Too bad no one thought of this before Scalia was even appointed
Chief justice orders examination of judicial ethics after Scalia issue
By By Gina Holland, Associated Press | May 26, 2004
WASHINGTON -- Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist has ordered a study of federal judicial ethics, a move that follows intense criticism of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia for taking a hunting trip with his friend, Vice President Dick Cheney.
A six-member committee appointed by Rehnquist will begin meeting next month, about the time the court is expected to rule in a case involving Cheney that generated much criticism. Rehnquist named Justice Stephen Breyer, a Clinton appointee, to chair the panel.
Supreme Court justices decide for themselves if they have conflicts of interest, and their decisions are final. Separately, a law allows complaints to be lodged alleging federal judges have engaged in "conduct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts."
House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Republican of Wisconsin, told judicial leaders at a private meeting this spring that they were not adequately disciplining their colleagues.
"I decided that the best way to see if there are any real problems is to have a committee look into it," Rehnquist said yesterday through a court spokesman.
Congressional Democrats and many newspaper editorials demanded that Scalia step aside when it was disclosed he took the trip in January with Cheney, on the vice president's plane, three weeks after the court agreed to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a ruling that ordered public disclosure of details of an energy task force chaired by Cheney.
