Alcee Hastings
Encyclopedia
Alcee Lamar Hastings is the U.S. Representative
for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party
.
, Hastings was educated at Fisk University
in Nashville, Tennessee
and Howard University
in Washington, D.C.
He received his law degree
from Florida A&M University
in 1963, and began to practice law
. Hastings ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate
in 1970, losing in the first primary to Lawton Chiles
.
. In 1979, he was appointed by President Carter
as a U.S. District Judge
for the Southern District of Florida
.
In 1988, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives took up the case, and Hastings was impeached
for bribery and perjury
by a vote of 413-3. He was then convicted in 1989 by the United States Senate
, becoming the sixth federal judge in the history of the United States
to be removed from office by the Senate. The vote on the first article was 69 for and 26 opposed, providing two votes more than the two-thirds of those present that were needed to convict. The first article accused the judge of conspiracy. Conviction on any single article was enough to remove the judge from office. The Senate vote cut across party lines, with Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, voting to convict his fellow party member, and Senator Arlen Specter
, Republican of Pennsylvania, voting to acquit.
The Senate had the option to forbid Hastings from ever seeking federal office again, but did not do so. Alleged co-conspirator, attorney William Borders went to jail again for refusing to testify in the impeachment proceedings, but was later given a full pardon by President Bill Clinton
on his last day in office.
Hastings filed suit in federal court claiming that his impeachment trial was invalid because he was tried by a Senate committee, not in front of the full Senate, and that he had been acquitted in a criminal trial. Judge Stanley Sporkin
ruled in favor of Hastings, remanding the case back to the Senate, but stayed his ruling pending the outcome of an appeal to the Supreme Court
in a similar case regarding Judge Walter Nixon
, who had also been impeached and removed.
Sporkin found some "crucial distinctions" between Nixon's case and Hastings's, specifically, that Nixon had been convicted criminally, and that Hastings was not found guilty by two-thirds of the committee who actually "tried" his impeachment in the Senate. He further added that Hastings had a right to trial by the full Senate.
The Supreme Court, however, ruled in Nixon v. United States
that the federal courts have no jurisdiction over Senate impeachment matters, so Sporkin's ruling was vacated and Hastings's conviction and removal were upheld.
Hastings is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus
and was elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
in July 2004. Today, as a Senior Democratic Whip, Hastings is an influential member of the Democratic leadership. Representative Hastings is also a member of the powerful House Rules Committee
and is a senior Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
(HPSCI). On the HPSCI, Hastings is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
He was one of the 31 who voted in the House not to count the electoral votes from Ohio
in the 2004 presidential election
.
Hastings voted to impeach Texas federal judge Samuel B. Kent
on all four counts presented against him on June 19, 2009.
In March 2010, defended the Democrats’ approach to passing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
, saying "I wish that I had been there when Thomas Edison
made the remark that I think applies here: "There ain't no rules around here, we're trying to accomplish something." And therefore, when the deal goes down, all this talk about rules, we make them up as we go along."
might appoint him as head of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
. Pelosi reportedly favored Hastings instead of the ranking Democrat Jane Harman
due to policy differences and support for Hastings by the Congressional Black Caucus
.
On November 28, 2006, Pelosi announced that Hastings would not be the Committee's chairman, and later she chose Silvestre Reyes
instead. While Representative Hastings was passed over to chair the committee he became chair of a sub-committee.
Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin
. Hastings, speaking in Washington D.C. to a conference sponsored by the National Jewish Democratic Council, said "If Sarah Palin isn't enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama
, then you damn well had better pay attention. Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through."
On September 29, 2008, Hastings issued an apology via a written statement, while standing by its core message: "I regret the comments I made last Tuesday that were not smart and certainly not relevant to hunters or sportsmen. The point I made, and will continue to make, is that the policies and priorities of a McCain-Palin administration would be anathema to most African Americans and Jews. I regret that I was not clearer and apologize to Governor Palin, my host where I was speaking, and those who my comments may have offended."
. Representative Hastings has denied the claims and called them "ludicrous."
