Compare and Contrast (_Nothing but the highest ethical standards for this administration

Compare and Contrast (Nothing but the highest ethical standards for this administration edition)

Then	Now
I do not believe that conflicts of interest relating to my financial interests are likely to arise. I would, however, disqualify myself from any cases involving the Vanguard companies. (Samuel Alito, 1990)	When Monga died in 1996 after a brief battle with colon cancer, Maharaj took up his legal battle. Maharaj, who said she obtained a law degree from Northeastern University, acted as her own lawyer, alleging that Vanguard had improperly seized her husband's IRAs and wrongly blocked her from obtaining the funds. A US district court judge in Philadelphia dismissed her case in 2001, and she appealed it to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In April 2002, Alito, writing for a three-judge panel, ruled in Vanguard's favor.

Then

Now

I do not believe that conflicts of interest relating to my financial interests are likely to arise. I would, however, disqualify myself from any cases involving the Vanguard companies.

(Samuel Alito, 1990)

When Monga died in 1996 after a brief battle with colon cancer, Maharaj took up his legal battle. Maharaj, who said she obtained a law degree from Northeastern University, acted as her own lawyer, alleging that Vanguard had improperly seized her husband's IRAs and wrongly blocked her from obtaining the funds. A US district court judge in Philadelphia dismissed her case in 2001, and she appealed it to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

In April 2002, Alito, writing for a three-judge panel, ruled in Vanguard's favor.

Now, I'm not a lawyer, so I may not be up on the fine details of the law, but it seems to me that if you're going to disqualify yourself from any cases involving Vanguard, that would pretty much stop you from writing a decision for a case involving Vanguard.

I'm sure that Samuel Alito is a prince among men and all, but when he oozes up before the Senate Judiciary committee and solemnly swears that he won't overturn {Roe v. Wade | anti-discrimination statutes | civil liberties}, consider his history before the US Senate. If he'll lie for a circuit court job, he'll certainly lie for a Supreme Court job. Senator Ben Nelson (S-Ne)? Consider this a little suggestion that you shut your piehole until after you've had a chance to actually review the history of the Coward in Chief's latest bagman appointment.

(via Atrios)

—orc Thu Nov 3 12:59:35 2005

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