WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dismissed the idea that Guantanamo detainees have constitutional rights and called European concerns over the issue hypocritical, Newsweek magazine reported on Sunday. . . .
"War is war, and it has never been the case that when you captured a combatant you have to give them a jury trial in your civil courts," Scalia said in the talk at the University of Freiburg, according to Newsweek. "Give me a break."
Alread the media is putting out the call for Scalia to recuse himself from the case over ethical concerns:
Ethics experts said the impression that Scalia had already made up his mind before the hearing should mean that he will voluntarily drop out of the proceedings. However, Newsweek said he did not refer specifically to this week's case.
"He should remove himself when there is a reasonable doubt of his impartiality," said Father Robert Drinan, a professor of law at Georgetown University and long-standing human rights campaigner, who teaches judicial ethics.
"It should logically be a reason for his recusal but I don't think he'll do it ... he's so stubborn" said Drinan.
Should Scalia recuse himself? I don't think so. Our Justices hold opinions on many of the matters that appear before the Supreme Court. Justice Ginsburg has made her opinions about abortion very clear in the past, should she recuse herself should there ever be a challenge to Roe vs. Wade? I don't think so.
Justices have feelings and opinions just like the rest of us. Simply expressing those opinions in public is not, in and of itself, a reason for any Justice to recuse themselves from a case. If it were our Justices would either have to stop speaking in public altogether or recuse themselves from nearly ever case appearing before the high court.
Unfortunately, this Gitmo case is important for the enemies of the Bush administration. They need the Supreme Court to rule in favor of the detainee so that they can run about reveling in a Bush defeat. Getting Scalia off the case will more than likely put them one vote closer to that end, so the calls for Scalia to recuse himself are going to be loud and plentiful.
Update:
How's this for an objective headline:
Why don't they just come out and say "Scalia Hates Detainees"?