Alcee Hastings | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2008 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida | |
| In office January 3, 1993 – April 6, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick |
| Constituency | 23rd district (1993–2013) 20th district (2013–2021) |
| Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | |
| In office November 2, 1979 – October 20, 1989 | |
| Appointed by | Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Seat established |
| Succeeded by | Federico A. Moreno |
| Judge of the17th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida | |
| In office May 2, 1977 – October 31, 1979 | |
| Appointed by | Reubin Askew |
| Preceded by | Stewart LaMotte |
| Succeeded by | Harry Hinckley |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alcee Lamar Hastings (1936-09-05)September 5, 1936 |
| Died | April 6, 2021(2021-04-06) (aged 84) |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Twice divorced |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | Fisk University (BA) Howard University Florida A&M University (JD) |
Alcee Hastings on the 100th anniversary of theNational Urban League Recorded May 5, 2010 | |
Alcee Lamar Hastings (/ˈælsiː/AL-see; September 5, 1936 – April 6, 2021) was an American politician and judge from the state of Florida.
Hastings was nominated to theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of Florida by PresidentJimmy Carter in August 1979. He was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on October 31, 1979. In 1981, after an FBI sting operation, Hastings was charged with conspiracy to solicit a bribe. Following a 1983 criminal trial, Hastings was acquitted; however, he wasimpeached forbribery and perjury by theUnited States House of Representatives in 1988 and was convicted by theUnited States Senate in hisimpeachment trial on October 20, 1989. While Hastings was removed from the bench, the Senate did not bar him from holding public office in the future. Hastings was the first and, as of 2025, remains the onlyAfrican American federal official to be impeached.
ADemocrat, Hastings was first elected to theUnited States House of Representatives in 1992, serving until his death in 2021. His district, numbered as the23rd district from 1993 to 2013 and the20th district from 2013 until his death, included most of the majority-black precincts in and aroundFort Lauderdale andWest Palm Beach. FollowingIleana Ros-Lehtinen's departure from office in 2019, Hastings became thedean ofFlorida's congressional delegation; he retained this title until his death.[1]
Alcee Lamar Hastings was born inAltamonte Springs, Florida, the son of Mildred L. (Merritt) and Julius "J. C." Hastings.[2][3] He was educated at Crooms Academy in Goldsboro (Sanford), Florida, before going on to attendHoward University in Washington, D.C., andFisk University inNashville, Tennessee.[4] He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree inzoology andbotany from Fisk in 1958.[4] After being dismissed fromHoward University School of Law,[5] Hastings received hisJuris Doctor fromFlorida A&M University College of Law in 1963.[4] While in school, he became a member of theKappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He was admitted to the bar in 1963 and began topractice law.[4]
Hastings participated in civil rights demonstrations and was jailed six times during such events. As a lawyer, Hastings filed suit after being denied a room at a hotel due tosegregation policies.[2]
Hastings decided to run for theUnited States Senate in 1970 after incumbentSpessard Holland decided to retire. He failed to win the Democratic primary or make the runoff election, finishing fourth out of five candidates, with 13% of the vote. Former GovernorFarris Bryant finished first with 33% of the vote. State SenatorLawton Chiles was second with 26%. Chiles defeated Bryant in the runoff election and won the November general election.[6]
In 1977, Hastings became a judge of the circuit court ofBroward County, Florida.[5] On August 28, 1979, PresidentJimmy Carter nominated Hastings to theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.[7] He was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on October 31, 1979, and received his commission on November 2, 1979.[8] Hastings was the first black federal judge in the history of the state of Florida.[5] His service was terminated on October 20, 1989, due to impeachment and conviction.[7]
