February 25, 2011

100 lawprofs ask Congress to impose an ethics code on the Supreme Court.

Oddly, the name Koch appears 10 times in this Washington Post article. It appears that some lawprof brains are aboil with worries about the nefarious Koch brothers. Kochophobia rages on, and these furious minds seem to imagine themselves overcoming the evil that is Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas — as if their "ethics" plan — assuming it could be put in place — couldn't possibly backfire and oust their favorite liberal/swing justice.
The professors said in their letter to the committees that their goal is not to second-guess the activities of any individual judge but to create "mandatory and enforceable rules to protect the integrity of the Supreme Court." An influential British judge declared in the 17th century that "no man may be a judge in his own case," the letter said, but "inexplicably we still allow Supreme Court justices to be the sole judge of themselves on recusal issues."
And what man will be the judge of whether these law professors are truthfully reporting their motives?
Under the ethics code that the lawyers consider their model, approved and regularly updated by the nation's chief appellate judges under the chairmanship of the chief justice, lesser judges are prohibited from accepting travel reimbursements from outside groups if they "give the appearance of influencing the judge" or "otherwise give the appearance of impropriety."

Nan Aron, director of the liberal group Alliance for Justice, said that if these rules were extended to the Supreme Court, none of the justices could attend "overtly political meetings or events" like those sponsored by the Kochs.
And who will be the judge of which meetings and events are overtly political? If they're sponsored by the Kochs, they're political. So far, we know that. Thanks a lot. I love the irony. It's obvious that this proposal is overtly political!
At present, said Ellen Yaroshefsky, director of the Jacob Burns Ethics Center at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, "we have standard-less standards" at the court that she struggles to explain to students.

She said it would be straightforward for the court to appoint an independent body of retired justices or other experts to adjudicate recusal and ethics controversies.
Oh, wonderful! An independent body of retired justices or other experts. Yes, wouldn't it be great to have an independent body of retired justices or other experts decide which Supreme Court Justices got to participate in particular cases?

So... retired Justices Souter, Stevens, and O'Connor might step up to decide who to disqualify in — let's say — the case about the constitutionality of the individual mandate. Maybe you think that skews a tad liberal, a tad too anti-Scalia-and-Thomas. Well, first, that's not a bug, it's a feature. And, second, whoever is setting up the "independent body" could always balance it with those  "other experts." You know where to get them, don't you? Elite law schools! Begin with the names of those 100 professors who signed that letter to Congress.

It's all so delightfully inbred — isn't it? — in the feverish fantasy life of the Scalia- and Thomas-haters of legal academia.

118 comments:

rhhardin said...

You need a lot of ethics experts, at least if you're not going to use the Constitution.

Michael K said...

The obvious rebuttal would be to bring Kagan into the discussion.

rhhardin said...

Coleridge, the first blogger - writing op eds for about a decade around 1800 - wrote that conflict of interest was the pulley on which good character is hoist into public view.

A line so perfect that pulley appears in the index.

David said...

"And what man will be the judge of whether these law professors are truthfully reporting their motives?"

Me. I'll do it.

Motives:

1. Cheap publicity stunt.
2. Partisan advantage.
3. Peer approval from other foam at the mouth liberals.
4. Immense self satisfaction.
5. Nothing better to do.
6. Resume builder.
7. Want to date Anita Hill.

Anonymous said...

Love those Koch brothers. They are almost as good at getting up the Left's nose as Sarah Palin. Seeing their name in print is also a good marker for horseshit opinions I can breezily disregard without further mental effort.

Chip Ahoy said...

One hundred law professors, what a wonderful lovely number. I am charmed by one of them using all their toes to count off all their fingers one at a time presuming they have ten toes and ten fingers.

David said...

And last but far from least:

Delegitimize the decision when they lose.

traditionalguy said...

REFORM is another name for a shift of power to the reformers. Ethics sounds so blind Justicey, and all. But who appoints the Ethics Judges and how are their powers checked and balanced, and who is the ethics judge of the new judges of Supreme Court ethics? Maybe the best answer is for a large group of orange shirted bullies in the gallery to finger point and chant "Shame" over and over at select Justices during all SCOTUS oral arguments.

