Nixon v. United States

506 U.S. 224 (1993)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Nixon (P), a former U.S. District Court Chief Judge, was convicted by a jury of two counts of making false statements before a federal grand jury and sentenced to prison. P had accepted money in exchange for asking a district attorney to stop a prosecution. Nixon refused to resign even while in jail and was collecting his judge’s salary. The House of Representatives adopted three articles of impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors. After the House presented the articles to the Senate, the Senate voted to invoke its own Impeachment Rule XI, under which the presiding officer appoints a committee of Senators to 'receive evidence and take testimony.' The Senate committee held hearings and presented the full Senate with a complete transcript of the proceeding and a report stating the uncontested facts and summarizing the evidence on the contested facts. Nixon and the House impeachment managers submitted extensive final briefs to the full Senate and delivered arguments from the Senate floor. Nixon himself gave a personal appeal, and several Senators posed questions directly to both parties. The Senate voted by more than the constitutionally required two-thirds majority to convict Nixon on the first two articles. The presiding officer then entered judgment removing Nixon from his office. Nixon thereafter commenced the present suit, arguing that Senate Rule XI violates the constitutional grant of authority to the Senate to 'try' all impeachments because it prohibits the whole Senate from taking part in the evidentiary hearings. See Art. I, § 3, cl. 6. Nixon sought a declaratory judgment that his impeachment conviction was void and that his judicial salary and privileges should be reinstated. The District Court held that his claim was nonjusticiable, and the Court of Appeals agreed.