In 1981, after a sting operation by the FBI against attorney and alleged co-conspirator William Borders,[9] Hastings was charged with conspiracy to solicit a $150,000 bribe (equivalent to $518,796 in 2024) in exchange for a lenient sentence for Frank and Thomas Romano on 21 counts ofracketeering and the return of their seized assets.[10] In his 1983 trial, Hastings was acquitted by a jury after Borders refused to testify in court, despite having been convicted in his own trial in 1982.[9] Borders went to jail for accepting the first $25,000 payment, but was later given a full pardon by PresidentBill Clinton on his last day in office.[11]
TheJudicial Conference of the United States investigated Hastings and brought its accusations, which it believed warranted animpeachment, to theUnited States House of Representatives. It concluded that Hastings had perjured himself and falsified evidence in order to obtain his acquittal, and that he had in fact conspired to gain financially by accepting bribes.[12][13][14]
In 1988, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives took up the case, and Hastings was impeached for bribery andperjury by a vote of 413–3. He was then convicted in hisimpeachment trial before theUnited States Senate on October 20, 1989. At the time, the Senate was also controlled by a Democratic majority. Hastings became the sixth federal judge in the history of the United States to be removed from office by the Senate. The Senate, in two hours of roll calls, voted on 11 of the 17 articles of impeachment. It convicted Hastings of eight of the 11 articles. The vote on the first article was 69 for and 26 opposed.[15] He was removed from the bench, but the Senate did not preclude him from holding office in the future.[16] FBI examiner William Tobin later stated that some FBI testimony presented to Congress misrepresented or misstated forensic analysis he conducted, although he agreed with the overall FBI forensic assessment against Hastings. Tobin's work centered on a purse strap and whether it was strong enough to be snapped accidentally, which related to an alibi Hastings had given for being with Borders. The FBI analysis, supported by Tobin, concluded that the strap had been deliberately cut, inferring that Hastings did so to concoct his alibi.[13]
Hastings filed suit in federal court claiming that his impeachment trial was invalid because he was tried by a Senate committee, not in front of the full Senate, and that he had been acquitted in a criminal trial. JudgeStanley Sporkin ruled in favor of Hastings, remanding the case to the Senate, but stayed his ruling pending the outcome of an appeal to theSupreme Court in a similar case regarding JudgeWalter Nixon, who had also been impeached and removed.[17]
The Supreme Court ruled inNixon v. United States, again referring to Walter Nixon, that procedures for trying an impeached individual cannot be subject to review by the judiciary. Judge Sporkin changed his ruling accordingly, and Hastings's conviction and removal were upheld.[18]
Hastings attempted to make a political comeback by running forSecretary of State of Florida, campaigning on a platform of legalizingcasinos. In a three-way Democratic primary, he placed second with 33% of the vote, behind newspaper columnist Jim Minter's 38% of the vote. In therunoff, which saw a large drop-off in turnout, Minter defeated Hastings, 67%–33%. Hastings won just one ofFlorida's 67 counties, namelyDade County.[19]
Hastings was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1992, representingFlorida's 23rd district. After placing second in the initial Democratic primary for the post, he scored an upset victory over state representativeLois J. Frankel in the runoff and went on to easily win the election in the heavily Democratic district. He did not face a serious challenge for reelection thereafter. Following redistricting, Hastings representedFlorida's 20th district from January 2013 until his death.[20][21] His death triggered aspecial election in 2022.