JAL said...

JournoList is alive and well.

Anonymous said...

The left is scared to death that ObamaCare will be found unconstitutional.

This is preparing the battle field to try to intimidate the Supremes.

JAL said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

At present, said Ellen Yaroshefsky, director of the Jacob Burns Ethics Center at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, "we have standard-less standards" at the court that she struggles to explain to students.

The poor lady is doing it for the children, Althouse, you hopelessly hard hearted fiend.

She's doing it for the children!

How can Ms. Yaroshefsky go to bed at night until the whole system works in a way that she can explain to the children?

David said...

Nan Aron, by the way, was at the center of political opposition to Republican judicial nominees who she deems "too conservative" for over a decade. She is a completely political figure, who believes that her side has ethics and her opponents do not.

bagoh20 said...

Then clearly getting a government paycheck disqualifies them all from cases involving the government.

Let's evolve these judiciary proceeding to something fair like celebrity steel cage matches - televised of course.

RuyDiaz said...

"Love those Koch brothers."

Not I. Applied for a job to one of their companies, but wasn't hired. They went instead with better qualified candidates. Bleh.

Henry said...

The Koch brothers are more dangerous than fluoride and rock music put together. Something must be done!

SteveR said...

retired Justices Souter, Stevens, and O'Connor

good grief, that's no selling point. why not Manny, Moe and Jack?

former law student said...

The right has made a bogeyman of George Soros for so long, it's refreshing to see the 3X rich Koch Brothers receive a little demonisation.

RichardS said...

What's the history here? Marhshall recused himself from Hunter's Lessee because his brother was involved in the case. But according to today's standards, perhaps he ought to have recused himself in Marbury, as he was the Secretary of State who failed to deliver the commission at the end of Adams' term.
Are are standards for recusal more strict than they used to be? Has the change been for the better?

Richard Dolan said...

The only interesting aspect of this is why the WaPo featured such a non-story, under the by-line of its leading 'investigative journalist' no less. It's not a serious proposal, has no chance of success and is just lefty agit-prop of the most obvious sort from the usual suspects.

If you google the author of the WaPo story (one R. Jeffrey Smith), you get stories like this:

"The White House is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment, before President Bush leaves office in January."

Smith shared a Pulitzer for work on the DeLay/Abramoff scandal, but hasn't seemed to show much interest in investigating Team Obama. No doubt, that's only because there is nothing to see there, so he just moved on.

Don't think you need to know anything more.

vnjagvet said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fen said...

none of the justices could attend "overtly political meetings or events

Like the State of the Union address...

JAL said...

I can't count.

K-O-C-H is a four letter word?

Otherwise ...

And what of George Soros?

I would hazard a guess that there is more nefarity on the GS side. Reason? No one on the left will touch George Soros with *anything.*

Anonymous said...

The Koch brothers are libertarians who support (according to Reason Magazine online):

1. decriminalizing drugs,
2. legalizing gay marriage,
3. repealing the Patriot Act,
4. ending the police state,
5. cutting defense spending.

These crazy right wingers must be stopped at all cost.

Fen said...

Is this another one of those cons where they get 100 lawprofs to sign on and then change the context of the letter afterwards?

I think something similar happened to Althouse during the Clinton Impeachment.

vnjagvet said...

Yeah, justices in a co-equal branch of government having lifetime tenure are likely to accede to such a lame-brained scheme. Right.

I suspect these profs would not as concerned about Justice Ginsberg's speeches at ACLU sponsored events.

jr565 said...

It's funny how quickly and easily the Koch brothers became the next Haliburton. Almost as if by osmosis it became a known fact in all liberal talking points that the Koch bros. were evil. And it also became a known fact that it was always a known fact and not something they had heard the day before.

traditionalguy said...

So how do we pronounce the name of the EVIL brothers? Is it Kotch or is it Cook?

Unknown said...

Since court packing didn't work that well for FDR, I guess this was all that was left.

if one of those profs should happen to fall,
99 lawprofs left on the wall


PS Fen, you broke the code.

RuyDiaz said...

"So how do we pronounce the name of the EVIL brothers? Is it Kotch or is it Cook?"

