Y’all may have seen this, in which case I apologize, but via GOS I got to this Think Progress report on Justice (sic!) Samuel (“not true”/nose extension) Alito’s second job as a GOP and Regnery fundraiser and fluffer:
Last night, the American Spectator — a right-wing magazine known for its role in the “Arkansas Project,” a well-funded effort to invent stories with the goal of eventually impeaching President Clinton — held its annual gala fundraising event….Among the attendees toasting Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), the keynote speaker for the event, was Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito.
The ethical disaster this represents for a sitting judge — any judge, much less a from-whom-there-is-no-appeal member of the Supremes — is obvious I think. Certainly, all but nine judges in the federal system would find themselves in trouble if they emulated Alito. Here is text of seemingly relevant passages of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges,
CANON 4C: ..a judge should not personally participate in fund-raising activities, solicit funds for any organization, or use or permit the use of the prestige of judicial office for that purpose. A judge should not personally participate in membership solicitation if the solicitation might reasonably be perceived as coercive or is essentially a fund-raising mechanism.”
CANON 5: A JUDGE SHOULD REFRAIN FROM POLITICAL ACTIVITY
A. General Prohibitions. A judge should not:
….
(3) solicit funds for, pay an assessment to, or make a contribution to a
political organization or candidate, or attend or purchase a ticket for a
dinner or other event sponsored by a political organization or candidate.
…
Basically, it says that Alito violated here one of the fundamental rules in place to ensure that the US gets judges capable of administering actual justice. More, as the Think Progress report makes clear; he is a repeat offender here.
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How is it possible, then, that this miscreant walks free — or at least continues to administer his odd notions of justice on the highest bench in the land?
Blind Justice/Republican Crime SyndicatePost + Comments (69)