(COMTEX) B: Scalia Won't Remove Self From Cheney Case ( AP Online )
WASHINGTON, Mar 18, 2004 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A defiant Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia refused Thursday to remove himself from a case involving Vice President Dick Cheney, a close friend, dismissing questions about a possible conflict of interest.
He rejected a request by the Sierra Club, which said it was improper for Scalia to take a hunting trip with Cheney while the environmental group's lawsuit involving the vice president was pending at the court.
"Even one unnecessary recusal impairs the functioning of the court," Scalia wrote in a 21-page memo.
The Sierra Club is suing to get information about private meetings of Cheney's energy task force.
Scalia has maintained there was nothing improper about the trip he took with Cheney three weeks after the court agreed to consider the case.
By GINA HOLLAND
Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2004 Associated Press, All rights reserved
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Greensburg, KS - 5/4/07
"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
from John Philpot Curran, Speech
upon the Right of Election, 1790
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