Coke.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Low standards, no standards, and high standards are OK. But standard-less standards? I wonder what she majored in as an undergrad.

Althouse - I bet you deduct grade points when a student uses such poor grammar.

Joe said...

This wouldn't be constitutional. So more for smart lawprofs.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I wonder if any of this 100 was also a signer of the letter against the Duke lacrosse players?


wv= tortski [what a Polish ambulance chaser is chasing]

MadisonMan said...

Well, if Law Profs think it's a good idea, who am I to argue?

I'd change it a little. Rather than having retired justices, let's just use random people from the Boston phone book.

rhhardin said...

Design a better handbasket, and lawprofs will beat a path to your door.

chuckR said...

Tit for tat.
I think the Supremes should devise a Code of Ethics for Congress. Congress has one, but it doesn't seem to be very effective.
I also think the Supremes should devise a Code of Ethics for law professors and law schools. A cornerstone of that would be truthful representation of their graduates career prospects.
Actually, I'd be just as happy if they reasserted their independence by ignoring all this crap.

Anonymous said...

The best and brightest that TTT law schools have to offer.

Unknown said...

Another reason to get rid of tenure--Bobby K

former law student said...

Yeah, justices in a co-equal branch of government having lifetime tenure are likely to accede to such a lame-brained scheme. Right.

There's only one solution to such a predicament, and, once again, the right-wing led the way:

http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu
/tdgh-may/
Impeach%20Earl%20Warren%20Sign.jpg

And, while we're at it, Get US out of the UN.

RuyDiaz said...

"Design a better handbasket, and lawprofs will beat a path to your door."

To sue you on behalf of entrenched handbasket designers?

coketown said...

Why don't we just get rid of the Supreme Court altogether and put everything to popular referendum? Clearly those 100 lawprofs think the SCOTUS is the Lindsay Lohan of government branches: out of control, unreliable, untrustworthy, but with a good heart and lots of potential if it can just be mellowed out.

Revenant said...

In the unlikely event that the law passes, I look forward to seeing the Supreme Court overturn it 9-0.

test said...

This is fantastic. I can't wait until lefties next pontificate on the professionalism of lawyers. They're so in the tank they believe the tank is the universe.

Automatic_Wing said...

And, while we're at it, Get US out of the UN.

Finally something sensible from you. Took long enough.

Anonymous said...

It's all so delightfully inbred — isn't it?

This is waaay beyond "inbred." It's beyond "incestuous."

The word you need is "masturbatory."

former law student wrote:

The right has made a bogeyman of George Soros for so long, it's refreshing to see the 3X rich Koch Brothers receive a little demonisation.

Our buddy fls has it ass-backwards. (Surprise! In other news, the Pacific Ocean turns out to be wet.) If his side sees nothing wrong with George Soros' involvement in politics, why should we take lefties seriously when they get their panties in a bunch over the Koch brothers?

chuckR said...

fls - I can get behind impeaching Earl Warren and getting the US out of the UN.
After the Boxing Day Tsunami and the US Navy's response, I thought diverting the annual 'contribution' to the UN could be better spent. We could repair one of our mothballed carriers to turn it into a hospital ship with its own airport and H2O distillation plant. Preposition it at Diego Garcia. Do another and preposition that in the Carribean. Benefits - people in emergencies are actually helped and the US gets some good press. Penalty - harder to keep our enemies close.

Revenant said...

The right has made a bogeyman of George Soros for so long, it's refreshing to see the 3X rich Koch Brothers receive a little demonisation.

I find it amusing to watch the Left demonize people who have given so much money to causes like gay rights, public broadcasting, drug legalization, military spending cuts, and Patriot Act repeal.

It just goes to show that little things like gay rights and limiting police powers aren't nearly as important to the left as benefits for government workers.

PatHMV said...

This would be funny if it weren't such a sad commentary on the lunacy that most of legal academia has become.

The issue itself, who can regulate the ethics of the Supreme Court, is an interesting and deep question. But rather than devote REAL thought to it, rather than try to use the many benefits of the academic life to study and analyze and contemplate the issues posed both by the underlying problem (quis custodiet ipsos custodes) and by the various potential solutions to the underlying problem, instead all these 100 law professors can do is issue a political polemic that shows no signs of actual intelligent thought whatsoever.

