January 27, 2006
Editorial
Justice and Junkets
Justice Antonin Scalia certainly has poor judgment when it comes to vacations.

Justice Scalia was apparently unchastened by the criticism of his 2004 duck-hunting excursion with Vice President Dick Cheney, one of that term's most prominent Supreme Court litigants. Last September, he skipped the swearing-in of Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. because of another ethically dubious trip, this time to the posh Ritz-Carlton at the Beaver Creek ski resort in Colorado.

He was there to teach a 10-hour seminar over a couple of days for a conservative group, the Federalist Society. "Nightline" recently reported that the gig had left Justice Scalia plenty of time for tennis, fly-fishing and socializing with seminar participants, some of whom may have business before the Supreme Court. One Federalist Society cocktail reception was sponsored in part by the lobbying and law firm that used to employ Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay's convicted pal and benefactor for golf trips.

Justice Scalia's travel is part of a broader affliction on the federal bench. The Los Angeles Times reported in 2004, for example, that Justice Clarence Thomas had accepted thousands of dollars in gifts in recent years, including an $800 leather jacket, a $1,200 set of tires from Nascar and an extravagant vacation from a conservative activist. Federal judges below the Supreme Court level accept dozens of free vacations each year from well-heeled special interests under the guise of "judicial education."

The judicial lobbying problem is more serious in one respect than the scandal enveloping Congress. Lawmakers operate in an overtly political environment, but the decision-making process of judges is supposed to be impermeable to clever efforts by special interests to buy access and favor.

Three Democratic senators with a longstanding concern about this problem - Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Russell Feingold of Wisconsin and John Kerry of Massachusetts - are readying provisions to ban junkets and other compromising gifts for judges, which they hope to make part of their party's lobbying reform proposal. For Congress to pass a lobbying reform bill that curbs inappropriate perks for lawmakers but not for federal judges would be a scandal in itself.

N.Y. Judge Nominee Selection Struck Down
By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer
Fri Jan 27, 10:44 PM ET

A federal judge ruled Friday the state's system for selecting trial judges gives too much power to political bosses, and ordered that it be replaced.

Ruling in a case brought by a watchdog group, Judge John Gleeson said picking judiciary candidates at major party political conventions deprives voters of a say in who's on the final ballot.

Gleeson issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the state's board of election from enforcing the existing system, and instructed New York to hold traditional primary elections to pick Supreme Court candidates until the Legislature enacts a replacement scheme.

The ruling only applies to elections regarding the Supreme Court, which in New York is a lower court that conducts trials. Other elected judges in the state are nominated in direct primaries, rather than in conventions.

Gleeson wrote that the watchdog group, the Brennan Center for Justice, had demonstrated convincingly that the current system for Supreme Court openings is an "undemocratic selection procedure."

A spokeswoman for New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, whose office defended the constitutionality of the state's system in court, said she could not comment on ruling, issued late in the day.

"We are studying the opinion," Juanita Scarlett said.

Major party leaders argued in court that the system contained ways for someone to make the ballot, even if they didn't have party support.

Under current rules, Democratic and Republican party leaders select candidates for Supreme Court justice posts at nominating conventions that critics have derided for years as exercises in patronage. The selections are rarely opposed in general elections.

"How to Become A Judge" in NYC: Join, Marry Into, Work For, the Democratic Political Bosses

Tulane University and Judicial Misconduct

Judicial Misconduct: American Values are Being Vacated in Our Nation's Courtrooms

Corruption and Secrecy in the Politico-Educational Complex is a Costly Combination

Lies and Judicial Misconduct Always Block Justice

Judicial Accountability & Integrity Legislation: J.A.I.L.