In California, the process of impeachment has existed throughout its statehood allowing the State Legislature to remove certain officeholders. The State Assembly can initiate an impeachment, bringing about an impeachment trial in the State Senate through which an officeholder can be either suspended from office or removed from their office and disqualified from again holding state office.
Impeachment law.
History.
Throughout its statehood, California has given its State Legislature the power to impeach officials. The California Constitution, as authored in 1849, empowered the State Assembly to impeach and the State Senate to try impeachments. As originally written, officials that could be impeached were the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, secretary of state, surveyor general, treasurer, justices of the Supreme Court, and judges of the district courts.
Some impeachment rules have changed over the years. For instance, on February 10, 1857, amid the impeachment of Henry Bates, an act was adopted to allow for impeached officials to be suspended after their impeachment up until the end of their impeachment trial and for a temporary replacement to be appointed.
Current law.
California's impeachment process outlined in the Constitution of California is two-step. A vote for impeachment in the State Assembly is followed by an impeachment trial in the State Senate. The Assembly has the power to start an impeachment, and the Senate has the power to convict an impeached officeholder thereby removing them from office with the option of additional barring them from holding office. The Senate can only convict if an absolute two-thirds of the body's members vote to do so. The punishment for impeachment extends no further than removal from office and disqualification from state office. However, impeached individuals still remain subject to any potential punishment through the criminal justice system. Under the constitution, the officials who can be impeached for misconduct from office are "state officers elected on a statewide basis, members of the State Board of Equalization, and judges of state courts".
California's impeachment process is further outlined in the California Government Code. It is specified that when the Senate sits as a court of impeachment, it is "a court of record and the officers of the Senate are the officers of the court." Impeachments originate through the adoption of an impeachment resolution originated and adopted in the Assembly. Once impeached, an official is suspended from their office until the verdict is delivered. In all cases except a gubernatorial impeachment, the vacancy left by such a suspension must temporarily be filled by a temporary officeholder appointed by the government with confirmation from the Senate. Such a temporary appointee will hold the office until the acquittal of the impeached official, or until (in the case of a conviction and removal) a new officeholder is chosen at the next election.
Impeachments trials are prosecuted by impeachment managers elected by the Assembly. The impeachment managers are tasked with preparing articles of impeachment which will then be presented at the bar of the Senate. The articles must also be presented to the president of the Senate. The charges in the articles are to be prosecuted by the impeachment managers.
The Senate is required to specify a date to hear the impeachment and provide notification to the Assembly. The Senate president is required to serve the defendant (impeached official) with a copy of the impeachment articles and with a notice to appear and answer at the time and location specified by the Senate. Such service must be made personally upon the defendant. If the defendant fails to appear, the Senate has the option to schedule another day for hearing or to proceed with the trial in the absence of the defendant. If the defendant appears, they have the option of objecting to the charges of the articles either in writing or by oral plea. If a defendant pleads guilty or refuses to plead, the Government Code says that the Senate is to convict him. If the defendant pleads that they are not guilty, the Senate is to proceed with an impeachment trial at a time which it chooses. Prior to the trial, the secretary of the Senate is to administer an oath to the members of the Senate that they will "truly and impartially hear, try, and determine the impeachment." Senators are prohibited from vote on the verdict or any other questions arising during the trial unless they have taken such an oath.
Reiterating what is specified in the constitution, the Government Code declares that an absolute two-thirds of senators must vote in support conviction in order for the defendant to be convicted. The Government Code further specifies that if the Senate does not reach support from an absolute two-thirds of its members for a conviction, the defendant will be acquitted. If the defendant is convicted, it is required that, at a time of its choosing, the Senate must pronounce the judgement through a resolution to be entered into the Senate Journal. Once such a resolution is adopted by a majority of members present that had previously voted on the question of conviction or acquittal, it formally will become the judgement of the Senate.
If the defendant is convicted, there are several options for punishment. The defendant could be removed from their office and disqualified thereafter from holding state office. The defendant could alternatively be merely suspended from their office, with no such disqualification. If suspended from office, the defendant will receive no salary, fees, or emoluments of the office for the duration of their suspension.
In the case of a lieutenant gubernatorial impeachment, the Senate must be given immediate notice so that they can elect a different president of the Senate.
Impeachment of Henry Bates (state treasurer) in 1857.
California's first impeachment took place in 1857 when its state treasurer, Henry Bates, was impeached.
Investigations.
In 1856, news surfaced of failure to pay interest on the state debt and rumors surfaced that there were irregularities in how state funds had been dealt with. In his January 7, 1857 message to the State Legislature, Governor J. Neely Johnson commented on this. The Legislature took quick action to investigate the matter, establishing five different committees to investigate the operations of the Treasury. Three of these were joint committees. In a letter he sent the State Legislature on January 1, 1857, treasurer Bates himself denied rumors of illegal payments being made to benefit outside interests and urged for the bodies to investigate the allegations.
One of the joint committees, which had been tasked with determining the total amount of coin and treasure in the Treasury issued its count on January 13, 1857. Most in the Assembly accepted the results of their count, though several prominent assemblymen questioning it.
On January 16, 1857, a joint committee was created to determine what total amount of revenue had been paid into the Treasury in 1857. It was to investigate how much was received in Controller's warrants. It was also to investigate whether Controller's warrants had been used as a substitute for cash, and if so who had done so and what authority had they used to justify such an action. This committee filed its report on February 11, 1857
On January 24, 1857, the Senate Committee on Public Expenditures released a report on the failure by Palmer, Cook, and Company to pay interest on state bonds that had been due on July 1, 1856. A concurrent resolution was passed in the Assembly and Senate to authorize each body's committees on public expenditures to form a joint committee to investigate the accounts of both the Controller and Treasurer, providing once-a-week reports to each chamber of the State Legislature.
A three-member select committee was appointed on January 17, 1857, primarily to investigate an alleged $124,000 withdrawal of funds from the general fund. This withdrawal was alleged to have been done to meet the upcoming July 1857 interest payment on state debt. The committee also was tasked with investigating the state's July 1, 1856 default on state bond interest payments and to provide a report of what steps the state had followed to recover the amount that had been withdrawn from the Treasury for such payments. The committee took testimony in its investigation. Its report was submitted on February 9, 1857.
Impeachment and resignation.
After the select committee released its report on February 9, 1857, outrage was ignited and a resolution was quickly introduced in the Assembly to impeach Treasurer Bates for misdemeanors in office. However, the Assembly instead adopted a resolution allowing Bates to present written or oral arguments pertaining to the allegations levied against him by noon the next day. On February 10, Bates sent a response which attested to his innocence. He additionally requested being permitted to be represented with counsel and to be permitted a later date for more time to provide a more complete response. This response dissatisfied many in the Assembly, and Bates's request to provide a more complete response at a later date was denied. By the end of the day, the Assembly had unanimously by a vote of 61–0 adopted a resolution impeaching Bates for misdemeanors in office. An act was also adopted to allow for an official to be suspended after their impeachment until the end of their impeachment trial and for a temporary replacement to be appointed.
On February 11, a two-member committee of assemblymen informed the Senate of the impeachment action and declared that the Assembly, in due time, was to present the Senate with specific articles of impeachment. A committee of five assemblymen was established to serve as the impeachment managers, being tasked with authoring the articles of impeachment and subsequently prosecuting them before the Senate.
On February 11, 1857, Bates tendered his resignation to the governor, citing his inability to secure an increase in his official bond as had been demanded by district court. Governor Johnson immediately accepted the resignation and appointed a successor on February 13 who was immediately confirmed by the Senate. However, critics believed that this is not what should have been done, instead arguing that Bates should have been suspended pending the end of his impeachment proceedings and that Johnson should have made use of the recently passed act and instead made a temporary appointment for the duration of such a suspension.
Impeachment trial and conviction.
Even with Bates' resignation, the Legislature continued with the impeachment proceedings against him. The Assembly adopted eleven articles of impeachment against him on February 16, 1857, and an additional three articles on February 18. Later on February 18, the impeachment committee presented the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
In advance of the trial, the Senate adopted rules for the proceedings and set March 5, 1857 as the start date for the trial. At the start of the trial, the president of the Senate was administered an oath by the secretary of the Senate. Thereafter, the president of the Senate swore-in all senators that were present. The president of the Senate then ordered that the sergeant-at-arms proclaim the High Court of Impeachment to be in session, and the sergeant-at-arms complied. The secretary thereafter informed the Assembly that the High Court of Impeachment was prepared to conduct the trial, at which point the impeachment managers entered the Senate chamber along with the state attorney general. Bates was then called to the bar of the Senate and was accompanied by a legal counsel of three.
In his answer, Bates' counsel challenged the jurisdiction of the High Court of Impeachment, arguing that Bates' designated had made him a private citizen rather than an officer of the state before the time that the specific articles of impeachment were adopted and the time that the Senate proceedings started. They also tried to argue that, since he had been handed two indictments by a grand jury for the same matter that was the subject of the impeachment, the impeachment proceedings would place Bates in double jeopardy. In response to this, the impeachment managers argued the following day that Bates had no grounds to challenge the Senate's jurisdiction. They noted that he not yet resigned as treasurer at the moment he was first impeached and that the cited indictments would have occurred after the articles of impeachment had already been presented to the Senate. They argued for the Senate to reject such a plea and compel Bates to answer to the articles of impeachment. The defense responded later that day with a plea claiming that the fact that several allegations