It's depressing, and a clear indication of why so many lawyers today are so poorly trained; these are the people who have been educating them.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

"It's all so delightfully inbred — isn't it?"

Yes.

James said...

"Love those Koch brothers."

Not I. Applied for a job to one of their companies, but wasn't hired. They went instead with better qualified candidates. Bleh.


Heh...I was hired by Cargill out of business school and spent a few years studying the competition at Koch. The funny thing is that Cargill is significantly larger than Koch yet the two families that own it manage to keep their names out of the news.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The Koch obsession by the left is really amusing. The Koch brothers give to PBS, they support gay marriage, the support cutting defense spending and legalizing drugs.

Soros just ruins whole currencies, pushes for the Cloward Piven effect, and supports every left-wing commie store front that rolls off the line. All to support his ultimate goal of power through government shakedown.

Unknown said...

Which clause of the Constitution says Congress can impose things on the Supreme?

Unknown said...

I guess most commenters here dont like foreign law but In some countries it work this way:
The law establish the causes of recusal, usually the same for any other Judge.
If one Justice is recused , the Chief Justice decides. If the CJ is recused the vicepresident of the Court decides. Since you dont have one the one with most seniority can decide.

Wince said...

Compared to the Kochs, what has Soros ever produced in the way of goods or services (outside of finance)?

wv- "physt" = what a protesting public school gym teacher thrusts in the face of a Republican legislator

G Joubert said...

I don't know how this could possibly be imposed, SCOTUS being a co-equal 3rd branch of government.

Alex said...

These 100 law-profs are engaging in public mental masturbation. Ugly sight.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Soros is a creep who belongs behind bars. But in lefty logic land-- The Koch brothers, because they are successful and rich, deserve to be harassed by the proggie left.

Roger J. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Toad Trend said...

@PatHMV

I feel your pain.

The last thing that needs to be done is to introduce demonstrably liberal oversight to SCOTUS.

I think the 100 law spewers should channel their energies into more productive pursuits, such as gardening, scrapbooking and volunteering.

Roger J. said...

good lord--dont these law profs realize that the court is one of the independent branches of government? INDEPENDENT?

what a bunch of overpaid and ignorant assholes--but again, they are lawyers and what can you expect--

David said...

traditionalguy said...
So how do we pronounce the name of the EVIL brothers? Is it Kotch or is it Cook?


It's pronounced "crotch." They changed the spelling after they made their first fortune, in bovine porn. They also invented the "contented cows" ad campaign. The whole thing was quite synergistic.

Anonymous said...

good lord--dont these law profs realize that the court is one of the independent branches of government? INDEPENDENT?

Yes, but some of the members of the court are conservative, which is evil.

You can't let that kind of stuff just go on.

BJM said...

Keep digging, faster, please.

DADvocate said...

It's obvious that this proposal is overtly political!

And more. It's not enough that Congress approves the judges selected. Now, the left wing law profs want Congress to control which individual cases each judge can hear. A tremendous degradation of separation of powers.

The march towards fascism rumbles on.

traditionalguy said...

David...I just remembered the pronunciation of Koch in English history was "Coke". But if they say that, then they will have to answer to the Coca-Cola Company.

cookasia said...

Why are not their brains all aboil about George Soros, who is much more of a malevolent threat than anyone else throwing around $1 billion.

section9 said...

KOCH! KOCH! KOCH! KOCH!

KOCH UP YOUR ASS! KOCH UP YOUR ASS!!!

Oh wait, I forgot, no one wants to wake Titus.....

Thorley Winston said...

For any who are interested, here’s a copy of the letter if anyone wants to know who signed it.

The group that put out the letter, the so-called “Alliance for Justice” is basically an umbrella organization for about 80 other left-wing groups that, among other things, supported the filibustering of President Bush’s judicial nominees on ideological grounds.

It seems to me then that this is little more than a continuation of the political attacks that the AFJ sponsored before.

Thorley Winston said...

Why are not their brains all aboil about George Soros, who is much more of a malevolent threat than anyone else throwing around $1 billion.

Probably because George Soros is one of the largest donors of the Alliance for Justice, which is the group that put out the letter.

