Justice Scalia’s Persuasive But Elitist Response to the Duck Hunting Controversy By MICHAEL C. DORF, FindLaw
[Scalia’s argument is] exactly right, and under the law, it fully justifies Justice Scalia’s refusal to recuse himself. Yet Justice Scalia’s memorandum is nonetheless troubling because of the uncomfortable truth it reveals — that the capital of the world’s most powerful nation is run by, and possibly for, an elite establishment. …
Justice Scalia was right not to recuse himself, and he has persuasively explained the grounds for his decision. Nonetheless, there is something objectionable about the tone, if not the substance, of his memorandum.
The not-so-subtle subtext of the opinion goes something like this: ”We Supreme Court Justices are part of the ruling elite and we’re entitled to live like it. How dare you commoners question our integrity!”
Indeed, these sentiments are not just in the subtext. Without a hint of apology, Justice Scalia writes that ”[m]any Justices have reached this Court precisely because they were friends of the incumbent President or other senior officials.” Having friends in high places is, in other words, a qualification for the job, the Justice suggests–and it would be hypocritical to pretend otherwise. …
The problem the Sierra Club thought it saw in Justice Scalia’s hunting trip was that he was too closely connected to the Bush Administration. Ultimately, that’s exactly backwards.
The real problem with the Court is not its connection to the other powerful elites that run the country. The problem is the collective disconnection of all of these elites, taken together, from the masses of ordinary citizens. And that’s something to think about as you decide which Skull and Bones man to vote for in November.
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[Michael C. Dorf is Professor of Law at Columbia University, a non-hunting vegetarian, and arguably a member of the elite establishment this column criticizes.]
This is an interesting argument from a law professor who says Scalia is right that he need not recuse himself, but that the real problem is the disconnect of the ”ruling elites” from the masses (you and me). mjh