"Before Such a Judge"

To see the gaudiest show in town, Tennesseans flocked last week into the auditorium of Nashville's massive War Memorial Building, where the state house of representatives was meeting while the capitol underwent repairs. The show: Tennessee's first impeachment proceeding in 42 years. The accused: Hamilton County's rowdy, Negro-baiting Judge Raulston ("Turkey Neck") Schoolfield, 53.

With Schoolfield himself looking on unblinkingly from a balcony seat, the legislators listened to 25 separate counts of improper judicial conduct during the judge's ten years on the bench. Samples: taking bribes; quashing indictments against 13 Teamster goons accused of dynamiting and arson (TIME, Dec. 30); illegally "retiring" hundreds of felony cases, putting the defendants in his power by letting them out of jail but keeping them subject to prosecution. By overwhelming votes, the house adopted 24 of the 25 counts, concluded that "no Tennessean should be forced to [stand trial] before such a judge." Next step: an impeachment trial in the Senate.

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