| Impeachment of Samuel Chase | |
|---|---|
| Accused | Samuel Chase, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States |
| Date | March 12, 1804 to March 1, 1805 |
| Outcome | Acquitted by the U.S. Senate, remained in the office of the United States Supreme Court |
| Charges | Eight high crimes and misdemeanors |
| Key congressional votes | |
| Voting in the U.S. House of Representatives | |
| Accusation | High crimes and misdemeanors |
| Votes in favor | 73 |
| Votes against | 32 |
| Result | Approved resolution of impeachment |
| Voting in the U.S. Senate | |
| Result | Acquitted on each article of impeachment |
Samuel Chase, an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, was impeached by the United States House of Representatives on March 12, 1804 on eight articles of impeachment alleging misconduct. His impeachment trial before the United States Senate delivered an acquittal on March 1, 1805, with none of the eight articles receiving the two-thirds majority needed for a conviction.
The impeachment was a partisan affair. It was an effort by the Thomas Jefferson-led Democratic–Republican Party to weaken a judiciary that had been largely shaped by the opposing Federalist Party. The outcomes helped to solidify norms of an independent judiciary and impeachments requiring more than just a disagreement between an official and the Congress.
Chase remains the only United States Supreme Court justice to have ever been impeached.