Op-Ed Contributor: The Wrong Ticket to Ride By IAN AYRES and BARRY NALEBUFF, NYTimes

Justice Scalia had flown to Louisiana in January on the vice president’s plane. But Mr. Cheney left before Justice Scalia did, so the justice and his relatives bought their own tickets home. In a 21-page memo explaining his decision not to recuse himself from a case involving the vice president, Justice Scalia wrote, ”We purchased (because they were the least expensive) round-trip tickets that cost precisely what we would have paid if we had gone both down and back on commercial flights.” …

Justice Scalia later noted, “None of us saved a cent by flying on the vice president’s plane.” But from the airline’s standpoint, it was wrong. Justice Scalia and his family probably saved a bundle by misrepresenting their intentions. …

Justice Scalia did not say how much he paid for his round-trip ticket, but it seems fair to assume that he bought what is known as a ”throw-away ticket” — something the airlines expressly prohibit. …

[Scalia] in essence has admitted to buying a ticket under false pretenses. He made a promise without any intention of fulfilling it. Justice Scalia is no doubt familiar with the legal term for such an act: it’s called promissory fraud.

The airlines’ policy may be annoying, inconvenient and customer-unfriendly. But they can legally insist that their passengers abide by it. And certainly a strict believer in the rule of law like Justice Scalia would agree.
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[Ian Ayres is a professor of law and Barry Nalebuff is a professor of business at Yale.]

Scalia has sneered that no one could reasonably question his ethics. Then he rolled his eyes and said the nation is in serious trouble if people think a Supreme Court Justice can be bought for the price of airfare. Well, we all know the nation is in trouble. And Scalia is unworthy of the Supreme Court. Impeach Scalia! mjh

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