Friday, November 11, 2005
Alito Failed to Recuse Himself in Cases with Conflict of Interest; Calls it "Oversight"
Yeah, I believe him. After all, why would someone who is supposed to be intelligent enough to hold the highest judicial position in the land have a second thought that he just MIGHT have a financial interest in this case?Now I just need to get the damn homework out of my dog's stomach.
Oh, and thanks to Dave for passing this one on.
Alito: No conflict of interest in Vanguard case
Court nominee says failure to recuse himself was 'an oversight'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito said Thursday that there was no conflict of interest over his role in a 2003 ruling involving a financial giant where he had large amounts of money invested.
In April 2003, Alito and two other judges upheld a lower court's dismissal of a New Jersey woman's lawsuit against the Vanguard Group Inc. Alito later recused himself when the plaintiff, in her appeal, questioned his involvement. The 3rd Circuit later reaffirmed the initial ruling.
In his response to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, Alito wrote he had been "unduly restrictive" when he pledged in his 1990 appellate court nomination hearing to skip cases involving the mutual fund company Vanguard and that he had no conflict of interest in hearing the 2003 matter.
"To the best of my knowledge, I have not ruled on a case for which I had a legal or ethical obligation to recuse myself during my 15 years on the federal bench," he wrote.
Specter said his committee consulted with two experts who found nothing improper about Alito's decision to hear the case as a federal appellate judge in New Jersey.
In a letter to Alito, Specter had urged the nominee "to make a full public response" on the issue.
"I know this issue will be responded to when you complete your questionnaire," Specter wrote in his letter to the nominee. "But I think it is not advisable to wait until that time, which would allow columnists, radio/TV talk shows and your adversaries to speculate on this issue to the detriment of your nomination."
Possible problem?
Sen. Edward Kennedy, a member of the Judiciary Committee, urged Alito on Tuesday to explain his decision to hear the case against the firm while he had investments ranging between $455,000 and $1 million with the company at the time.
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I wonder if this will be the death of Alito