U.S. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas have come under criticism for agreeing to hear the legal challenge to President Barack Obama’s healthcare law and then appearing as the featured guests of a conservative banquet that included opponents of the law.

 

The event attended by Scalia and Thomas was the annual Federalist Society’s dinner, which was co-sponsored by pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer, which has a big financial stake in the outcome of the case.

 

Another co-sponsor was Bancroft PLLC, a law firm one of whose partner, Paul Clement, former solicitor general under George W. Bush, will argue before the Supreme Court that the reform law should be thrown out.

 

Yet another sponsor was Jones Day, a law firm representing the National Federation of Independent Business, which is challenging the law.

 

Scalia shared a table at the dinner with Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s top Republican and an outspoken opponent of the healthcare law.

 

Both Scalia and Thomas have attended Federalist Society events before. But that fact didn’t make good-government advocates any less alarmed by the justices’ appearance.

 

“This stunning breech of ethics and indifference to the code belies claims by several justices that the Court abides by the same rules that apply all other federal judges,” said Common Cause President Bob Edgar. “The justices were wining and dining at a black tie fundraiser with attorneys who have pending cases before the court. Their appearance and assistance in fundraising for this event undercuts any claims of impartiality, and is unacceptable.”

 

Unlike their judicial colleagues, Supreme Court justices are exempt from the Code of Conduct that governs the actions of lower federal judges. This code states that a judge may attend fundraising events of law-related organizations, but they may not be a speaker, a guest of honor, or featured on the event’s program.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Scalia and Thomas Dine with Healthcare Law Challengers as Court Takes Case (by James Oliphant, Los Angeles Times)

'Impartial' Supreme Court Justices Raise Money for Opponents of Health Care Law (by Bob Edgar, Common Cause)

Hours after Considering Challenges to Health Care Reform, Supreme Court Justices Are Honored at Fundraiser Sponsored by Law Firms Representing Reform Opponents (Common Cause)