Reply #167: It is true that nobody can force a justice to recuse himself, [View All]

[RaleighNCDUer]

but there is a certain amount of public embarrassment involved if a lawyer makes that motion.

As you keep saying, he is only human - public embarrassment is NOT something he wants. The justices are supposed to be impartial arbiters of the law - they are not supposed to create law. We may know differently, but the image is still there, and none of the justices want the court, as a whole, to come under ridicule - therefore, when requested to recuse himself he either weakens his partisan side, or he brings the whole court under ridicule - kind of a Hobb's choice. The legal ramifications come, of course, if he actually DOES recuse himself.

How many duck hunts did Scalia go on with Cheney after he was challenged on that?