Posted on: Saturday, January 24, 2004

EDITORIAL
Scalia should not take up Cheney case

When the Pledge of Allegiance came before the U.S. Supreme Court this year, Justice Antonin Scalia properly and swiftly recused himself from the case.

That's because of public remarks he delivered last year that appeared to be critical of a lower-court ruling on the issue.

Scalia understood that, while he may be able to consider the matter impartially, the public might think otherwise because of his public remarks.

That's why judges and justices routinely take themselves off cases where there is the appearance, if not the reality, of a conflict.

For that reason, Scalia should step aside on a case involving his friend, Vice President Dick Cheney. The case is Cheney's appeal to keep secret the details of his 2001 meetings with energy industry officials.

Now, in the hothouse atmosphere of Washington, it is impossible for justices and prominent figures in both public and private life not to know each other.

But the Cheney-Scalia relationship is closer than that. Just recently, for instance, the two went off on a duck-hunting trip together.

Presumably Cheney would have enough sense not to embarrass his friend by bringing up the energy task-force case. But who knows?

Scalia says his impartiality cannot, and should not, be questioned on this matter. But unfortunately, this is not a point on which he should be the judge.

The case is due to be heard in April. Before that date arrives, Scalia should recognize that the reputation of the court requires that he step aside.