State of Justice: April 2026 Ethics Update
Kentucky legislature censures Supreme Court justice after the court orders it to halt impeachment inquiry into circuit court judge
An ongoing conflict between the Kentucky Legislature and the Kentucky Supreme Court threatens judicial independence and the separation of powers among the branches of the state’s government. The dispute centers on the legislature’s impeachment inquiry into the conduct of Fayette County Circuit Court Judge Julie Goodman in response to allegations against her, including claims by several county prosecutors that her rulings ignore judicial precedent and violate state law. After the House passed articles of impeachment against Judge Goodman in a party-line vote in late March, the Senate scheduled an impeachment trial that was due to begin in mid-April, after which senators would hold a vote on whether to convict Goodman of the charges leveled against her in the House’s impeachment articles. But the Kentucky Supreme Court ordered the legislature to halt its impeachment inquiry into Goodman, ruling that the legislature lacks the authority to regulate judges’ conduct under the state constitution’s separation-of-powers clause.
The court ruled that only the judiciary is empowered by the Kentucky Constitution to supervise and correct the behavior of sitting judges and that any questions about Goodman’s conduct should have been directed to the state’s Judicial Conduct Commission. Indeed, the court, for the first time in its opinion, publicized that the Commission is in fact investigating Judge Goodman’s conduct as a result of the allegations made against her in the impeachment inquiry. In a concurring opinion, Justice Kelly Thompson went even further than the majority’s opinion, writing that attorney lawmakers who abuse the legislature’s impeachment process to target judges whose opinions they disagree with should face disciplinary proceedings from the Kentucky Bar Association, or even criminal charges of interfering with a participant in the legal process, a Class D felony in Kentucky.
Lawmakers voted to censure Justice Thompson on party-line votes in both chambers in response to his concurring opinion. The censure resolutions were identical in both chambers and asserted that Justice Thompson’s remarks were intemperate, threatened lawmakers, and raised questions about his fitness to serve on the state’s highest court. Lawmakers also indicated they would disregard the court’s order to halt the impeachment inquiry against Judge Goodman and proceed with her trial in the Senate. But on the final day of the legislative session, the Senate announced it would pause its proceedings against Judge Goodman in response to the Supreme Court’s revelation that the Judicial Conduct Commission is investigating Judge Goodman’s conduct. The Senate noted that its decision to pause the proceedings stemmed entirely from the Commission’s investigation and was not made in response to the high court’s ruling invalidating the proceedings. The Senate also indicated that any action on Judge Goodman’s impeachment would remain on hold until the results of the Commission’s investigation are made public. Still, it said it reserved the right to reopen impeachment proceedings against Judge Goodman in the 2027 legislative session if it is not satisfied with the outcome of the Commission’s investigation.
On the same day, the Senate announced it would pause impeachment proceedings against Judge Goodman, the House referred an impeachment petition against Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Pamela Goodwine to an oversight committee that can consider the petition even while the legislature is not in session, despite the House’s impeachment committee deciding not to take further action on the petition earlier in the legislative session. The legislature’s actions, including its censure of Justice Thompson, signal that it intends to continue disregarding concerns about judicial independence and the separation of powers in Kentucky, since it began its impeachment inquiry into Judges Goodman and Goodwine earlier in the legislative session.