, campaigning on a platform of legalizing casino
s. In a three-way Democratic primary, he placed second with 313,758 votes, or 33%, behind newspaper columnist Jim Minter's 357,340 votes (38%) and ahead of former Ku Klux Klan
Grand Dragon John Paul Rogers' 275,370 votes (29%). In the runoff, which saw a large dropoff in turnout, Hastings lost to Minter in a landslide, 300,022 votes to 146,375. Minter would go on to lose the general election to incumbent Republican James C. Smith
.
Hastings was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992, representing Florida's 23rd district
. After placing second in the initial Democratic primary for the post, he scored an upset victory over State Representative Lois J. Frankel in the runoff and went on to easily win election in the heavily-Democratic district. From that point on he has yet to face a serious challenge for reelection.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
.
Early life, education and career
Born in Altamonte Springs, FloridaAltamonte Springs, Florida
Altamonte Springs is a city in Seminole county in the U.S. state of Florida, which had a population of 41,496 at the 2010 census. Located primarily in Seminole County, the city is in the northern suburbs of the Orlando–Kissimmee-Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the United States...
, Hastings was educated at Fisk University
Fisk University
Fisk University is an historically black university founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. The world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers started as a group of students who performed to earn enough money to save the school at a critical time of financial shortages. They toured to raise funds to...
in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
and Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
He received his law degree
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Florida A&M University
Florida A&M University
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, commonly known as Florida A&M or FAMU, is a historically black university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States, the state capital, and is one of eleven member institutions of the State University System of Florida...
in 1963, and began to practice law
Practice of law
In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professional services of a lawyer or attorney at law, barrister,...
. Hastings ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in 1970, losing in the first primary to Lawton Chiles
Lawton Chiles
Lawton Mainor Chiles, Jr. was an American politician from the US state of Florida. In a career spanning four decades, Chiles, a Democrat who never lost an election, served in the Florida House of Representatives , the Florida State Senate , the United States Senate , and as the 41st Governor of...
.
Overview
In 1977, he became a judge of the circuit court of Broward County, FloridaBroward County, Florida
-2000 Census:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,623,018 people, 654,445 households, and 411,645 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,346 people per square mile . There were 741,043 housing units at an average density of 615 per square mile...
. In 1979, he was appointed by President Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
as a U.S. District Judge
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
for the Southern District of Florida
United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida is the federal United States district court with jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida....
.
Impeachment
In 1981, Hastings was charged with accepting a $150,000 bribe in exchange for a lenient sentence and a return of seized assets for 21 counts of racketeering by Frank and Thomas Romano, and of perjury in his testimony about the case. He was acquitted by a jury after his alleged co-conspirator, William Borders, refused to testify in court (resulting in a jail sentence for Borders).In 1988, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives took up the case, and Hastings was impeached
Impeachment in the United States
Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the legislature that allows for formal charges against a civil officer of government for crimes committed in office...
for bribery and perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
by a vote of 413-3. He was then convicted in 1989 by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, becoming the sixth federal judge in the history of the United States
Impeachment in the United States
Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the legislature that allows for formal charges against a civil officer of government for crimes committed in office...
to be removed from office by the Senate. The vote on the first article was 69 for and 26 opposed, providing two votes more than the two-thirds of those present that were needed to convict. The first article accused the judge of conspiracy. Conviction on any single article was enough to remove the judge from office. The Senate vote cut across party lines, with Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, voting to convict his fellow party member, and Senator Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...
, Republican of Pennsylvania, voting to acquit.
The Senate had the option to forbid Hastings from ever seeking federal office again, but did not do so. Alleged co-conspirator, attorney William Borders went to jail again for refusing to testify in the impeachment proceedings, but was later given a full pardon by President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
on his last day in office.
Hastings filed suit in federal court claiming that his impeachment trial was invalid because he was tried by a Senate committee, not in front of the full Senate, and that he had been acquitted in a criminal trial. Judge Stanley Sporkin
Stanley Sporkin
Stanley Sporkin is a former judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He was nominated to the seat vacated by Judge June Lazenby Green on April 5, 1985 by President Ronald Reagan, and was confirmed by the Senate on December 16; he received his commission the next day...
ruled in favor of Hastings, remanding the case back to the Senate, but stayed his ruling pending the outcome of an appeal to the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
in a similar case regarding Judge Walter Nixon
Walter Nixon
Walter Louis Nixon, Jr. is a former United States federal judge who was impeached by the House of Representatives and removed from office by the Senate....