Hastings was a member of theCongressional Black Caucus[22] and was elected president of theParliamentary Assembly of theOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in July 2004. As a senior Democratic whip, Hastings was an influential member of the Democratic leadership. He was also a member of theHouse Rules Committee. He was previously a senior member of theHouse Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). On the HPSCI, Hastings was the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.[23]
In September 1998, Hastings introduced an unsuccessful resolution to impeach Independent CounselKenneth Starr.[24] On September 11, 1998, Hastings was one of 63 House members to vote against a resolution to publicly release theStarr Report into Democratic Party PresidentBill Clinton's conduct and authorize a House Judiciary Committee review of the report.[25] On October 8, 1998, Hastings joined all but 31 Democratic House members in voting against the authorization ofthe impeachment inquiry against Clinton.[26]On December 9, 1998, Hastings joined nearly all Democrats in voting against all four articles of impeachment introduced against Clinton, two of which were successfully approved by the House.[27] Also on December 19, 1998, Hastings joined nearly all Democrats in voting against the appointment ofimpeachment managers.[28] On January 6, 1999, he joined nearly all Democrats in voting against the re-appointment of the impeachment managers at the start of the106th United States Congress.[29]
Hastings voted to impeach Texas federal judgeSamuel B. Kent on all four counts presented against him on June 19, 2009.[30]
On March 11, 2010, Hastings took part in the unanimous votes to approve all four articles of impeachment against Federal JudgeThomas Porteous.[31]
On October 31, 2019, Hastings joined nearly all Democrats in voting for a resolution directing how several committee should proceed inthe then-ongoing impeachment inquiry into PresidentDonald Trump, a Republican.[32]On December 18, 2019, he joined nearly all Democrats in voting to impeach Trump.[33]On January 13, 2021, he joined all Democrats and ten Republicans in voting to impeach Trump for a second time.[34]
Hastings and other members of the House of Representatives objected to counting the 25 electoral votes from Florida, whichGeorge W. Bush narrowly won after a contentiousrecount. Because no senator joined his objection, the objection was dismissed by Vice PresidentAl Gore, who was Bush's opponent in the2000 presidential election.[35]
Hastings was one of the 31 House Democrats who voted not to count the 20electoral votes fromOhio in the2004 presidential election, despite Republican President George W. Bush winning the state by 118,457 votes.[36][37] Without Ohio's electoral votes, the election would have been decided by the U.S. House of Representatives, with each state having one vote per theTwelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
After the2006 United States House of Representatives elections, Hastings attracted attention after it was reported that incomingHouse SpeakerNancy Pelosi might appoint him as head of theHouse Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He had support from theCongressional Black Caucus but was opposed by theBlue Dog Coalition. Hastings attacked his critics as "misinformed fools." Pelosi reportedly favored Hastings over the ranking Democrat,Jane Harman, due to policy differences and the Congressional Black Caucus's support.[38] On November 28, 2006, Pelosi announced that Hastings would not be the committee's chairman,[39] and she later choseSilvestre Reyes (D-TX). While Hastings was passed over to chair the committee, he became chair of a subcommittee. He told theNational Journal, "I am not angry. At some point along the way, it became too much to explain. That is legitimate politics. But it's unfortunate for me."[40]
On September 24, 2008, Hastings came under fire for comments he made aboutRepublican vice-presidential candidateSarah Palin. Speaking in Washington, D.C., to a conference sponsored by theNational Jewish Democratic Council, he said, "If Sarah Palin isn't enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is withBarack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention. Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through."[41]
On September 29, 2008, Hastings issued a written apology while standing by its core message: "I regret the comments I made last Tuesday that were not smart and certainly not relevant to hunters or sportsmen. The point I made, and will continue to make, is that the policies and priorities of a McCain-Palin administration would be anathema to most African Americans and Jews. I regret that I was not clearer and apologize to Governor Palin, my host where I was speaking, and those who my comments may have offended."[42]
In May 2009,The Wall Street Journal reported that Hastings spent over $24,000 in taxpayer money in 2008 to lease a luxuryLexus hybrid sedan. TheJournal noted that the expenditure was legal, properly accounted for, and drawn from an expense allowance the U.S. government grants to all lawmakers.[43]
