Samuel Chase

Samuel Chase lived from April 17, 1741 to June 19, 1811 and was a founding father of the United States, a signer of the Continental Association and the Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. In 1804 the House of Representatives impeached Chase on grounds that his partisan leanings had affected his court decisions, but the Senate acquitted him the following year and he remained in office, making him the only Supreme Court justice ever impeached. Born near Princess Anne, Maryland, he established a legal practice in Annapolis, served in the Maryland General Assembly, favored independence during the Revolution, and won election to the Continental Congress before serving on the Baltimore District Criminal Court and the Maryland General Court. President George Washington appointed him to the Supreme Court in 1796. After the 1800 elections President Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans sought to weaken Federalist influence on the courts, and the House passed eight articles of impeachment centered on alleged political bias, but the Senate acquitted him on every count. Some historians argue his acquittal set an important precedent for the independence of the federal judiciary.