Blagojevich in rare state company

In the 190 years since Illinois joined the republic, only Theophilus Smith ever got to feel the sting of being impeached.

Smith was a Supreme Court justice in the 1830s, and one of his missteps was jailing a Quaker juror for contempt because he refused on religious grounds to remove his hat during a trial.

Smith faced six other infractions that the Illinois House used in 1832 as a basis to vote for his impeachment, but the state Senate refused to convict him.

Impeachment is one of the most lethal weapons in the state Legislature's arsenal, but it is one of the least used and most misunderstood legislative powers.

The last time the House went down the impeachment path was in 1997, when former Chief Justice James Heiple was accused of misconduct during a traffic stop.

After six weeks of hearings, a House impeachment panel declined to recommend that Heiple be impeached.

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