The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled this month that the state legislature lacks the power to impeach a judge based on its disagreement with the judge’s rulings. It was an assertion of judicial authority at a moment when courts’ independence has been under assault, including in Kentucky. The 5–1 decision, authored by Chief Justice Debra Lambert, blocked impeachment proceedings against state trial judge Julie Muth Goodman. It is already sparking blowback from the legislature.
The Kentucky decision comes amidst an increasingly hostile political climate for judges at both the state and federal level, including calls for judicial impeachment by President Trump, members of Congress, and other political leaders. In Kentucky, along with the impeachment effort against Goodman, the state house of representatives also considered (but did not proceed with) an impeachment petition against state supreme court justice Pamela Goodwine for a claimed conflict of interest that Goodwine argued has no basis. (Goodwine recused herself from participating in the Goodman case.)
With respect to Goodman, the impeachment targeted six cases in which she had been overturned on appeal, many relating to criminal trials or sentencings wherein Goodman had sided with the defendant. The state senate was scheduled to hold Goodman’s impeachment trial in April, which could have led to her removal from office.
