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Friday, February 06, 2004

Impeachable misconduct ?

I understand that judges can be impeached for "misconduct" short of high crimes and misdemenors. I wonder if theoretically hypothetically Scalia's possible refusal to recuse himself after accepting a valuable favour from a litigant would amount to impeachable misconduct ? Needless to say, it won't happen but just in theory. Who shold I ask ? Why Michael Froomkin from whom I got the link.

On a lighter note consider an edited version of the LA Times story

"PATTERSON, La. — Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia traveled as an official guest of Vice President Dick Cheney on a small government jet that served as Air Force Two when the pair came here last month to hunt ducks.
...
The hunting trip took place just weeks after the high court agreed to take up Cheney's bid to keep secret the details of his energy policy task force.
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Two military Black Hawk helicopters were brought in and hovered nearby as Cheney and Scalia were whisked away in a heavily guarded motorcade to a secluded, private hunting camp owned by an *oil industry* businessman.
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Two years ago, the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch sued Cheney, seeking to learn whether the vice president and his staff had met behind closed doors with lobbyists and corporate officials from the oil, gas, coal and electric power industries."

* mine. Omigod I missed that. When Scalia is hearing a case about whether Cheney can keep his (illegal) secret contacts with OIL industry officials secret he hops a ride with Cheney on air force two to visit the hunting lodge of an OIL industry businessman.

I couldn't make that up. The Onion couldn't make that up. It pains me to admit it but I'm not even sure George Orwell could make that up.

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