, who had also been impeached and removed.
Sporkin found some "crucial distinctions" between Nixon's case and Hastings's, specifically, that Nixon had been convicted criminally, and that Hastings was not found guilty by two-thirds of the committee who actually "tried" his impeachment in the Senate. He further added that Hastings had a right to trial by the full Senate.
The Supreme Court, however, ruled in Nixon v. United States
Nixon v. United States
Nixon v. United States, 506 U.S. 224 , was a United States Supreme Court decision that determined that the question of whether the Senate had properly "tried" an impeachment was a political question, and could not be resolved in the Courts.-Facts:...
that the federal courts have no jurisdiction over Senate impeachment matters, so Sporkin's ruling was vacated and Hastings's conviction and removal were upheld.
Committee assignments
- Committee on RulesUnited States House Committee on RulesThe Committee on Rules, or Rules Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. Rather than being responsible for a specific area of policy, as most other committees are, it is in charge of determining under what rule other bills will come to the floor...
- Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget ProcessUnited States House Rules Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget ProcessThe Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process is a subcommittee within the House Rules CommitteeAccording to the Committee rules, this Subcommittee has general responsibility for measures or matters related to relations between the Congress and the Executive Branch.-Members, 112th...
(Chairman)
- Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process
- Commission on Security and Cooperation in EuropeCommission on Security and Cooperation in EuropeThe Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe , also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, is an independent U.S. Government agency created by Congress in 1976 to monitor and encourage compliance with the Helsinki Final Act and other OSCE commitments. It was established in 1976 pursuant to...
(Co-Chairman)
Leadership positions
- Florida Congressional Delegation (Co-Chairman)
- Senior Democratic Whip
- Congressional Caucus on Global Road SafetyCongressional Caucus on Global Road SafetyCongressional Caucus on Global Road Safety is a congressional caucus that aims to increase awareness of road safety issues within the House of Representatives. The caucus holds educational briefings to increase knowledge of the pressing matters of road safety, including the effects of...
(Co-Chairman) - International Conservation CaucusUnited States Congressional International Conservation CaucusThe U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus is a bipartisan congressional organization that was founded in September 2003 with the conviction that “the United States of America has the opportunity, the obligation and the interests to advance the conservation of natural resources for...
- Sportsmen's Caucus
Hastings is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus
Congressional Black Caucus
The Congressional Black Caucus is an organization representing the black members of the United States Congress. Membership is exclusive to blacks, and its chair in the 112th Congress is Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.-Aims:...
and was elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly
Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Coöperation in Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE is the parliamentary dimension of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The primary task of the 320 member Assembly is to facilitate inter-parliamentary dialogue, an important aspect of the overall effort to meet the challenges of democracy...
of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections...
in July 2004. Today, as a Senior Democratic Whip, Hastings is an influential member of the Democratic leadership. Representative Hastings is also a member of the powerful House Rules Committee
United States House Committee on Rules
The Committee on Rules, or Rules Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. Rather than being responsible for a specific area of policy, as most other committees are, it is in charge of determining under what rule other bills will come to the floor...
and is a senior Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Mike Rogers. It is the primary committee in the U.S...
(HPSCI). On the HPSCI, Hastings is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
He was one of the 31 who voted in the House not to count the electoral votes from Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
in the 2004 presidential election
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
.
Hastings voted to impeach Texas federal judge Samuel B. Kent
Samuel B. Kent
Samuel B. Kent was a U.S District Court judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, in the single-judge Galveston Division covering Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, and Matagorda Counties. He was nominated by President George H.W...
on all four counts presented against him on June 19, 2009.
In March 2010, defended the Democrats’ approach to passing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress...
, saying "I wish that I had been there when Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
made the remark that I think applies here: "There ain't no rules around here, we're trying to accomplish something." And therefore, when the deal goes down, all this talk about rules, we make them up as we go along."
