Cheney and the Supremes

[G_j]

http://tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/10308

Wasting Energy


Attorney Andrew Cohen analyzes legal issues for CBS News and CBSNews.com.


It is easy to think both too much and think too little of the White House's fight with the federal courts over who told what to whom before, during, and after meetings of the National Energy Policy Development Group.

It's easy to overestimate the dispute because, in the end, it involves highly technical matters of legal procedure. But it's easy to underestimate the April 27 battle before the Supreme Court because the showdown represents a (so far) high-water mark of executive branch arrogance toward the judiciary.

The Justices must decide whether to order Vice President Dick Cheney to disclose the identity of any private citizens (hello there, Ken Lay) who may have participated in any meetings of the Energy Group. Two private groups from opposite ends of the political spectrum, the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch, have sued to gain those disclosures and to try to find out whether and to what extent the Energy Group was influenced by such private considerations. Arguing that this is a case involving separation of powers principles, the White House says that only government employees attended the meetings and that, anyway, the information sought is none of anyone else's business.

So far, the two federal courts that have looked at the case both have sided with the plaintiffs and against the White House. If the Court affirms those rulings, the White House will be forced either to turn over the information (whatever it is) or assert executive privilege over them (which, of course, would generate another huge legal mess).

If the Supreme Court overrules the lower courts, the White House will be able to similarly avoid turning over such information in the future. So, like many cases that come before the Justices, this is a case about governmental boundaries; about who gets to make whom do what and when in the grand and eternal contest between the branches. It's a case about judicial deference and political prerogatives. It's a case about raw power.

Cheney In The Spotlight.......
..more..

[Failure]

1. CNN 1 reporting on this now...cheney lying...eom

[G_j]

3. Cheney lying??

good to see he is relying on something he knows.

[Bandit]

2. I expect this to be another Non-Precedent setting case in favor of Cheney

They will say in this case and this case only cheney wins and the ruling can't be used as precedent because a Democrat may someday somehow win the Presidency.