WASHINGTON — Following a study of the court’s new ethics rule, Justice Neil Gorsuch of the Supreme Court has decided not to take part in an environmental case that will be heard next week, the lawyers involved were informed in a letter on Wednesday.
“Consistent with the code of conduct” was the only explanation provided in the letter from Supreme Court Clerk Scott Harris for Gorsuch’s decision to recuse himself.
More than a dozen members of Congress and liberal organizations encouraged him to recuse himself due to his previous ties to billionaire Philip Anschutz, which prompted the action.
Due in large part to disclosures regarding Justice Clarence Thomas’s connections to billionaire Harlan Crow, attention has recently been drawn to the Supreme Court justices and the regulations governing their ability to disqualify themselves from cases. Despite their opposition to codifying regulations, justices this year adopted a new code of conduct that detractors claim is unenforceable.
The environmental review procedure for a railroad in Utah that would transport crude oil from the Uinta Basin to already-existing railroads is the subject of the case that Gorsuch chose to ignore.
The Anschutz Exploration Company filed an amicus brief in the case supporting the project, demonstrating Anschutz’s interest in it.
On behalf of his colleagues and himself, Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., wrote in November that Gorsuch has “a serious and obvious conflict of interest that demands your recusal.”
He noted that Gorsuch had intimate links to Anschutz and had represented him and his companies before to becoming a judge.
Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, Gorsuch served as a judge on the appeals court and typically avoided matters involving Anschutz.
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