I realize it has been a busy news season in Washington of late, as the health reform debate enters its final phase. But I have to admit I was astonished to find out that last week, the House of Representatives impeached a federal judge -- only the fifteenth time this has ever happened in American history. The Senate just announced it will be convening a committee to investigate, and prepare for a trial before the full Senate.

Four articles of impeachment were approved last week against Judge Thomas Porteous, all of which passed the House unanimously. While the allegations of bribery and corruption stem from his activities before he became a federal judge, he's basically being charged with lying about them during his confirmation process before Congress.

While the allegations are serious for any judge, I guess it's a humdrum sort of scandal due to the absence of anything sexual or otherwise media-titillating. But still, we don't impeach judges every day, so you'd think it would be a bit bigger story. Perhaps by the time the Senate holds a trial it'll get more interesting, especially if it happens in a slow news week, as opposed to during a grand congressional debate on a major issue.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune has the full story, for those interested.

[Sorry for the short column today. We will be making up for this post-St.-Patrick's-Day lull in a few days, when a guest column will run over the weekend by none other than the lovely Mrs. Chris Weigant. I encourage everyone to check the site sometime Saturday (or possibly Sunday, if we're running late) to see her article.]

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant