KY Senate censures state Supreme Court justice for opinion in impeachment case

The Kentucky Senate censured a state Supreme Court justice and filed a judicial ethics complaint over his opinion in a case that terminated the impeachment effort against a Lexington judge.

Senate President Robert Stivers introduced Senate Resolution 305 late Wednesday — the final day of the 2026 General Assembly — censuring Supreme Court Justice Kelly Thompson for language he used in a ruling on the case of Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Muth Goodman, who was facing an impeachment trial in the Kentucky Senate.

Thompson concurred last week with the 5-1 majority opinion, which ordered the General Assembly to stop the process and nullified the House Resolution containing the articles of impeachment. It was the language in Thompson’s concurring opinion that Stivers took issue with.

The resolution also instructs the director of the Legislative Research Commission to file a complaint about Thompson to the state’s Judicial Conduct Commission, which has the power to sanction judges for alleged misconduct.

Thompson told the Herald-Leader that he might be the first judge censured by the Senate.

“I really have a lot of respect for Sen. Stivers, so I’m kind of honored that he picked me — I don’t know why,” he said.

Thompson said it is a “serious, grave offense that requires” impeachment and the legislature should use that power “sparingly.”

“I believe that the will of the people when they elect someone in a democracy is a very, very sacred trust,” he said. “To set aside their votes and impeach an elected official requires a very serious offense by that official while they’re in office.”

The Administrative Office of the Courts declined to comment following the adoption of the resolution.

A censure is a formal, public expression of disapproval, but does not remove Thompson from office.

The resolution comes after the House impeached Goodman March 20 in a 73-14 vote, largely along party lines, with Republicans voting in favor.

The case was then sent to the Senate for a trial, where Goodman faced possible conviction and removal from office, an unprecedented move in Kentucky’s modern history. But on April 6, the state’s highest court intervened, ruling the effort was invalid and should not proceed.

The Republican supermajority in the legislature has remained defiant in the face of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Wednesday morning, the Senate impeachment committee voted to table the Goodman impeachment, but vowed to act in the future if the state’s Judicial Conduct Commission failed to remove her from the bench.

Also Wednesday, Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville, introduced a House resolution that seeks to nullify the Supreme Court’s opinion and declare the articles of impeachment still valid; however, the Supreme Court, not the General Assembly, is the final arbiter of state law.

In his concurrence, Thompson said the House was voting to impeach Goodman based on the unpopularity of her rulings.

Additionally, the justice said using impeachment as a threat could constitute intimidating someone in the legal process, a Class D felony.

The Senate said it would censure Thompson for his “intemperate remarks that threatened attorneys and legislators participating in pending impeachment proceedings with professional discipline and criminal prosecution, and directing a complaint to be filed against him with the Judicial Conduct Commission.”

Stivers said Thompson’s opinion amounted to a threat against him as a practicing lawyer and interfered with the impeachment process through the language in his order.

“We have a Supreme Court justice who has threatened me with law license forfeiture or suspension and potentially loss of my personal freedom with a Class D felony, as he defined them, not me,” Stivers said. “He has interfered with the process. He has threatened all lawyers and anybody else that may participate ... in this by Class D felony, attempting to stop us from what is here in the black letter of the law of the Constitution.”

Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, opposed the resolution.

“One of my concerns is the doctrine of judicial immunity,” Armstrong, also an attorney, said. “So, just like we as legislators have our independence to be able to speak freely on this floor, because it is one of the most central places for the First Amendment to be exercised is for the representatives of this people to be able to speak freely, it is equally as important that our judges be able to interpret the law without fear of reprisal, and that they, too, have that immunity to be independent and to rule on the law as they see fit.”

The Senate adopted the resolution Wednesday at 5:35 p.m. by voice vote, though it was largely Democrats opposing the measure. Simple resolutions do not carry the force of law and instead represent the opinion of the chamber.

Goodman’s lawyers have argued the Judicial Conduct Commission, rather than the General Assembly, is the proper venue for potential sanctions, and the Supreme Court agreed. The court also said continuing with the impeachment effort would violate the Separation of Powers Doctrine in the Kentucky Constitution.

But lawmakers have continued to contest that assertion.

Earlier Wednesday, the Senate tabled this week’s scheduled impeachment hearings, though Senate leaders insisted the body has power to remove the judge from office, and they threatened to do so in the future if the JCC does not act on complaints against her.

The impeachment petition was filed in January by former Kentucky lawmaker Killian Timoney, a Republican seeking to regain his Lexington-area seat this November. Timoney claimed Goodman had abused her office and ignored the law, citing as evidence six particular cases in her courtroom.