George W. English

Born on May 9, 1866, near Vienna, Illinois, English received a Bachelor of Laws in 1891 from the now defunct law school at Illinois Wesleyan University. He was chief deputy sheriff of Johnson County, Illinois from 1891 to 1892. He entered private practice in Vienna from 1893 to 1912. He served as city attorney of Vienna. He was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1907 to 1912. He continued private practice in Centralia, Illinois from 1912 to 1914. He was a special income tax attorney for the United States Department of the Treasury from 1914 to 1918.

English was nominated by President Woodrow Wilson on April 22, 1918, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois vacated by Judge Francis Marion Wright. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 3, 1918, and received his commission the same day.

English's service terminated on November 4, 1926, due to his resignation, after being impeached by the United States House of Representatives on April 1, 1926.

In March, 1926, the House Judiciary Committee voted 15–6 to recommend English's impeachment. A subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee was appointed to write articles of impeachment.{{cite magazine |title=The Congress: Judge English |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,721757,00.html |magazine=Time |access-date=30 December 2022 |date=22 March 1926}} The House voted to impeach by a vote of 306–60, on April 1, 1926.

The five articles of English's impeachment were:

• Tyranny and oppression, and abuse of the powers of his office.
• Partiality and favoritism, particularly to Charles B. Thomas, his referee in bankruptcy, to whom he was “under great obligation financial and otherwise.”
• Improper and unlawful conduct in connection with a “bankruptcy ring” operating in his district.
• Manipulation of bankruptcy and other funds, in conjunction with his referee in bankruptcy, for the pecuniary benefit of the referee, himself and his son.
• A general course of conduct constituting misbehavior and misdemeanor in office.{{cite web |title=Impeachment of Judge George W English Dismissed After Resignation |url=https://constitutionallawreporter.com/2017/05/17/george-w-english/ |website=Constitutional Law Reporter |accessdate=23 September 2019 |language=en |date=17 May 2017}}

An impeachment trial was preliminary begun, but ended before full-blown proceedings were initiated and without a verdict, with the Senate dismissing impeachment charges at the House's request after English resigned from his office.{{cite web|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/pdf/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-28.pdf|title=Impeachment Proceedings Not Resulting In Trial|publisher=}} He had been accused of abusive treatment of attorneys and litigants appearing before him.Multiple sources

• {{cite web|url=http://www.justicelearning.org/justice_timeline/ArticlesTimeline.aspx?id=4&Section=18&TimelineEventID=1478|title=JusticeLearning : Articles|date=5 October 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061005132942/http://www.justicelearning.org/justice_timeline/ArticlesTimeline.aspx?id=4&Section=18&TimelineEventID=1478|archive-date=2006-10-05}}
• {{cite web|url=http://128.91.58.209/Articles/19261105_EnglishResign.pdf|date=30 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015140/http://128.91.58.209/Articles/19261105_EnglishResign.pdf|archive-date=2007-09-30}}
• {{cite web |title=U.S. Senate: About Impeachment {{!}} Senate Trials |url=https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/impeachment/impeachment-list.htm |website=www.senate.gov |publisher=United States Senate Historical Office |access-date=8 December 2022}}
• {{cite web |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Impeachment/Impeachment-List/ |title=List of Individuals Impeached by the House of Representatives |publisher=United States House of Representatives |access-date=January 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218232339/https://history.house.gov/Institution/Impeachment/Impeachment-List/ |archive-date=December 18, 2019 |url-status=live}}
• {{cite web |last1=Price |first1=Anna |title=Research Guides: Federal Impeachment: George W. English |url=https://guides.loc.gov/federal-impeachment/george-english |website=guides.loc.gov |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=30 December 2022 |language=en}}

John T. Rogers of St. Louis Post-Dispatch won the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for Reporting with his coverage of the inquiry leading to English's impeachment.{{cite magazine

|author=

|title=Reporter Rogers

|date=1937-03-15

|magazine=Time magazine

|url=https://time.com/archive/6756647/the-press-reporter-rogers/

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125025412/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,757384,00.html

|url-status=live

|archive-date=2012-01-25

|access-date=2008-08-10

}}

English died on July 19, 1941, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was interred in Evergreen Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061005132942/http://www.justicelearning.org/justice_timeline/ArticlesTimeline.aspx?id=4&Section=18&TimelineEventID=1478 Justice Learning Timeline]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015140/http://128.91.58.209/Articles/19261105_EnglishResign.pdf The New York Times, November 5, 1926]
• {{FJC Bio|709|nid=1380496|name=George Washington English}}

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{{s-legal}}

{{s-bef|before=Francis Marion Wright}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois}}|years=1918–1926}}

{{s-aft|after=Fred Louis Wham}}

{{s-end}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:English, George Washington}}

Category:1866 births

Category:1941 deaths

Category:19th-century American lawyers

Category:20th-century American lawyers

Category:Illinois lawyers

Category:Illinois Wesleyan University alumni

Category:Impeached United States federal judges

Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois

Category:Members of the Illinois House of Representatives

Category:People from Vienna, Illinois

Category:United States district court judges appointed by Woodrow Wilson

Category:20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly