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Resigning Alabama federal judge may have faced impeachment

FIle-- In this Sept. 5, 2014 file photo U.S. District Court Judge Mark Fuller appears in Fulton County Court Friday, Sept. 5, 2014 to face charges of misdemeanor battery, in Atlanta. Fuller will resign effective Aug. 1. His attorney, Barry Ragsdale, confirmed the resignation Friday. Fuller was arrested last year after assaulting his wife at a hotel in Atlanta. (Brant Sanderlin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) MARIETTA DAILY OUT; GWINNETT DAILY POST OUT; LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; WXIA-TV OUT; WGCL-TV OUT FIle-- In this Sept. 5, 2014 file photo U.S. District Court Judge Mark Fuller appears in Fulton County Court Friday, Sept. 5, 2014 to face charges of misdemeanor battery, in Atlanta. Fuller will resign effective Aug. 1. His attorney, Barry Ragsdale, confirmed the resignation Friday. Fuller was arrested last year after assaulting his wife at a hotel in Atlanta. (Brant Sanderlin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) MARIETTA DAILY OUT; GWINNETT DAILY POST OUT; LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; WXIA-TV OUT; WGCL-TV OUT

By Associated Press June 1, 2015 1 min read

ATLANTA (AP) – An Alabama federal judge who resigned after being arrested on spousal abuse charges may have faced impeachment.

U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller announced his resignation Friday. Police arrested Fuller on a misdemeanor battery charge in August after his then-wife called police to the couple’s room at the Ritz Carlton in Atlanta.

An order filed Monday in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says the circuit’s Judicial Council found that Fuller’s conduct may have called for impeachment under article II of the Constitution.

Fuller’s resignation came after months of review by a judicial panel and calls from Republican and Democratic politicians for him to resign.

Fuller’s resignation is effective Aug. 1 and the council says the matter has been referred to the Judicial Conference of the United States.