John Pickering (September 22, 1737 – April 11, 1805) was President of New Hampshire, Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court of Judicature and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. He was the second federal official 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 ...

and the first person convicted and removed from office in an impeachment trial 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 ...

Education and career

Born on September 22, 1737, in Newington,

Province of New Hampshire The Province of New Hampshire was an English colony and later a British province in New England. It corresponds to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was named after the Englis ...

British America British America collectively refers to various British colonization of the Americas, colonies of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and its predecessors states in the Americas prior to the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1 ...

, Pickering graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1761 and read law. He entered private practice in

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, Province of New Hampshire and continued private practice in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, Province of New Hampshire (State of

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from July 4, 1776) until 1783, and later resumed private practice in Portsmouth from 1788 to 1790. He was a member of New Hampshire constitutional conventions from 1781 to 1783, and from 1791 to 1792. He was a member of the

New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral State legislature (United States), legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members com ...

from 1783 to 1787. He was a member of the New Hampshire convention to ratify the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

in 1788. He was a member of the New Hampshire Senate and a member of the Executive Council of New Hampshire until 1790. He was President of New Hampshire (now

Governor of New Hampshire The governor of New Hampshire is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The governor is elected during the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along w ...

) in 1790. He was chief justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court of Judicature from 1790 to 1795.

Federal judicial service

Pickering was nominated by President

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

on February 10, 1795, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire vacated by Judge John Sullivan. He was confirmed by the

on February 11, 1795, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on March 12, 1804, due to his impeachment and conviction.

Circumstances of his impeachment

By 1800, Pickering had begun to show definite signs of mental deterioration. This became severe enough of an impediment that on April 25, 1801, court staff wrote to the judges of the United States Circuit Court for the First Circuit requesting that they send a temporary replacement. The First Circuit appointed Jeremiah Smith, circuit judge, pursuant to § 25 of the Judiciary Act of 1801 to take over Pickering's caseload. With the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1802, which explicitly repealed the 1801 Act, there were no more circuit judgeships and the circuit courts' powers were reverted to what they were prior to the 1802 Act.Act of Apr. 29, 1802, ch. 31, . On February 3, 1803, President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

sent evidence to the

against Pickering, accusing him of having made unlawful rulings and being of bad moral character due to intoxication while on the bench. The charges arose in connection with a

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

for unpaid duties against the ''Eliza''. The House voted to impeach Pickering on March 2, 1803, on charges of drunkenness and unlawful rulings. Political controversy raged, with

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

s accusing

Democratic-Republicans The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed li ...

of trying to usurp the Constitution by attempting to remove the judge from office, although he had committed neither "high crimes nor misdemeanors", which are grounds for impeachment under the Constitution. The

tried Pickering ''in absentia'', beginning January 4, 1804. The Senate convicted Pickering of all charges by a vote of 19 to 7 on March 12, 1804, thereby immediately removing him from office.

Death

Pickering died on April 11, 1805, in Portsmouth. He was interred in Old North Cemetery in Portsmouth.

Membership

Pickering was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1791.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pickering, John 1737 births 1805 deaths Chief justices of the New Hampshire Supreme Court Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Harvard College alumni Impeached United States federal judges removed from office Judges of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire New Hampshire politicians convicted of crimes New Hampshire state court judges United States federal judges appointed by George Washington