Supreme Court won't be fully represented at State of the Union
The Washington Post by Robert Barnes - January 25, 2011
The Supreme Court finds itself again in the political limelight, a place most justices try to avoid. A combination of events, concluding with the question of which justices will attend President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night, has brought complaints, partisan charges and renewed scrutiny to the court. Justice Antonin Scalia's decision to give constitutional pointers Monday to the House Tea Party Caucus headed by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) prompted a debate among judicial ethicists about whether justices should associate with political groups that have clear interests on issues that will probably come before the court. Before that, the first anniversary of the court's decision to give corporations and unions a greater role in campaign spending brought renewed criticism from liberal groups and complaints about two justices from a government watchdog group. Common Cause charged Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas with conflicts of interest, and on Monday Thomas amended his financial disclosure reports for the past 13 years to reflect his wife's employers, an omission the group had criticized. Finally, court-watchers will look for partisan motivations Tuesday night when at least some of the black-robed justices file into the House chamber for the State of the Union. The question of who will show and who will stay home has taken on added weight after last year's speech, when some justices took offense at the president's use of the address to criticize the court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The only known no-show at this point is Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who is taking advantage of a perfectly timed speaking engagement in Hawaii to avoid the event at which he became a reluctant player last January. Cameras caught him muttering "not true" to Obama's charges.
Since then, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Scalia and Thomas have objected to what Roberts called the "political pep rally" aspect of the speech, as justices are expected to sit silently through the cheering and jeering around them. Their reluctance could lead to a scenario in which only justices appointed by Democratic presidents attend Obama's speech, underscoring the court's new reality: Its conservative members were appointed by Republicans, its liberal members by Democrats. Steven Lubet, an expert on judicial ethics at Northwestern University School of Law, said the court seems to alternate between periods of "extreme reticence" and high visibility. "We are at a high point on the visibility cycle," Lubet said in an interview. "But I don't know whether one's better than the other." Scalia's appearance on Capitol Hill split judicial ethicists, some of whom said it was inappropriate to address members of Congress with a partisan persuasion, and others who said justices do no harm by speaking publicly. Members who attended the meeting said Scalia answered questions, and a handful of Democrats attended as well. They said he told them that Congress sometimes doesn't exercise its full power. Rep. Janice D. Schakowsky (D-Ill.), one of the liberal lawmakers in attendance, described the discussion as "fascinating."
Last week, Common Cause noted the anniversary of the Citizens United decision by asking the Justice Department to investigate whether Thomas and Scalia should not have heard the case. It charged the two had attended private strategy sessions with conservative fundraisers organized by Charles and David Koch, billionaire brothers active in conservative causes. Scalia said through a court spokesman that he spoke at a private dinner sponsored by Charles Koch and the Federalist Society in 2007 that was separate from the conference. The spokeswoman said Thomas spoke at a similar event in 2008 and "stopped by" the conference. Both speeches came before the court had accepted the Citizens United case, and their expenses were paid by the Federalist Society. But Common Cause also charged that Thomas had not disclosed his wife Virginia Lamp Thomas's employment, including what the group said was a total income of nearly $700,000 received from the conservative Heritage Foundation from 2003 to 2007. Thomas on Monday amended the forms to detail his wife's past employers dating back to 1989: the Labor Department, former representative Richard K. Armey (R-Tex.), Heritage and Hillsdale College. Thomas said the information was "inadvertently omitted due to a misunderstanding of the filing instructions." Common Cause President Bob Edgar was dissatisfied with Thomas's brief explanation. "Justice Thomas sits on the highest court of the land, is called upon daily to understand and interpret the most complicated legal issues of our day and makes decisions that affect millions," Edgar said in a statement. "It is hard to see how he could have misunderstood the simple directions of a federal disclosure form." It's against this backdrop that the issue of State of the Union attendance arises. The whole court almost never attends, but Roberts has attended every speech since he joined the court in 2005. His absence would be conspicuous. He expressed his displeasure with last year's speech at an Alabama law school appearance, mentioning the televised scene of Democratic lawmakers jumping to their feet to cheer Obama's criticism of the Citizens United decision. "The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court, according to the requirements of protocol, has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling," Roberts said. "And it does cause you to think whether or not it makes sense for us to be there." barnesb@washpost.com Staff writer Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.
