Senate President Robert Stivers of Manchester said in a cryptic statement Wednesday that the Republican supermajority is aware of and reviewing a Kentucky Supreme Court ruling that stops impeachment proceedings against Fayette County Circuit Judge Julie Muth Goodman. However, the statement stops short of saying if the Senate will comply with the order or move forward with a trial.
“The Senate is aware of the opinion issued by the Kentucky Supreme Court and is carefully reviewing its implications,” Stivers said in the statement.
Information from the release says the Senate impeachment committee is still scheduled to convene April 16 “to receive evidence and hear testimony.” It also reiterates that the Kentucky General Assembly is the “only body with the power to impeach elected officials” but notes that the dates are also subject to change.
The House sent articles of impeachment to the Senate last month, accusing Goodman of abusing her power by willfully ignoring state laws and established precedent in her rulings on six cases, five of which are still under appeal.
The state Supreme Court ruled Monday that the allegations against Goodman did not amount to a “misdemeanor in office” — grounds for impeachment in the Kentucky Constitution — and should be handled within the judicial branch via the constitutionally created Judicial Conduct Commission. In a 5-1 decision, the high court found that the articles of impeachment violated the separation of powers and thus are null and void.
“Crucially, an individual’s disagreement with a judge’s ruling, or even the fact that a judge’s ruling has been deemed an abuse of discretion by an appellate court (no matter how scathingly), does not and cannot constitute a misdemeanor in office,” the majority opinion, penned by Chief Justice Debra Lambert, reads.
The sole dissenting justice, Shea Nickell, said he did not believe the high court had the authority to intercede in impeachment proceedings, which are designed as a check on the executive and judicial branch.
“I discern no basis in our Constitution, precedents, and tradition to support the issuance of a supervisory writ to control the legislature’s authority over impeachment, especially on a provisional basis,” Nickell wrote in his dissent.
The majority opinion stated that the Judicial Conduct Commission, which has the constitutional authority to reprimand or remove judges for misconduct, is already conducting a review into Goodman. The commission had not previously confirmed that when asked by the House impeachment committee.
Stivers said in the statement that he is encouraged that the judiciary is taking a “more active role in examining those concerns.”
“Over time, I have heard directly from attorneys who have expressed serious hesitation about filing formal complaints against judges,” Stivers said. “Many fear professional repercussions or believe doing so could negatively impact their ability to effectively represent their clients. That is a troubling dynamic, and it underscores why transparency and trust in the disciplinary process are so important.”
Louisville Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, a Democrat on the Senate impeachment committee, said the Supreme Court has the final say on what the state constitution does or does not permit. She said the committee may need to meet once to dismiss the articles of impeachment for procedural reasons.
“If they say that us considering articles of impeachment would be unconstitutional, my expectation is that we would comply with that order,” said Chambers Armstrong, who is also a law professor at the University of Louisville.
