Roberts, Conflicts, Conventions

Matt Welch | September 13, 2005

Should John Roberts have recused himself in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld? That's what law profs Stephen Gillers, David Luban and Steven Lubet argue in today's L.A. Times. Nut graf:

While the case was pending in his court, Roberts was interviewing with high White House officials -- including Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, Vice President Dick Cheney and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove -- for a seat on the Supreme Court. In the words of the federal law on judicial disqualification, this placed the judge in a situation where "his impartiality might reasonably be questioned."

Instead, Roberts cast a swing vote ruling that the Geneva Convention doesn't apply to accused Al Qaeda members.

Harvey Silverglate wrote a prescient criticism of the Supes' expansions of Executive authority in January 2005.