I'm not a lawyer, but I've been watching the hearings. So far, it all seems extremely petty: relatively small amounts of cash, lunches, trips over 10-15 years before Porteous was named to the Federal Court. And, quite frankly, the "cozy" relationships haven't surprised me. Not just because we're talking about New Orleans. I'd guess that similar stuff goes on all over the country but most especially in small towns where everybody in the legal community knows everybody else. (For that matter, that's pretty much how business operates everywhere. Software and hardware vendors, for ex., regularly take potential customers out to lunch and those customers don't pick up the tab.) If you asked me if I approved of this behavior, I would say no. Do I think that Porteus, based on the testimony so far, deserves to be a federal judge? No. But does the stuff presented so far justify impeachment? I just don't know.