50 Facts About Alcee Hastings

Alcee Hastings was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 31,1979.

In 1981, after an FBI sting operation, Alcee Hastings was charged with conspiracy to solicit a bribe.

Alcee Hastings was the first and, as of 2024, remains the only African American federal official to be impeached.

Alcee Hastings's district, numbered as the 23rd district from 1993 to 2013 and the 20th district from 2013 until his death, included most of the majority-black precincts in and around Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Alcee Hastings was educated at Crooms Academy in Goldsboro, Florida, before going on to attend Howard University in Washington, DC, and Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Alcee Hastings earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in zoology and botany from Fisk in 1958.

Alcee Hastings was admitted to the bar in 1963 and began to practice law.

Alcee Hastings participated in civil rights demonstrations and was jailed six times during such events.

Alcee Hastings decided to run for the United States Senate in 1970 after incumbent Spessard Holland decided to retire.

In 1977, Alcee Hastings became a judge of the circuit court of Broward County, Florida.

Alcee Hastings was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 31,1979, and received his commission on November 2,1979.

Alcee Hastings was the first black federal judge in the history of the state of Florida.

Alcee Hastings's service was terminated on October 20,1989, due to impeachment and conviction.

In 1981, after a sting operation by the FBI against attorney and alleged co-conspirator William Borders, Alcee Hastings was charged with conspiracy to solicit a $150,000 bribe in exchange for a lenient sentence for Frank and Thomas Romano on 21 counts of racketeering and the return of their seized assets.

The Judicial Conference of the United States investigated Alcee Hastings and brought its accusations, which it believed warranted an impeachment, to the United States House of Representatives.

Alcee Hastings was then convicted in his impeachment trial before the United States Senate on October 20,1989.

Alcee Hastings became the sixth federal judge in the history of the United States to be removed from office by the Senate.

Alcee Hastings was removed from the bench, but the Senate did not preclude him from holding office in the future.

Tobin's work centered on a purse strap and whether it was strong enough to be snapped accidentally, which related to an alibi Alcee Hastings had given for being with Borders.

Alcee 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.

Judge Stanley Sporkin ruled in favor of Alcee Hastings, remanding the case to the Senate, but stayed his ruling pending the outcome of an appeal to the Supreme Court in a similar case regarding Judge Walter Nixon, who had been impeached and removed.

Alcee Hastings attempted to make a political comeback by running for Secretary of State of Florida, campaigning on a platform of legalizing casinos.

Alcee Hastings won just one of Florida's 67 counties, namely Dade County.

Alcee Hastings was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1992, representing Florida's 23rd district.

Alcee Hastings did not face a serious challenge for reelection thereafter.

Alcee Hastings was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and was elected president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in July 2004.

Alcee Hastings was a member of the House Rules Committee.

Alcee Hastings was previously a senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

In September 1998, Alcee Hastings introduced an unsuccessful resolution to impeach Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr.

On September 11,1998, Alcee Hastings was one of 63 House members to vote against a resolution to publicly release the Starr Report into Democratic Party President Bill Clinton's conduct and authorize a House Judiciary Committee review of the report.

On October 8,1998, Alcee Hastings joined all but 31 Democratic House members in voting against the authorization of the impeachment inquiry against Clinton.

On December 9,1998, Alcee 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.

Also on December 19,1998, Alcee Hastings joined nearly all Democrats in voting against the appointment of impeachment managers.

On March 11,2010, Alcee Hastings took part in the unanimous votes to approve all four articles of impeachment against Federal Judge Thomas Porteous.

On October 31,2019, Alcee Hastings joined nearly all Democrats in voting for a resolution directing how several committee should proceed in the then-ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, a Republican.

Alcee Hastings had support from the Congressional Black Caucus but was opposed by the Blue Dog Coalition.

On September 24,2008, Alcee Hastings came under fire for comments he made about Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

In May 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported that Alcee Hastings spent over $24,000 in taxpayer money in 2008 to lease a luxury Lexus hybrid sedan.

Alcee Hastings later complained that he played no role in the settlement negotiations but the way they had been framed implied that he had.

Alcee Hastings was investigated by the House Ethics Committee in 2019 over his relationship with then-girlfriend and Congressional deputy district director Patricia Williams.

The Ethics Committee dropped its investigation after saying that Alcee Hastings had married Williams in 2019, as the rule did not prohibit spousal relationships with staffers.

However, it did not clarify why Alcee Hastings' alleged conduct prior to 2019, well after the rule was in place, was not subject to repercussions from the committee.

Alcee Hastings opposed President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Alcee Hastings said that gun control is a "critical element" in addressing the United States' crime problem.

Alcee Hastings favored reinstating the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and supported a federal ban on bump stocks.

Alcee Hastings supported raising the minimum age to buy a rifle from 18 to 21.

Alcee Hastings's last rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund was an F, indicating that the organization believed that he did not support gun rights legislation.

Alcee 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.

Alcee Hastings married Patricia Williams in 2019, and they remained together until his death.

In January 2019, Alcee Hastings was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and the disease ended his life on April 6,2021, at the age of 84.