bigpoppanils Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 Scalia Blind to Fairness in Duck Hunting Vacation: Ann Woolner Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The most troubling aspect of Antonin Scalia's recent duck-hunting trip with Dick Cheney is that Scalia sees nothing troubling about it. The Supreme Court justice brushes off concerns that his off- the-bench conduct casts doubt on his on-the-bench objectivity in a major lawsuit against the vice president. However sharp his legal mind, on this matter Scalia misses an essential point about the law, not to mention judicial ethics. The question is, how could he? Federal law says any justice or judge ``shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.'' The issue is not whether judges think they can be fair. No matter how perfect their neutrality, they must get off the case if there is solid reason for an objective, informed observer to doubt it. Is it reasonable to question the impartiality of a judge who vacations as the guest of someone being sued while the lawsuit is pending in the judge's court? Well, of course it is. ``The doubts are reasonable and the statute calls for him to step aside,'' says Steven Lubet, who teaches law at Northwestern University. It's as simple as that. Jet Plane Ride ``Most litigants don't have an opportunity to take a Supreme Court justice for a ride on a jet to vacation with the Supreme Court justice while their case is pending,'' says Lubet, who writes about judicial ethics. Cheney took Scalia and one of the justice's daughters aboard a military jet, dubbed Air Force Two, to fly on Jan. 5 from Washington, D.C., to Morgan City, Louisiana, to hunt ducks at a private camp, the Los Angeles Times reported. Cheney stayed two days, Scalia and his daughter a while longer, the Times said. Planned in November, the trip took place three weeks after the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case Cheney had lost before a federal judge and on appeal, too. The lower courts ordered him to give the groups suing him, Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club, certain documents about his Energy Task Force. The groups allege corporate insiders were secretly invited to help write the administration's energy policy while others, such as environmentalists, were shut out. The hunting trip is ``a perfect parallel'' to the circumstances that prompted the lawsuit, says David Bookbinder, legal director of the Sierra Club. Both involve special access to power. Cozy Relations ``It's the same cozy relationships and the same secrecy,'' says Bookbinder. It gets even cozier. As duck hunters, Scalia and Cheney were the guests of -- get this -- an energy industry executive. They stayed at a hunting camp owned by Wallace Carline, founder and president of Diamond Services Corp., which supplies services and equipment for pumping oil out of the Gulf of Mexico. The episode is doubly troubling because it's the second time in a year that Scalia put himself in a situation that prompts reasonable questions about his impartiality. Last October he stepped aside in the other case, which asks whether the ``under God'' phrase in the Pledge of Allegiance is constitutional. It has yet to be decided. Scalia recused himself because he publicly expressed his opinion about the case last January, giving the impression he had prejudged it. Stepping Down? In the Cheney case, Scalia may step down yet. So far, Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club haven't asked him to do so but are looking at the matter. If he decides to stay on the case, there is no recourse to remove him. In the meantime, Scalia has already said what he thinks of the idea. He thinks he had every right to take the trip and every right to stay on the case. ``Social contacts with high-level executive officials (including Cabinet officers) have never been thought improper for judges who may have before them cases in which those people are involved in their official capacity, as opposed to their personal capacity,'' Scalia wrote to the Los Angeles Times. Justices are regularly invited to White House dinners, Scalia pointed out, even when cases against the president are pending in their court. Scalia's example shows how wrong he is. A hunting trip with one justice, who flies free on Air Force Two as the guest of the vice president is far more personal, more intimate (not to mention more impressive and more expensive) than chomping down at the White House as one of many guests. It's a valuable gift, indeed. Official Capacity It's true, as Scalia says, that Cheney is being sued as vice president, not as Dick Cheney. But the justice ignores the fact that Cheney was deeply and personally involved in the decisions on which the lawsuit pivots, issues that could limit or expand his power. His role was far more than titular. It's only alleged, not proven, that business executives were allowed to skew administration energy policy. But it's clear the policy, not yet enacted, would bestow billions of dollars in tax breaks on oil, gas, coal, nuclear and electrical interests while giving short shrift to energy conservation and environmental concerns. No one knows whether Scalia's relationship with his hunting pal will taint his legal judgment. We can only hope he won't give it a chance to. Just maybe he will come to understand why outsiders fear a locked circle of insiders who don't even acknowledge that the game looks rigged. To contact the writer of this column:Ann Woolner in Atlanta at awoolner@bloomberg.net.To contact the editor of this story:Bill Ahearn at bahearn@bloomberg.net.Last Updated: February 6, 2004 00:02 EST http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000039&refer=columnist_woolner&sid=aHJMARmI.Z5k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiroguy1 Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 The press should be all over this Scalia, Cheney Duck Hunting Trip Raises Doubts About Impartiality in Supreme Court Casehttp://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/01/20/1542207&mode=thread&tid=25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattbateman Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 c'mon rights activists let the dude do what he wants in privatehypocrits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiroguy1 Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 Originally posted by pattbateman c'mon rights activists let the dude do what he wants in privatehypocrits So sad that you actually think the fervor is about ducks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattbateman Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 FERVOR-Great warmth and intensity of emotion. See Synonyms at passion. Intense heatWHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??I DIDNT EVEN READ THE ARTICLE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiroguy1 Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 Originally posted by pattbateman FERVOR-Great warmth and intensity of emotion. See Synonyms at passion. Intense heatWHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??I DIDNT EVEN READ THE ARTICLE Obviously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattbateman Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 you scratch mine, ill scratch yoursi do favors for my friends all the time!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigpoppanils Posted February 10 Author Report Share Posted February 10 Originally posted by pattbateman c'mon rights activists let the dude do what he wants in privatehypocrits earth to pattbateman!.....he is going on vacations that are being paid for by a defendant in his courtroom!!!!!houston, i think we have a problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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