No. of Recommendations: 3
Article III:
'The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour' In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.'
Good Behaviour .
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, at 110'18. In other words, the Good Behavior Clause simply indicates that judges are not appointed to their seats for set terms and cannot be removed at will; removing a federal judge requires impeachment and conviction for a high crime or misdemeanor.
Nevertheless, even if the Good Behavior Clause does not delineate a standard for impeachment and removal for federal judges, as a practical matter, the history of impeachments in the United States might indicate that the range of conduct meriting removal differs between judges and executive branch officials due to the distinct nature of each office. The Senate has never voted to remove the President or an executive branch official, but has done so to eight federal judges.5 The conduct meriting impeachment and removal for federal judges has ranged from intoxication on the bench,6 to abandoning the office and joining the Confederacy,7 to various types of corruption. Congress has also impeached and removed federal judges for perjury and income tax evasion,8 although it is unclear whether such behavior would necessarily be considered impeachable behavior for an executive branch official..."law.cornell.edu - Good behavior clause doctrine and practice 