Judge may have had conflict of interest, group says (RE: NSA wiretap )

[helderheid]

By Joan Biskupic, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — A judicial watchdog group contended Tuesday that Michigan U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, who last week struck down a federal warrantless wiretapping program, may have had a conflict of interest in the case.

Judicial Watch, a conservative-leaning group based in Washington, issued a news release calling attention to Taylor's apparent membership in a local foundation that gave $45,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan in recent grants. The ACLU of Michigan was one of the parties to the case challenging the surveillance program that was begun after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The lead challenger was the national ACLU.

"This potential conflict of interest merits serious investigation," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said.

Taylor noted on financial disclosure reports filed in 2004 and 2005 that she is a trustee and secretary of the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan. That group says on its website that it has given a total of $45,000 in recent years to the ACLU of Michigan for programs serving gay men and lesbians. Taylor could not be reached Tuesday.

Tuesday's complaint adds to attention that some legal groups have focused on the judge and her approach in the case, rather than the ruling itself.

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http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-08-22-wiretapping-judge_x.htm

[ComerPerro]

1. some people will do anything to help Bush take their own rights away

[Freedom_from_Chains]

13. I'm like you it just amazes me as to how hard some people will

work to see their rights gone. Ah, but they get that feeling of being safe. Daddy will take care of them.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

2. It was also recently learned that judge Taylor also attended

law school with a fellow student who later became an ACLU attorney which would definitely disqualify her to hear the case. :sarcasm:

[LiberalFighter]

8. How many conservative judges attended school with others that

later became involved with the ACLU or other organization not considered appropriate membership for a conservative?

How about if we gave a membership to the ACLU or better yet the KKK in the name of a conservative a$$hole?

[BOSSHOG]

3. She chose the constitution over bush - what a conflict!

But I'm glad the ignorant have brought this issue up. Any judge who belongs to the heritage foundation or any other neanderthal based organization must be disbarred and his/her rulings overturned. It works both ways bitches.

[Kagemusha]

4. So break out the Federalist Society membership rolls.

See what judges are hearing cases from Society members.

But of course that would be an abuse.

[LiberalFighter]

9. You can use my list but I'm sure that there are more than 432 members.

[LSparkle]

11. Exactly -- like all those "character witnesses" for Scalito

So is HE going to recuse himself from any cases that come before him involving those witnesses? Don't hold your breath ...

[louis-t]

23. Or which ones went duck hunting with the VP

before hearing a case that involved him.

[Orrex]

5. I hate to ask, but

How serious a problem is this? Lord knows it'll get massive airplay, but is there any substance to it?

And how does this alleged conflict of interest differ from Scalia's clear an indisputable conflict of interest in presiding over cases involving his good pal Cheney?

[Sanity Claws]

6. What did they say about the Sup Ct's conflicts of interest in 2000?

What did they say about Alita's conflicts during the confirmation process?
Or any of the other true conflicts of interests shown by the RW nuts appointed to the bench?

[MessiahRp]

7. Yeah that so stopped the Supreme Court judges

since a bunch of them had ties to the Bush Lawyers during Gore v. Bush when they handed Bush the Presidency.

Rp

[fasttense]

10. Oh for god sake,

Like the dancing supremes selecting our president wasn't a conflict of interest. Show me where it says in the constitution or any law that federal supremes pick presidents? No it's only a conflict of interest if you don't support the hoodlums in the WH. We wont even talk about duck hunting with the sharpshooter dick.

[AndyA]

12. Would this be the same conflict of interest Scalia had when he went

hunting with Dick Cheney while deciding whether or not it was OK to keep the names of the Energy Policy members a secret?

Said Energy Policy is likely responsble for the high gas prices we have today. Gas was $1.46 when Bush took office.

[Ian David]

14. A judge that believes in Civil Liberties! Wow! What a conflict!

Next, they're going to keep black judges from hearing cases brought by black defendants if they've donated to The NAACP.

[Kagemusha]

15. The conflict is she said the Emperor has no clothes

and out comes all the respectable people to say yes, he does.

[helderheid]

16. You got it. n/t

[warrens]

17. Membership means nothing

If she's on the board that approved the donation, that might be conflict.

[Czolgosz]

18. Please don't underestimate how crazy this bullshit allegation is. Judge

Taylor is on the board of the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan, which is a charitable foundation. Check out the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan here: http://www.cfsem.org/about_us/index.html.

While the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan contributed to American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, none of the grants were for projects related to the wiretapping challenge. Judge Taylor did nothing that would raise any question whatsoever.

Also, beware of any "news" story that describes Judicial Watch as "a conservative-leaning group." That would be like describing the Nazis as "a German-leaning group."

Ask yourself this:

WHERE WAS JUDICIAL WATCH WHEN JUDGE ALITO FAILED TO RECUSE HIMSELF FROM THE VANGUARD CASE?

In 1990, during the confirmation process on his nomination to the 3rd Circuit, Alito disclosed that his largest investment was in Vanguard mutual funds. To avoid possible conflicts of interest, he promised us that he would recuse himself from any case involving "the Vanguard companies." Vanguard continues to be on his recusal list, and his investments in Vanguard funds have risen from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands. Nevertheless, in 2002 he failed to recuse himself when assigned to sit on a case in which three Vanguard companies were named parties and listed prominently on every brief and on his own pro-Vanguard opinion in the case. In this case, he and the White House have floated many excuses, but none provided any sensible explanation for his failure to keep his promise or follow his "personal practice" of recusing himself whenever there was any possible ethical question about his participation in a case.


WHERE WAS JUDICIAL WATCH WHEN JUDGE ROBERTS FAILED TO RECUSE HIMSELF FROM THE HAMDEN CASE?

Roberts sat as a judge on the Hamden v. Rumsfeld case, which revolved around whether the government had to follow the Geneva Convention's guarantees of basic human rights with al Qaeda detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Several Bush Administration officials were named parties to the case. During the hearing of this case, Roberts was meeting with many of those same Administration officials as part of Roberts's interviews for the Supreme Court position he was later appointed to hold. Roberts wound up casting the deciding vote and said that the government did not have to follow the Geneva Convention for the detainees (which the broader Supreme Court later rejected), but Roberts never disclosed his conflict of interest to Hamden while Roberts was deciding the Hamden case.


Consider the allegations against Judge Taylor and compare them to the facts surrounding Alito and Roberts, and ask how could any group question Judge Taylor while defending Roberts and Alito?

[Kagemusha]

19. While I'm not usually inclined to say this sort of thing...

After reading Glenn Greenwald's blog about an NYT op-ed where Taylor was called "barely literate", it's getting really, really difficult to escape the "uppity black" implications of the criticism.

In this day and age. Disgusting.

[Disturbed]

20. The RWingers will do and say anything

to knock down this ruling. This ruling is at the crux of Executive Power and the Rule of Law. Busholini and the NSA violated The Constitution at least 30 times. These violations were Felonies. If the US were a Representative Republic with actual democratic power, the Prez would be Impeached forthwith and NSA Officials would be on trial for violating the FISA Laws.

[Mr_Spock]

24. Another blatent attempt by these RW fuckers to divert attention

Their time is coming - they can attempt to distract if they want to.

[Hubert Flottz]

21. Dick Cheney awarded Halliburton billions of dollars worth of no

bid contracts and the GOP or the media never mentioned conflict of interest.

[Nutmegger]

22. And "they" said Bob Perkins donated to MoveOn

and MoveOn sold anti-DeLay tee-shirts.

[librechik]

25. and Cheney is a nazi; is that a conflict?

I think so...