MLK said: "Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere"
End Corruption in the Courts!
Court employee, judge or citizen - Report Corruption in any Court Today !! As of June 15, 2016, we've received over 142,500 tips...KEEP THEM COMING !! Email: CorruptCourts@gmail.com
Most Read Stories
- Tembeckjian's Corrupt Judicial 'Ethics' Commission Out of Control
- As NY Judges' Pay Fiasco Grows, Judicial 'Ethics' Chief Enjoys Public-Paid Perks
- New York Judges Disgraced Again
- Wall Street Journal: When our Trusted Officials Lie
- Massive Attorney Conflict in Madoff Scam
- FBI Probes Threats on Federal Witnesses in New York Ethics Scandal
- Federal Judge: "But you destroyed the faith of the people in their government."
- Attorney Gives New Meaning to Oral Argument
- Wannabe Judge Attorney Writes About Ethical Dilemmas SHE Failed to Report
- 3 Judges Covered Crony's 9/11 Donation Fraud
- Former NY State Chief Court Clerk Sues Judges in Federal Court
- Concealing the Truth at the Attorney Ethics Committee
- NY Ethics Scandal Tied to International Espionage Scheme
- Westchester Surrogate's Court's Dastardly Deeds
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Conflicts and Under-Reporting Alleged at U.S. Supreme Court
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Blog Archive
-
▼
2011
(349)
-
▼
January
(42)
- Retiring Nicely After Betraying Public’s Trust
- Corrupt Judge Francis Nicolai in the News Again
- New York Bar Seeks Limits on Investigations of Judges
- $120 Million Federal Lawsuit Says 2 Top NYC Law Fi...
- Local Prosecutor, Battling Cancer and Corruption P...
- Proposal to Revamp New York Judicial-Conduct Agenc...
- Disbarred NY Lawyer Ordered to Pay $3 Million
- Truly a Gem of An Officer of the Court
- Conflicts and Under-Reporting Alleged at U.S. Supr...
- Mayor Slams NYC Judge
- State Bar Annual Meeting Kicks Off Today
- Governor's Ex-Attorney General Staffer to Lead Eth...
- New York 'Sex-tortion' Lawyer Sued in Federal Court
- Feds Create New Oversight Unit
- Disbarred Attorney Requested Readmission To Practi...
- Informal Poll Shows Frustration Over New York Judi...
- NY Lawyers Fear New Tax Copied From Holland
- Federal Judge Stands Firm in Lying Cop's Torture Case
- Former Assistant County Attorney Arrested for Eave...
- NY Attorney Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Cou...
- New York Judges' Lawsuit Seeks $780 Million in Bac...
- Criminal Court Expected to Embrace Racist Plea in ...
- Judge Who Follows Law Annoys Bar Members
- 'Shredder' Lawyer Released to House Arrest
- Judge Remembered as Fair-Minded
- Slow Disbarment for Sexually Conflicted Attorney W...
- A Lovely Attorney, Notwithstanding Being Arrested ...
- Lawyer, Two of HIs Former Firms Sued for $10 Milli...
- Judge Throws Out 5.6 Million Verdict
- Say it Louder, Judge, "Without Integrity, We Lose ...
- Ghosts of Make Believe 2nd Circuit Ethics Oversigh...
- Federal Judge Rules NY Legal Corruption is No Long...
- Chaos Continues in Corrupt New York Appellate Court
- National Need To Clean-Up Local Junk Justice
- Judicial Picking Process From Bad to Worse
- New Governor Wimps Out in Push to Oust Lousy Judges
- Appellate Court OKs Sanctions Against Husband-Wife...
- Corrupt "Ethics" Boss Tembeckjian Continues Biased...
- Governor Cuomo Invited To Show No One Is Above The...
- NC Lawyer and NY College Dean Get Screwed
- Judge, Developer, Banker Involved In Legal Mess, T...
