Ethics

Dahlia Lithwick, "Running with Gavels: Justice Need Clearer Rules about Partisan Political Activity"

Over at Slate, Dahlia Lithwick offers this recap of the recent ethics issues involving Supreme Court justices.  I had discussed the issues here and here.  For the record, she thinks that SCOTUS justices should decide their conflicts/recusals themselves, but should be cautious about activities that might seem too partisan and should offer some clarifications about where the lines are.  As I've mentioned before, one difficulty with this issue is the specter of unintended consequences and "backfires" if, in the interests of the appearance of propriety, we foster expansive thinking about what constitutes a recusal event.  Lithwick only briefly addresses that issue (in the passage about Justice Brennan's fear about the consequences of public speaking), but doesn't offer any satisfying account of how to balance the competing interests.  

Full post as published by Legal Ethics Forum on November 19, 2010 (boomark / email).