Justices Scalia And Thomas's Attendance At Koch Event Sparks Judicial Ethics Debate

[Tx4obama]

Reports that two Supreme Court Justices have attended seminars sponsored by the energy giant and conservative bankroller Koch Industries has sparked a mild debate over judicial ethics.

On Tuesday evening, the New York Times reported that an upcoming meeting in Palm Springs of "a secretive network of Republican donors" that was being organized by Koch Industries, "the longtime underwriter of libertarian causes." Buried in the third to last graph was a note that previous guests at such meetings included Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, two of the more conservative members of the bench.

Read the full article on the link below:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/20/scalia-thomas-koch-industries_n_769843.html

[SpiralHawk]

1. If these RepubliDeviants would like to apologize to America for this transgression, then...

Americans would undoubtedly be willing to watch them grovel -- before packing them off to some faraway TeaBagliCon Homeland (R) where they can do no more harm to the US of A.

[toddwv]

12. They were probably there to collect their checks.

"Don't mention it Mr. Koch. We're glad to do our part in turning the US over to corporate interests."

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. That's reprehensible.

I suppose they should be allowed to attend such meetings. But when those issues come up before the Supreme Court, then they MUST recuse themselves.

But they won't.

Disgusting.

Recommended.

[HopeHoops]

3. "Scalia", "Thomas", and "Judicial Ethics" don't belong in the same sentence.

You can easily throw "Roberts" into the "things that don't belong together" pit as well.

[aquart]

4. The ethics of those Republican operatives are not debatable.

They're non-existent.

[Tsiyu]

5. "the American People"

is a phrase these two define as "the Modern Robber Barons."

The rest of us can go suck eggs if we expect Free Speech, Privacy, Equal Justice, Checks and Balances and Fair Elections.

Scabia and Thomas are bought and paid for judicial demons.

[atreides1]

6. The fix was in folks

For the Citizens United decision!

Now we just need to see what "special" events have been attended by Roberts, Alito, and Kennedy.

[monmouth]

7. This is how the corporations became "people"... Bet that's when that

mulled over...

[indepat]

8. Not a problem if Scalia and Thomas recuse themselves from all decisions the Koch brothers would want

influence. ;)

[Arugula Latte]

9. I can't post what I'm thinking.

[leftynyc]

10. Impeach the motherfuckers (n/t)

[billlll]

11. IMPEACH possible in our laws?

How?

[Tx4obama]

13. The Code of Conduct

From ThinkProgress

A Supreme Court justice lending a hand to a political fundraising event would be a clear violation of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, if it wasn’t for the fact that the nine justices have exempted themselves from much of the ethical rules governing all other federal judges. Nevertheless, a spokesperson for the Supreme Court tells ThinkProgress that “the Justices look to the Code of Conduct for guidance” in determining when they may participate in fundraising activities. Under that Code:

Fund Raising. A judge may assist nonprofit law-related, civic, charitable, educational, religious, or social organizations in planning fund-raising activities and may be listed as an officer, director, or trustee. A judge may solicit funds for such an organization from judges over whom the judge does not exercise supervisory or appellate authority and from members of the judge’s family. Otherwise, a judge should not personally participate in fund-raising activities, solicit funds for any organization, or use or permit the use of the prestige of judicial office for that purpose. A judge should not personally participate in membership solicitation if the solicitation might reasonably be perceived as coercive or is essentially a fund-raising mechanism.

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/20/scalia-thomas-koch/

p.s. The whole article on the link above is really worth reading.

[Tx4obama]

14. Memo LEAKED Beck, Koch bros, Chamber coordinated with Banks & Insurers on 2010 election strategy

From - http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/10/20/911976/-Memo-LEAKED!-Beck,-Koch-bros,-Chamber-coordinated-with-BanksInsurers-on-2010-election-strategy

While the Koch brothers — each worth over $21.5 billion — have certainly underwritten much of the right, their hidden coordination with other big business money has gone largely unnoticed. ThinkProgress has obtained a memo outlining the details of the last Koch gathering held in June of this year. The memo, along with an attendee list of about 210 people, shows the titans of industry — from health insurance companies, oil executives, Wall Street investors, and real estate tycoons — working together with conservative journalists and Republican operatives to plan the 2010 election, as well as ongoing conservative efforts through 2012.

18 page memo (of the LAST gathering) with list of names here: http://images2.americanprogressaction.org/ThinkProgress/secretkochmeeting.pdf

[SpiralHawk]

15. And the TeaBagliCons keep drinking their kool aid

dancing merrily, voting against themselves and for fatcat puppetmasters who are playing them for fools.

[AtomicKitten]

16. No debate required. They have no ethical standards. nt

[sakabatou]

17. Those judges need to be put uner an ethics probe

[Octafish]

18. Koch Bros. fund Federalist Society

Lots of Depends wearing stinky pants pouring out of that cesspool.

[Waiting For Everyman]

19. K&R What an absurd lack of ethics or any normal discretion for that matter.

People who demonstrate contempt for the intent of our law, sitting at the top of it. What a sad state of affairs.

[democracy1st]

20. great post ty I need this info.

[Scurrilous]

21. K & R

:thumbsup:

[malaise]

22. Coming up on KO n/t