- Judge Sees Corruption FIght As His Legacy
-
▼
January
(42)
See Video of Senator John L. Sampson's 1st Hearing on Court 'Ethics' Corruption
The first hearing, held in Albany on June 8, 2009 hearing is on two videos:
Video of 1st Hearing on Court 'Ethics' Corruption
The June 8, 2009 hearing is on two videos:
9 comments:
It's official. The disregard for the law has made its way all the way up the the nation's highest court, the U.S. Supreme Court. I wish I could have UNDERREPORT an extra $700,000.00
The US Supreme Court was established to be the Court that any citizen could turn to in order to ultimately have their rights protected.
As just about everyone know, the Supreme Court rejects most of the cases that they receive. What this doesn't mean is that the cases were without merit.
What is also disturbing, is that they are taking fewer and fewer cases.
This whole system stinks.
The fish rots from the head on down. The clowns don't know of the corruption in the 2nd Circuit? Kagan and Sotomayer never heard a discouraging word about the 2nd Circuit? Deaf, dumb and blind to all corruption. Think pure thoughts and evil will disappear is the guiding principle for the Court.
The system including the courts are not working because it's all corrupt.
Dear Friends,
WATCH THIS POST BE CENSORED!
Over the past six months I have generally stopped looking at this blog. I am convinced that "Frank Brady" aka Kevin Mckeowen is acting against our interest, and is in fact a "sponge" hired to identify anti-corruption activists and to thwart their efforts for relief.
I base this upon his behavior surrounding the murder of S*nny Sh*u, specifically his censoring of all my posts regarding the murder and his blatant lies and deception towards me and others regarding the situation.
Frank allows full blown neo nazi anti semitic rants, and personal attacks on me and other victims, but censors factual posts about the murder of our most heroic and dedicated colleague.
So I am not surprised to see that Frank has failed to post two recent NY Times articles pertinent to our struggle.
One is from today, about how the CJC is being urged by lawyers to make it HARDER to prosecute judges!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/nyregion/26judges.html?_r=1
The other regards the series of home and mortgage thefts in Queens, of which Mr. Sh*u was a victim, and which he was killed for resisting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/nyregion/17house.html?scp=9&sq=home%20theft&st=cse
If Frank censors THIS post, that will be proof positive that he is working against us. If he leaves it up, in my opinion it will indicate that he is clever enough to not be as blatantly thuggish as he recently was.
To prove that he is on our side, he must publish the information he already has regarding Mr. Sh*e' murder before it becomes national news.
In solidarity.
Will Gal*son
I use the * in the hope that it will delay the automatic censoring of posts containing certain words such as Sh*u or Galis*n.
I'll be watching to see if anything is posted.
It's good to have you back.
I think I'll call and give my two cents about the New York Times article and the CJC.
Looks like Will Galison went off his meds. LOL
Using -Sh*u- or -Galis*n- is a good indication of someone in need of heavy medication. Of course, maybe it's not Will Galison but someone else trying to look paranoid and crazy. Automatic censoring of words like Sheu or Galison is pretty paranoid and crazy. LOL I'll be watching these words and those words. I'm going to watch all words, especially ones typed upside down or inside out. And the rest of what I have to say will be typed with invisible letters. LOL
SUNNY SHUE WAS MURDERED BY JUDGE GOLIA
FUCK JUDGE GOLIA !!!!!!!
To my invisible friend,
Nope, still on the meds. Frank censored at least ten of my posts regarding Sunny Sheu. I took a screen shot of the posts up on the site immediately after posting and sent them to twenty people. The posts were all removed within minutes, even at 4:00 AM, which led me to believe that they were automatically censored. An NYPD detective friend also suggested this was the case.
I may have been wrong. It could be that Frank monitors his mail at all hours of day and night.
In any case; if you have enough invisible balls to reveal your email address, I will send you proof that the posts regarding Sunny were removed by Frank.
Mine is wgalison@aol.com
Otherwise, its not me that needs meds. It's you that needs balls and/or a brain.
Will
Post a Comment