Conn. diocese wants Scalia to look at case (odd request - he is not assigned to that Circuit)

[usregimechange]

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A Roman Catholic diocese in Connecticut that has fought for years to prevent the release of documents generated by lawsuits against priests for alleged sexual abuse wants conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to take up the case.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Tuesday ruled the documents cannot remain sealed until the full court decides whether to review the case. On Friday, attorneys for Diocese of Bridgeport asked that Scalia, a Catholic, reconsider its request to continue a stay on the release of the papers.

"The appeal to the court's most stridently Catholic member, whose son is a priest, smacks of desperation and favoritism," said David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Ralph Johnson III, attorney for the diocese, declined to respond directly Clohessy's comments but said Scalia was selected because he ruled as an appeals judge on one of the central issues in the case related to the definition of court documents. Johnson also said under the custom of the court a reconsideration of a stay is typically taken up by all nine justices.

A message was left Friday with Scalia at the court.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090828/ap_on_re_us/us_church_abuse_3


Scalia is responsible for such requests on 6th Circuit not the 2nd, which includes Connecticut and is assigned Ginsburg. More on that here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6332176
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/orders/courtorders/081709zr.pdf

[TygrBright]

1. The request is not "odd"-- Scalia is not just a Catholic, he is an Opus Dei member

And Opus Dei is the cabal-within-a-cabal that is dedicated to restoring the status quo within the Church to the level of the thirteenth century.

Naturally, they assume he'd be quite sympathetic to their attempts to shield the clergy from legal consequences, and to keep their shenanigans from being exposed to the light.

helpfully,
Bright

[usregimechange]

2. It is odd as far as the way SCOTUS operates

[notadmblnd]

3. wouldn't it be a conflict of interest?

These justices.. don't they get to pick and choose which cases they want to take the lead on when they go to the Supreme court?


I never heard that if a justice writes the opinion and the plaintiff doesn't like the outcome that he could appeal to another justice.

[usregimechange]

4. That isn't the way it works, Ginsburg ruled, it's her Circuit, now it goes to all 9

Strange.