Oregon Democrats call for probe of Supreme Court justices
July 23, 2001 Posted: 9:37 AM EDT (1337 GMT)
PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- Delegates from the Oregon state Democratic Party have approved a resolution calling for Congress to investigate five U.S. Supreme Court justices for their role in the last presidential election.
The resolution targets Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor, William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, who all voted last December to stop hand recounts of Florida ballots as sought by Democrat Al Gore.
The court's 5-4 decision effectively decided the bitterly contested 2000 election for Republican George W. Bush.
Neel Pender, executive director of the Democratic Party of Oregon, said the group hopes the measure will spark a nationwide call for an investigation into the justices' actions.
"We're taking a step that is within our legal and constitutional guidelines to ask for an investigation that would lead to impeachment" of the justices, Pender said.
The state's delegates allege that several of the justices should have recused themselves from the recount deliberations because of conflicts of interest. For example, Pender said, some justices' relatives worked for Bush's legal team.
The delegates voted on the resolution Sunday while at a state meeting in Cornelius. About 125 people attended the meeting, but only 66 were voting delegates. The state party plans to forward the resolution to the Democratic National Committee and to the state's congressional delegation.
Party chairman Jim Edmunson said the resolution might not have any effect but was important nonetheless.
"We just felt that while it may be a gesture, it's important that someone, somewhere stand up and demand an investigation," he said. |
