Rehnquist's reply
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist has rejected a request from two Democratic senators that Justice Antonin Scalia recuse himself from a case involving Vice President Dick Cheney.
The reply was released by the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday.
Justice Scalia went on a hunting trip with Mr. Cheney only a month after the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case on whether an energy task force headed by Mr. Cheney should be forced to list the names of those it consulted.
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut Democrat and a presidential contender, sent Chief Justice Rehnquist a letter suggesting that it would be improper for Justice Scalia to participate in the Cheney case.
In letters to both senators, Chief Justice Rehnquist crisply denied a conflict, United Press International reports.
"I think that any suggestion by or Senator Leahy as to why a justice should recuse himself in a pending case is ill-considered," the letter said.
Federal law, according to the Times, says "any justice or judge shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might be questioned."
Commenting on the Times' nitpicking attempt to find reasons why his "impartiality might be questioned," Scalia scoffed at the paper's "concern" last Friday, telling them his joining a party of hunters that included Cheney was just ducky. "I do not think my impartiality could reasonably be questioned," he wrote.
At issue is a case the Supreme Court is due to hear dealing with Cheney's appeal of a lower court decision ordering him to reveal which energy industry officials he met with while he was running the President's task force seeking to help put together an administration energy policy. A lower court ruling held that Cheney must turn over documents detailing who met with his task force but on December 15, the Supreme Court announced it would hear his appeal in April.
In a written response to the Times questions about the hunting trip, Scalia wrote: "Cheney was indeed among the party of about nine who hunted from the camp. 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. For example, Supreme Court Justices are regularly invited to dine at the White House, whether or not a suit seeking to compel or prevent certain presidential action is pending." |