Jerome said...

What do you call 100 lawprofs on the bottom of the ocean?

lemondog said...

...to appoint an independent body of retired justices or other experts to adjudicate recusal and ethics controversies.

Any chance taxpayers can appoint an independent body of public-minded citizens to review the process as legislation is passed through the congress?

Yes, yes, we vote every 2, 4, or 6 years but there is no transparency in government sufficent for the voter to reasonably determine the ethics of pressures and money that might have influenced a vote.

madAsHell said...

Speaking of cohorts....Has anyone heard from the Group of 88?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

100 lawprofs ask Congress to curb the powers of a another co-equal branch..

The president of the United States has something called executive privilege.. I would ask these 100 lawprofs what comparable privileges do the supremes have?

Compared to the two other branches, my impression is the Supremes don't have that much power.. and then here comes the idea that they have to check with some extra-constitutional branch before they attend a peaceful assembly.. as if the Supremes ought not to have a first amendment right like everyone else.

We ought to write the congress telling them that 100 lawprofs are under the influence of Charlie Sheen.. or something.

Unknown said...

The justification offered for these sorts of rules-- that "one should not be the judge of his own case”--drives me crazy. The "case" referred to is the underlying controversy—absent an actual interest in the outcome of the case, historically even actual bias was not disqualifying for a judge. A judge could be disqualified only for direct pecuniary interest, because one should not be "judge of their own case." "It was Coke who, with reference to cases in which the judge's pocketbook was involved, set the standards for his time in his injunction that 'no man shall be a judge in his own case.'”
John P. Frank, “Disqualification of Judges,” 56 Yale L.J. 605, 609 -610 (1947)

lemondog said...

This is what happens when the brains of 100 lawprofs are aboil

test said...

Jerome said...

What do you call 100 lawprofs on the bottom of the ocean?

A good start!

Just kidding. No one was harmed answering this joke.

Do you know why sharks don't eat lawyers?

Do you know who tells the best lawyer jokes? Lawyers. I firm I worked closely with upon a time gave monthly prizes for the best lawyer jokes. I wish I could remember the good ones. Less interestingly, they had an odd fascination with poems.

chickelit said...

I sure hope those WaPo guys never get their hands on das Kochbuch. That where they stash all the secret recipes. :)

Chase said...

Less interestingly, they had an odd fascination with poems

There once were 3 lawyers form Nantucket . . .

Triangle Man said...

Isn't the whole (progressive) point of having people with diverse backgrounds on the court (wise latinas, for example) that they can draw on their personal experiences to make different decisions than old episcopalian men would? If their personal experiences matter, then don't they have a stake in the outcome? Everyone has a conflict of interest. They're all out of order!

Almost Ali said...

Why'd they stop at "100"?

I'm Full of Soup said...

Why do lawyers love to game the system? They don't trust that laws and rules will be followed? Or they view laws and rules as mere obstacles to be circumvented?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

If their personal experiences matter, then don't they have a stake in the outcome?

If the Supremes are the creme of la creme, the best we have to offer.. isn't this letter a kind of capitulation, a giving in to the idea that some ideological thought is better, more influential than other?.. and if so why not trust that the liberal kind will prevail?

If liberalism is so wonderful.. I would ask congress to mandate it.. make the judges go on liberal retreats and mingle with other liberals ;)

ricpic said...

From The Wall Street Journal:

The Commerce Clause has "been interpreted to apply to regulation of any instruments or instrumentalities or channels of commerce," Kagan said, "but it's also been applied to anything that would substantially affect interstate commerce." Anything? If Kagan already believes that the Commerce Clause justifies anything that substantially affects interstate commerce then she has all but prejudged the individual mandate question.

Was there ever a clearer case for recusal? Kagan won't.

AST said...

Legal ethics is an oxymoron.

BEK477 said...

Why do these law professor folks have tenure in the first place?

Please explain why tenure is not seen as a cartel forming engine. One that inhibits inter-state commerce in teaching [legal] services by restricting competition between colleges for professors and instructors?

If there was no tenure then competiton would intensify and salaries would increase. Afterwards, new players would enter the market in response to the rise of compensation. And, then professors' salaries would fall. We would then be better off.