House Intelligence Committee candidacy
After the 2006 United States House of Representatives elections, Hastings attracted attention after it was reported that incoming House Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
might appoint him as head of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Mike Rogers. It is the primary committee in the U.S...
. Pelosi reportedly favored Hastings instead of the ranking Democrat Jane Harman
Jane Harman
Jane Margaret Lakes Harman is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1993 to 1999, and from 2001 to 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party....
due to policy differences and support for Hastings by the Congressional Black Caucus
Congressional Black Caucus
The Congressional Black Caucus is an organization representing the black members of the United States Congress. Membership is exclusive to blacks, and its chair in the 112th Congress is Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.-Aims:...
.
On November 28, 2006, Pelosi announced that Hastings would not be the Committee's chairman, and later she chose Silvestre Reyes
Silvestre Reyes
Silvestre "Silver" Reyes is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997, and the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the primary Committee in the U.S...
instead. While Representative Hastings was passed over to chair the committee he became chair of a sub-committee.
Comments regarding Sarah Palin
On September 24, 2008, Hastings came under fire for controversial comments made regarding RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
. Hastings, speaking in Washington D.C. to a conference sponsored by the National Jewish Democratic Council, said "If Sarah Palin isn't enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, then you damn well had better pay attention. Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through."
On September 29, 2008, Hastings issued an apology via a written statement, while standing by its core message: "I regret the comments I made last Tuesday that were not smart and certainly not relevant to hunters or sportsmen. The point I made, and will continue to make, is that the policies and priorities of a McCain-Palin administration would be anathema to most African Americans and Jews. I regret that I was not clearer and apologize to Governor Palin, my host where I was speaking, and those who my comments may have offended."
Use of Expense Allowance
According to the Wall Street Journal, Representative Hastings spent over $24,000 in taxpayer money in 2008 to lease a luxury Lexus hybrid sedan. The articles cited other examples of lawmakers spending comparable amounts on vehicle leases. The expenditure was legal, properly accounted for, and drawn from an expense allowance the U.S. government grants to all lawmakers.Sexual Harassment Investigation
A Congressional Ethics Panel is looking into claims that Representative Hastings sexually harassed one of his staff members, the Wall Street Journal reports. The investigation is the result of a lawsuit filed by Winsome Packer alleging Hastings made repeated unwanted sexual advances and threatened her job when she refused him. Packer is being represented by the conservative legal group Judicial WatchJudicial Watch
Judicial Watch is an organization that describes itself as "a conservative, non-partisan American educational foundation that promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law." According to its mission statement, Judicial Watch "advocates high standards of...
. Representative Hastings has denied the claims and called them "ludicrous."
Political campaigns
In 1990, Hastings attempted to make a political comeback by running for Secretary of State of FloridaSecretary of State of Florida
The Secretary of State of Florida is a constitutional officer of the state government of the U.S. state of Florida, established by the original 1838 state constitution....
, campaigning on a platform of legalizing casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
s. In a three-way Democratic primary, he placed second with 313,758 votes, or 33%, behind newspaper columnist Jim Minter's 357,340 votes (38%) and ahead of former Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
Grand Dragon John Paul Rogers' 275,370 votes (29%). In the runoff, which saw a large dropoff in turnout, Hastings lost to Minter in a landslide, 300,022 votes to 146,375. Minter would go on to lose the general election to incumbent Republican James C. Smith
James C. Smith
James Cloudis Smith is an American lawyer. He served as Florida Attorney General, Florida Secretary of State, and is current the Chairman of the Florida State University Board of Trustees.-Early years:Smith received his B.S...
.
Hastings was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992, representing Florida's 23rd district
Florida's 23rd congressional district
Florida's 23rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. Based in South Florida, the district is highly racially gerrymandered and consists of the heavily African American parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties...
. After placing second in the initial Democratic primary for the post, he scored an upset victory over State Representative Lois J. Frankel in the runoff and went on to easily win election in the heavily-Democratic district. From that point on he has yet to face a serious challenge for reelection.
External links
- U.S. Congressman Alcee Hastings official U.S. House site
- Alcee L. Hastings for Congress official campaign site