3 ms·

Any word on why those judges recused themselves?

singingboyo 8y ago
From what I've seen: Kavanaugh dissented on the lower court ruling (as it happened while he was still part of said lower court). So, he recused himself from re-hearing the case. Roberts has major holdings in Time Warner Cable, now merged with AT&T. AT&T was part of the case, so there's a conflict of interest there.
- thaumasiotes 8y ago
  > Kavanaugh dissented on the lower court ruling (as it happened while he was still part of said lower court). So, he recused himself from re-hearing the case. This is an interesting reason to recuse. You're supposed to recuse in cases where you cannot be impartial (or, similarly, where you cannot appear to be impartial, regardless of your inner thoughts). Recusing because the defendant is your brother makes sense. But Kavanaugh was presumably offering a standard, "impartial" judicial opinion when he dissented on the lower court. It's definitely true that he's likely to come into the case at the Supreme Court level with a preformed opinion of the merits. Superficially, that's an obvious reason to recuse. But why? That preformed opinion was, by hypothesis, formed by considering the merits of the case as an impartial judge, which is the only thing he's supposed to do when hearing it in the Supreme Court too.
  - sbov 8y ago
    Because of https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/47 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/47 It makes sense. When you appeal you want a different person's opinion, not the same person's multiple times.
    - thaumasiotes 8y ago
      It makes less sense on closer examination than it does at first glance. I want a different person's opinion when I lose in court, regardless of whether I do appeal or whether I can appeal. But wanting it doesn't mean there's a reason I should get it. I can appeal to a higher court because the higher court has authority over the lower one; the basis for an appeal is that the lower court made a mistake, not that I personally feel that I'd be better off with a judgment going the other direction.
      - sbov 8y ago
        Courts make mistakes (in the appealer's view) because people misinterpret evidence/the law. If you get the same people in a higher court the same mistakes will happen again.
        thaumasiotes 8y ago
        But mistakes in the appealer's view don't matter. You win an appeal if the lower court made a mistake in the view of the higher court.
        deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
craftyguy 8y ago
The article mentions why.

From what I've seen: Kavanaugh dissented on the lower court ruling (as it happened while he was still part of said lower court). So, he recused himself from re-hearing the case. Roberts has major holdings in Time Warner Cable, now merged with AT&T. AT&T was part of the case, so there's a conflict of interest there.

thaumasiotes 8y ago
> Kavanaugh dissented on the lower court ruling (as it happened while he was still part of said lower court). So, he recused himself from re-hearing the case. This is an interesting reason to recuse. You're supposed to recuse in cases where you cannot be impartial (or, similarly, where you cannot appear to be impartial, regardless of your inner thoughts). Recusing because the defendant is your brother makes sense. But Kavanaugh was presumably offering a standard, "impartial" judicial opinion when he dissented on the lower court. It's definitely true that he's likely to come into the case at the Supreme Court level with a preformed opinion of the merits. Superficially, that's an obvious reason to recuse. But why? That preformed opinion was, by hypothesis, formed by considering the merits of the case as an impartial judge, which is the only thing he's supposed to do when hearing it in the Supreme Court too.
- sbov 8y ago
  Because of https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/47 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/47 It makes sense. When you appeal you want a different person's opinion, not the same person's multiple times.
  - thaumasiotes 8y ago
    It makes less sense on closer examination than it does at first glance. I want a different person's opinion when I lose in court, regardless of whether I do appeal or whether I can appeal. But wanting it doesn't mean there's a reason I should get it. I can appeal to a higher court because the higher court has authority over the lower one; the basis for an appeal is that the lower court made a mistake, not that I personally feel that I'd be better off with a judgment going the other direction.
    - sbov 8y ago
      Courts make mistakes (in the appealer's view) because people misinterpret evidence/the law. If you get the same people in a higher court the same mistakes will happen again.
      - thaumasiotes 8y ago
        But mistakes in the appealer's view don't matter. You win an appeal if the lower court made a mistake in the view of the higher court.
        deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]

craftyguy 8y ago

The article mentions why.