In June 2011, one of Hastings's staff members, Winsome Packer, filed a lawsuit alleging that he had made repeated unwanted sexual advances and threatened her job when she refused him.[44] A congressional ethics panel investigated these claims.[44] Packer was represented by the conservative legal groupJudicial Watch. Hastings denied the allegations and called them "ludicrous."[45] He said, "I will win this lawsuit. That is a certainty. In a race with a lie, the truth always wins. And when the truth comes to light and the personal agendas of my accusers are exposed, I will be vindicated."[46] In February 2012, it was reported that Hastings would be released from the lawsuit, and it would only continue against theHelsinki Commission which Hastings chaired and Packer represented in Vienna.[47] In December 2017, it was reported that the Treasury Department paid $220,000 to settle the lawsuit.[48] Hastings later complained that he played no role in the settlement negotiations but the way they had been framed implied that he had.[49]
Hastings was investigated by theHouse Ethics Committee in 2019 over his relationship with then-girlfriend and Congressional deputy district director Patricia Williams. Williams, Hastings' girlfriend of over 25 years, was the highest-paid staffer in Hastings' office. For nearly a decade, she received greater compensation than her superior, Hastings' chief of staff, typically the highest-paid role in a Congressional office. Williams' compensation was at the maximum for Congressional staffers and exceeded that of every other deputy district director in Congress except one. The investigation sought to uncover whether the relationship violated a 2018 Housenepotism rule against members engaging in sexual relationships with staffers.[50][51][52]
The Ethics Committee dropped its investigation after saying that Hastings had married Williams in 2019, as the rule did not prohibit spousal relationships with staffers. However, it did not clarify why Hastings' alleged conduct prior to 2019, well after the rule was in place, was not subject to repercussions from the committee.[51][52]
Hastings supported efforts to end the slaughter ofdogs andcats for human consumption. Along with RepresentativeVern Buchanan, he authored theDog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act, which prohibited the shipping, sale, and transportation of dogs and cats for meat.[59] Hastings supported resolutions calling for an end to the global dog and cat meat trade and encouraged the Trump and Biden administrations to initiate international agreements to prohibit the eating of dogs and cats.[60][61]
In 2021, Hastings and Buchanan authored legislation to establish a center under theNational Institutes of Health to minimize the use ofanimal testing inbiomedical research.[62]
Hastings opposed PresidentDonald Trump's 2017 decision torecognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. He stated: "I believe that Jerusalem is and should remain the undivided capital of Israel. To deny the Jewish connection to Jerusalem would be to deny world history. That being said, the manner in which the Trump Administration has announced its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is of great concern."[63]
Hastings said that gun control is a "critical element" in addressing the United States' crime problem.[64] He favored reinstating theFederal Assault Weapons Ban and supported a federal ban onbump stocks. He supported raising the minimum age to buy a rifle from 18 to 21. In 2017, he voted against theConcealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017. His last rating from theNRA Political Victory Fund was an F, indicating that the organization believed that he did not support gun rights legislation.[65][66][67]
Following the 2018Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Hastings released a statement in which he said, "The stranglehold of the gun lobby has gone on long enough."[68]Hastings wrote a letter to the Speaker of the Florida House and President of the Florida Senate urging them to repeal the state'spreemption law, which prohibits communities in Florida from passing their own gun regulations.[69]
Hastings was married three times and had three children from his first two marriages, as well as one stepchild; his first two marriages ended in divorce. He married Patricia Williams in 2019, and they remained together until his death.[2][14]
In January 2019, Hastings was diagnosed withpancreatic cancer, and two years later died from the disease on April 6, 2021, at the age of 84.[70][71] After his death, his campaign account made a $23,000 expenditure to Williams with no listed campaign purpose.[72]
By one account, he was born Alcea Lamar Merritt in Altamonte Springs, a farming town north of Orlando, on Sept. 5, 1936. According to the Miami Herald, he changed the spelling of his first name early on and adopted his stepfather's last name, Hastings.
Having achieved the necessary majority vote to convict on 8 articles, the Senate's president pro tempore (Robert C. Byrd) ordered Hastings removed from office. The Senate did not vote to disqualify him from holding future office.
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| New seat | Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of Florida 1979–1989 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| New constituency | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 23rd congressional district 1993–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 20th congressional district 2013–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theJoint Helsinki Commission 2007–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theJoint Helsinki Commission 2019–2021 | |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | President of theOrganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly 2004–2006 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
