corrente

Why? Conflict of interest, of course. It seems that Fat Tony isn't the only one.

A law firm filed ethics violation charges Monday against three federal judges who sit on the governing board of an organization that favors business-based solutions to environmental issues.

Community Rights Counsel, or CRC, alleged that the judges' service on the board of the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment created an appearance of impropriety.

The judges include Douglas Ginsburg, chief judge of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, who served on the board with Edward Warren, an oil industry lawyer fighting an air pollution case being considered by Ginsburg's court. Ginsburg eventually co-wrote the 1999 ruling striking down a portion of the Clean Air Act.

"Participating on FREE's board gave Warren the opportunity to spend days at a time with Chief Judge Ginsburg at Montana resorts with a very small group of other board members," CRC wrote.

Warren also lectured to judges at FREE seminars while the case was pending.

Ginsburg knew that his service with Warren on the FREE board would raise questions about his impartiality, but he did not recuse himself, CRC said. The Supreme Court reversed the appeals court ruling in American Trucking Associations v. EPA.

Ginsburg's co-author in that case, Circuit Judge Stephen Williams, participated with Ginsburg in a FREE seminar while the case was pending, CRC said in a report that used judges' financial disclosure forms and tax records from FREE.

A call to Ginsburg's chambers was referred to the court clerk's office, where Deputy Clerk Marilyn Sargeant declined to comment.

Ginsburg is a Republican appointee, as are the other two jurists on the FREE board, 6th Circuit Chief Judge Danny Boggs and 3rd Circuit Judge Jane Roth.
(via the San Jose Mercury News)

"FREE". Love the acronym! Free for who, exactly? And free from what?