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[T] People v. Ventura5/6/2004
ears ago that this Court watched with dismay the intimidation of a federal judge who had suppressed evidence. Ultimately his cowering showed the weakness of our judiciary and the fact that it is not an equal branch of government. Courts and judges do not have the power of impeachment, Congress does. In U.S. v. Bayless, 913 F. Supp. 232 (1996), Judge Baer from our venerated Southern District of New York, suppressed evidence seized during a cocaine and heroin distribution conspiracy. The decision produced a public outcry particularly among politicians against Judge Baer. The Judge then recanted his decision on a motion to renew and reargue by the Government. Se U.S. v. Bayless, 921 F. Supp. 211 (1996).
The Bayless case eventually found its way to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals where Judge Guido Calabresi wrote the opinion of the Court, affirming the conviction. But the Court described the political pressure faced by Judge Baer including that he could be impeached. The Court held:
"Judge Baer's ruling immediately drew heavy criticism in the press and from local political figures, including New York's Mayor and Police Commissioner, as well as Governor George Pataki. See Chester L. Mirsky, The Exclusionary Rule Was Appropriately Used, Nat'l L.J., Feb 26, 1996 at A21. The decision itself, and the language in the opinion, referring as it did to widespread police corruption, was perceived by many as an affront to the police and to victims of drug-related crime. An editorial in the New York Times called Judge Baer's decision "judicial malpractice," and accused him of "undermin respect for the legal system, encourag citizens to flee the police and deter[ring] honest cops in drug-infested neighborhoods from doing their job." Judge Baer's Tortured Reasoning, N.Y. Times, Jan. 31, 1996, at A16.
"In February, the government filed a motion for reconsideration of the order granting the suppression motion. The decision, however, continued to attract attention and quickly became the focus of a nationwide controversy and a flash-point for the 1996 Presidential campaign, as Democrats and Republicans competed to enhance their reputations as proponents of law and order by denouncing Judge Baer. In early March, more than two hundred members of Congress, led by Republican Representatives Bill McCollum, Fred Ipton, and Michael Forbes, sent a letter to President Clinton calling Judge Baer's ruling "a shocking and egregious example of judicial activism." John O. Newman, The Judge Baer Controversy, 80 Judicature 156, 156 (1997). The letter claimed Judge Baer had "sid with drug traffickers and against hard-working police officers and the frightened residents of violence-ridden communities," and that he had "demonstrated a level of ideological blindness that render him unfit for the proper discharge of his judicial duties." Id. The writers asked President Clinton to join them in calling for Judge Baer's resignation. See id. at 157.
"When asked about the letter at a White House press conference, President Clinton's spokesperson Mike McCurry said that the President would defer deciding whether to call for Judge Baer's resignation until the Judge ruled on the government's motion for reconsideration, adding that, while the President would evaluate Judge Baer's record "on the full breadth of his cases," the White House was "interested in seeing how he rules" in response to the motion. Id. The press interpreted McCurry's comment as a veiled warning. For example, the New York Times reported that " he White House put [Judge Baer] on public notice today that if he did not reverse a widely criticized decision throwing out drug evidence, the President might ask for his resignation." Alison Mitchell, Clin
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