.
The Kentucky General Assembly recessed for its veto period last week, and the Senate is expected to take up its impeachment trial regarding Goodman on April 16. According to the impeachment proceeding rules adopted by the Senate, a hearing could begin soon.
The impeachment petition against Goodman was filed by former Republican state Rep. Killian Timoney, who is seeking reelection to the seat. Some of the cases at the center of Timoney’s petition are still pending in courts.
Fayette County voters elected Goodman to the bench in 2019 to fill an unexpired term and reelected her in 2022 for a full eight-year term.
An impeachment proceeding is a rare occurrence in the Kentucky Senate. The chamber held its last impeachment trial in 2023 and unanimously convicted former prosecutor Ronnie Goldy who asked a defendant for nude images in exchange for prosecutorial favors. Goldy was later convicted on federal fraud and bribery charges and sentenced to 41 months. Before that, the Senate last held an impeachment trial in 1888 against former state Treasurer “Honest Dick” Tate, who was tried for stealing nearly $200,000 in state funds.
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Written by McKenna Horsley. Cross-posted from the Kentucky Lantern.
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