Litigation

Group Sees Possible Conflicts by Scalia, Thomas

By Peter Hardin

Common Cause is asking the Justice Department to investigate whether Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas should have disqualified themselves from participating in the landmark Citizens United case.

Common Cause asked the Justice Department Wednesday to investigate whether the  justices had conflicts of interest that warranted their disqualification, and if it concludes a conflict existed, seek to to have the campaign finance ruling vacated, according to a New York Times article.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Common Cause wrote:

“It appears both justices have participated in political strategy sessions, perhaps while the case was pending, with corporate leaders whose political aims were advanced by the decision.  With respect to Justice Thomas, there may also be an undisclosed financial conflict of interest due to his wife?s role as CEO of Liberty Central, a 501(c)(4) organization that stood to benefit from the decision and played an active role in the 2010 elections.”

The letter alluded to news reports last fall “that Justices Scalia and Thomas have attended one or more invitation-only retreats sponsored by Koch Industries, the second-largest privately held corporation in the United States and a major political player that directly benefited from the Citizens United decision.” You can learn more about the events by clicking here for an earlier Gavel Grab post.

The letter also discussed a period when Virginia “Ginny” Thomas served as CEO of Liberty Central (see Gavel Grab for background).

It said the Citizens United decision, issued a year ago tomorrow, “provided a substantial benefit to Liberty Central while Ms. Thomas was its CEO by enabling it to raise and spend corporate funds directly advocating the defeat or election of political candidates for the first time in more than 60 years.”

?It?s a steep uphill climb for Common Cause, but not an insurmountable one,?  Steven Gillers, who teaches legal ethics at New York University, told the New York Times about the Common Cause petition. Common Cause is a partner of the Justice at Stake Campaign.

Common Cause acknowledged difficult challenges inherent in achieving the goals of its petition. “We?re treading in new territory here for us,? said Arn H. Pearson, its vice president for programs. ?But a situation like this raises fundamental questions about public confidence in the Supreme Court.?

Full post as published by The Gavel on January 20, 2011 (boomark / email).