Colleges are engaged in a conspiracy to restrict competition and thereby keep their costs low.
Unfortunately, the benefits are not passed on to the law student or to society. Instead the profit margins are maintained or increased.

At the end,it is all about the Benjamins.

J said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

"It's all so delightfully inbred — isn't it?"l

Academia in a nutshell, sans delight.

J said...

Before they spout off on the current members of the Black Robe posse--aka Supreme court=-- lets have the legal solons offer their response to Thomas Jefferson's comments re Marbury Vs Madison,Marshall, and "judicial review". Which is to say, the Black Robe posse was arguably never part of the plan of the US -Con

(and those Dinkocrats who believe the courts can do no wrong ...should just join the Scaliapublicans)

DADvocate said...

I wonder how many of these law professors are acting unethically by signing this letter and identifying themselves as law professors at a particular university?

One signee is from THE Ohio State University. The OSU guidelines on political activity states:

3. When necessary, employees should make clear that their affiliation with the university does not imply university approval or disapproval of the expressed view. Such a disclaimer may be necessary in activities such as:

a. Taking part in a public political meeting or speaking on behalf of a candidate or issue;
b. Writing a letter or signing a statement connected to political activity, or when the employee’s name appears on a letterhead supporting a candidate or cause.


The signee identifies himself as being with OSU and no disclaimer is in the letter. I've sent an email to OSU asking for clarification. I wouldn't be surprised if they consider ethics as something more lowly others need to follow. Not themselves.

wv - dopers (nuff said)

Kirby Olson said...

Let's let the SCOTUS review the tenure of these same law profs.

deborah said...

@ Marshal: professional ethics?

Alex said...

Hey J - please regale us about how evil & dastardly the Koch brothers truly are. Are you up for it?

Alex said...

DADvocate - morals for thee, not for me...

J said...

3:36. The Koch Bros are fairly evil AFAIK, but hardly Exxon-Mobil or BP or Goldman Sachs Evil (not even publicly traded. Ooops, a bit techie for Galthouse). I doubt the Koch bros are that involved---their finance dealings just a small part of their oil empire. Walker/WI GOP is mostly likely following orders from the rightist banks (JP Morgan, etc) tired of losing pension funds to the Demo-backed financiers (Goldman Sachs etc) . Banker wars.

Hal Dall, MD said...

Maybe the "expert" ethical panel should be made of the expert UW medical ethicists who liberally handed out the "sick slips".

J said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Methadras said...

It's all so delightfully inbred — isn't it? — in the feverish fantasy life of the Scalia- and Thomas-haters of legal academia.

Ann, you are a part of this cavalcade of idiocy, not that you are the idiot, but you belong to a profession that produces this kind of garbage and yet you and I are totally powerless to thwart it.

test said...

deborah,

I heard it as courtesy. Ethics might imply a responsibility to non-lawyers.

Fen said...

You know where to get them, don't you? Elite law schools! Begin with the names of those 100 professors who signed that letter to Congress

Wait. Having lobbied for this change, wouldn't these 100 have to wave off any appointment to the panel of experts? Clearly a conflict of interest.

Nonplussed 2.0 said...

@ NotYourTypicalNewYorker, who said...

The left is scared to death that ObamaCare will be found unconstitutional.

Well, yes. Of course. What we fear are the bad consequences for the country.

There is no doubt regarding the constitutionality of the ACA. But there is a real danger that the same Olympians who decided Bush v. Gore will apply the same brilliance in the interest of the same partisan ends. Yeah, I fear that too.

deborah said...

Yes, you're right, Marshal...but that's what I meant :)

ddh said...

In fact, an independent body already exists that, under the Constitution, may review whether Justices are properly recusing themselves from cases in which they have an interest. Congress may impeach, try, convict, and remove Justices who ignore conflicts of interest, which I think most would consider at least a misdemeanor.

J said...

Now, the left wing law profs want Congress to control which individual cases each judge can hear.

