The Kentucky House has approved charges to impeach a sitting Central Kentucky judge after a House committee heard testimony from her earlier this week.  House members voted 73-14 on the articles of impeachment resolution against Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Goodman on Friday. Most voting in favor w ere Republicans, while most voting against it were Democrats. A few lawmakers did not register a vote.  The articles now go to the Senate for further review. The Kentucky General Assembly has eight days left in the current legislative session.  Lawmakers heavily debated the resolution before the vote was cast. Those backing the resolution argued that Goodman defied the rule of law while opponents said moving forward with impeachment would set a dangerous precedent of lawmakers interfering in judicial decisions. House Republican Whip Jason Nemes, chairman of the House Impeachment Committee, presented the resolution with the articles of impeachment. He said the House should not ever “make a judge’s reversal rate the basis of an impeachment proceeding,” but said Goodman was “intentionally wrong” in some proceedings.  “She knew what the law required,” said Nemes, a Middletown Republican. “She knew she lacked legal authority to do what she was doing, yet she proceeded and did it anyway. That is not a judge who made a mistake. That is something else entirely, and that is what this proceeding is about.”  The impeachment petition against Goodman was filed by former Republican state Rep. Killian Timoney. Timoney, a Fayette County Public Schools employee, is seeking reelection in the 45th House District after losing a Republican primary in 2024.  The seat is currently held by Democratic Rep. Adam Moore, who was the only Democrat to vote in favor of the resolution Friday.  House Democratic Floor Leader Pamela Stevenson, a Louisville Democrat who is on the impeachment committee, argued Goodman did not receive due process. Stevenson said the impeachment petition was not valid because Timoney did not file it with a verified affidavit, though some Republicans disagreed. Goodman’s attorneys previously argued the petition was rendered invalid because of the lack of an affidavit as well.  Steveson also argued that Goodman could not defend herself because “judges are ethically prohibited from making any public statement that could affect the outcome of any case that’s still open,” which includes some of the cases referenced in the petition.  “It will undermine judicial independence, because now the judges will be thinking, ‘Will this opinion cause the legislature to review my actions?’ It’s a chilling effect,” Stevenson said.  The only Republican to vote against the resolution was Rep. Daniel Elliot, a non-voting member of the impeachment committee from Danville. During the debate he said that Goodman “hasn’t committed any crime” and felt from being on the committee that the only question at hand was “whether she abused the powers of her office as a judge to improperly dictate the outcomes of criminal cases.” “And in my judgment, the conduct does not rise to the level of a misdemeanor to impeach,” Elliot said. “Judge Goodman has never been disciplined by the Supreme Court or the Judicial Conduct Commission in her 18 years as a judge.”  Elliot said in reviewing the few impeachments in Kentucky’s history, most have been based upon a crime and have been unanimously supported. He also argued that impeaching Goodman for the reasons listed in the resolution would set a precedent that would be “bad for the future.” “It sets a standard that many in our judiciary will question, and it seeks to overturn the will of voters in Fayette County for reasons that have never been considered grounds for impeachment of a judge before,” Elliot said.  On Wednesday, Nemes announced the House Impeachment Committee would file a resolution with articles of impeachment against Goodman after a meeting mostly held in private. The resolution, formally titled House Resolution 124, includes five articles, arguing that the judge had abused the powers of her office; defied binding precedents from higher courts and state laws; and interfered with the rights of the grand jury, jurors, attorneys and others within Kentucky courts.  The Impeachment Committee made public reports from the Republicans and Democrats on the committee Thursday. The Republicans’ report recommended moving forward with impeaching Goodman, while the Democrats’ did not.  Nemes recalled evidence laid out in the public testimony given Monday and documents submitted to the committee regarding actions taken by Goodman in various cases. He pointed to a case involving Tammy Botkin, a woman who died in a 2020 hit-and-run in Lexington.  Botkin’s widower, Doug Botkin, briefly gave testimony. He said that he and other family members were shocked when Goodman dismissed charges in the case and an appeals court later reinstated he charges.  Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Baird also gave testimony Monday and had sent a letter and hundreds of pages of evidence. During the meeting, she said her office tells victims and families of victims to expect Goodman will not rule in their favor before a legal proceeding. “Yes, it’s uncomfortable, but I came because I thought it needed to be done,” Baird said. “I am the commonwealth. I represent the citizens, and if I don’t think that the citizens are being served correctly, then I think I need to speak up.” Nemes said the committee took Baird’s testimony “seriously” and he believed her credibility “is beyond question.” Nemes said Baird’s testimony was not about a disagreement on rulings but a  “full comprehensive look at her disregard for precedent, established case law and statutes in an effort to impose her own personal will on a case.”  In her testimony, Goodman denied Baird’s claims of bias against prosecutors and said she was holding the commonwealth’s attorney’s office accountable. The judge pointed to two cases when people who had been in jail for about a year had their charges dismissed after evidence was heard in court. “I am not biased towards the commonwealth, but what I do demand of the commonwealth is that she represents citizens,” Goodman said. “But all Kentuckians are citizens. It is not about convictions. It is about justice.” The post Kentucky House votes to forward impeachment charges against sitting Lexington judge appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less