George Washington English (May 9, 1866 – July 19, 1941) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois. Charged with abuse of power and other offenses, English was impeached by the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

on April 1, 1926, and resigned his position before proceedings could continue.

Education and career

Born on May 9, 1866, near

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, English received a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1891 from the now defunct law school at

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856. History The in ...

. He was chief deputy sheriff of Johnson County, Illinois from 1891 to 1892. He entered private practice in Vienna from 1893 to 1912. He served as city attorney of Vienna. He was a member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

from 1907 to 1912. He continued private practice in Centralia, Illinois from 1912 to 1914. He was a special income tax attorney for the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

from 1914 to 1918.

Federal judicial service

English was nominated by President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

on April 22, 1918, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois vacated by Judge Francis Marion Wright. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on May 3, 1918, and received his commission the same day.

Impeachment and resignation

English's service terminated on November 4, 1926, due to his resignation, after being impeached by the

on April 1, 1926. In March, 1926, the

House Judiciary Committee The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, f ...

voted 15–6 to recommend English's impeachment. A subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee was appointed to write articles of impeachment. The House voted to impeach by a vote of 306–60, on April 1, 1926. The five articles of English's impeachment were: * Tyranny and oppression, and abuse of the powers of his office. * Partiality and favoritism, particularly to Charles B. Thomas, his referee in bankruptcy, to whom he was “under great obligation financial and otherwise.” * Improper and unlawful conduct in connection with a “bankruptcy ring” operating in his district. * Manipulation of bankruptcy and other funds, in conjunction with his referee in bankruptcy, for the pecuniary benefit of the referee, himself and his son. * A general course of conduct constituting misbehavior and misdemeanor in office. An

impeachment trial An impeachment trial is a trial that functions as a component of an impeachment. Several governments utilize impeachment trials as a part of their processes for impeachment. Differences exist between governments as to what stage trials take place ...

was preliminary begun, but ended before full-blown proceedings were initiated and without a verdict, with the Senate dismissing impeachment charges at the House's request after English resigned from his office. He had been accused of abusive treatment of attorneys and litigants appearing before him.

Coverage

John T. Rogers of ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the '' Belleville News-Democra ...

'' won the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for Reporting with his coverage of the inquiry leading to English's impeachment.

Death

English died on July 19, 1941, in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

. He was interred in Evergreen Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale.

References

Sources

Justice Learning Timeline

''The New York Times'', November 5, 1926
* {{DEFAULTSORT:English, George Washington 1866 births 1941 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers Illinois lawyers Illinois Wesleyan University alumni Impeached United States federal judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois Members of the Illinois House of Representatives People from Vienna, Illinois United States district court judges appointed by Woodrow Wilson 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly