Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

1
Resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois,2 That the evidence adduced in support of the charges preferred against the Hon. John Pearson, Judge of the seventh Judicial Circuit, is not sufficient to authorize this House in finding an impeachment in said case.3

1Edwin B. Webb introduced the original resolution, which called for the impeachment of John Pearson, in the House of Representatives on January 9, 1840. Representatives offered an amendment and substitute that both exonerated Pearson, and the House tabled the resolution, amendment, and substitute. On January 10, the House took up the resolution, adopting the proposed amendment by a vote of 45 yeas to 40 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting nay. The House adopted the resolution as amended by a vote of 45 yeas to 40 nays, with Lincoln voting nay.
Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Called Session (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1839), 142, 145-46.

2The original resolution read: “Resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, That the Hon. John Pearson, Judge of the seventh Judicial Circuit, be impeached for official misconduct.” On January 10, the House of Representatives amended the resolution by striking out all after “Illinois,” and inserting text exonerating Pearson.
Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Called Session, 142, 145-46.

3In July 1839, the Illinois Supreme Court had issued a writ of mandamus against Pearson, ordering him to sign a bill of exceptions in a Cook County Circuit Court case. That action was still pending when the House heard related evidence against him before the passage of their final resolution. On January 9-10, witnesses testified that in the circuit courts in which Judge Pearson presided, he had unjustly denied peremptory challenges during jury selections, had refused to sign valid bills of exceptions necessary for appeals to the Illinois Supreme Court, and had retaliated against lawyers who disagreed with him by charging them with contempt. Yet that action against the judge and the evidence of judicial misconduct presented before the House were not enough to alter what was, basically, a straight partisan vote. With only a couple of exceptions, Democrats voted against impeachment in support of their fellow Democrat, while Whigs voted to impeach Pearson. Of the forty representatives who voted against the final resolution, thirty-two of them signed a petition, protesting the House’s failure to impeach.
People v. Pearson, 4 Ill. (3 Scam.), 270-85; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 14 January 1840, 2:4-5; 17 January 1840,2:1-2.