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James Sample Asserts that Calls for Justices Thomas and Kagan to Recuse Themselves from Health Care Case are “Misplaced”
Court Announcement Raises Recusal Questions for Kagan, Thomas
By Stephen Dinan
The Washington Times
November 14, 2011
Excerpt:
But legal experts doubted it would happen, and James Sample, a law professor at Hofstra University School of Law who studies recusal issues, said the outside groups’ calls are misplaced.
“I am generally one of the most pro-recusal scholars you can find, and yet I think in this instance those who are trying to argue for the recusal of Justice Kagan and Justice Thomas alike are opportunists who are trying to use a mechanism that just doesn’t fit,” he said.
The standard for recusal is whether a judge or justice’s impartiality can reasonably be questioned.
Mr. Sample said in the case of Justice Thomas, his judicial approach is well-known and it’s unlikely his wife’s associations would influence him in this case. As for Justice Kagan, he said her “extraordinarily limited exposure to the health care policy when she was in government service is, I think, just a non-issue.”
Read the full article at washingtontimes.com.