Supreme indifference

OregonLive.com: Supreme indifference :

"Scalia's flip attitude suggests he values his leisure time with cronies more than the reputation of the Supreme Court
02/13/04
If U.S. Supreme Court justices regularly went on hunting trips or spa vacations with plaintiffs or defendants appearing before them, they would no longer be seen as the law of the land.
They'd be seen, rightly, as a random gaggle of people who put their personal lives above the long-term credibility of the nation's judicial system.
They might even be seen as quacks.
Justice Antonin Scalia finally responded publicly this week to calls for him to recuse himself from a case involving Vice President Dick Cheney's use of executive-branch powers. Three weeks after the court accepted this case, Scalia accepted a ride on Air Force Two and went on a private duck-hunting trip with the vice president.
'This was a government issue,' Scalia told a large group at Amherst College on Tuesday night, while indicating he would not recuse himself. 'It's acceptable practice to socialize with executive branch officials when there are not personal claims against them. That's all I'm going to say for now. Quack, quack.' "