Actually that's closer to original intent of US-Con, pre-Jud Rev., whether the frat boy right approves or not--the Legislature (ie both HOuse and Senate), not joodiciary, has the final word (and Prez...with veto power. but not kingly power). Yo, US Govt. for Tweekhousers

egalite, fraternite, liberte

Fen said...

there is a real danger that the same Olympians who decided Bush v. Gore will apply the same brilliance in the interest of the same partisan ends. Yeah, I fear that too.

You fear a Myth of your own creation?

PaulV said...

Speaking of the group of 88

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/02/25/1012573/irs-seeks-65-million-from-duke.html#disqus_thread

Peano said...

A group of more than a hundred law professors from across the country has asked Congress to extend an ethical code of conduct to the Supreme Court - for the first time - and clarify when individual justices should step away from specific legal cases.

I'd like to see Congress enact such a law and then see the Supreme Court strike it down.

A hundred law professors, indeed! What a joke.

PaulV said...

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/02/25/1012573/irs-seeks
-65-million-from-duke.html#disqus_thread

PaulV said...

http://www.newsobserver
.com/2011/02/25/1012573/
irs-seeks-65-million-from-duke.html#disqus_thread

try again

Peter V. Bella said...

How about an ethics panel to vet the grumblings of unethical politically deranged law professors who have way too much time on their hands.

MarkD said...

I think lawyers and law professors are vastly overrepresented in this whole scheme, no insult intended to our hostess. Let's have a panel of non-lawyer citizens review the decisions, to see if we like them.

Better yet, let's put all the decisions on the ballot and vote on them. Nothing is final, until the next general election. Do you think Kelo would get popular approval?

Anonymous said...

I notice that a couple of the signatories are from the Widener School of Law, Cosmetology, and Auto Repair. I'm surprised there aren't more from that eminent institution.

If the standard is to be that "one should not be the judge of his own case,” then I wonder how many of those law professors believe that Justice Thurgood Marshall should have recused himself from all civil rights cases involving African-Americans?

Justice Clarence Thomas need not recuse himself, of course, because everyone knows he isn't "authentically black."

BJM said...

btw- Koch is pronounced "coke".

Funny how the left misses this, isn't it?

He (David Koch) and his brother Charles, along with George Soros, the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation each contributed $10 million to the ACLU to defeat parts of the USA Patriot Act.

Do any of these professors know how to use Google?

"Since 2000, Koch has pledged and/or donated more than $600 million to the arts, education and medical research, more than he gave to political causes, including stem cell research and PBS.

Koch sure seems to support a lot of leftie causes for a winger.

His brother Bill, who won the '92 America's Cup and fielded the first all woman crew in '95 seems to be in pretty tight with the Dems. Bill Koch joined Ted Kennedy in forming the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound.

"2010— A land swap involving one of the richest men in the world and a congressman who enjoys hunting on the ranch has stirred up local controversy and riled a national land-exchange watchdog group.

U.S. Rep. John Salazar (D-CO) introduced a bill in April that would give energy magnate Bill Koch just over 1,840 acres (7.4 km2) of Bureau of Land Management land and a 3-acre (12,000 m2) sliver of Forest Service land in Gunnison County for Koch giving the National Park Service 991 acres (4.01 km2) in Dinosaur National Monument and the Curecanti National Recreation Area.


In case you missed it: "Salazar's younger brother, Ken Salazar, is a former United States Senator from Colorado and the current Secretary of the Interior."

What we are witnessing is a battle of the influence titans.

Soros summoned the media Kraken via his 527 funding and appears to be winning at the moment.

Popcorn anyone?

Anonymous said...
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F4GIB said...

Leftist law professors are always using their positions to bolster their opinions. They do so because their opinions need all the bolster they can accumulate.

A law professor for almost 4 decades.

dick said...

Concern is not just Soros but the billionaires behind him. The Democracy Alliance and International Crisis Group are at least as warped as MoveOn or Center for American Destruction or Apollo Alliance. Soros OSI is working in 60 countries attempting to implement the globalist ideology.

TANSTAAFL said...

[raises hand in back of class]

Since when do reactionary leftists have ethics?

TANSTAAFL said...

"egalite, fraternite, liberte"

Which leads to guillotines and wars of conquest.

But we've come to know that that is what the reactionary left DOES.

ken in tx said...

There are no Episcopalians on the SC. In fact there are no Protestants at all.