Justice
Antonin
Scalia
died
as
he
lived…
taking
a
luxury
vacation
amongst
wealthy
fans.
At
least
that’s
one
of
the
key
findings
from
a
new
Senate
Judiciary
Committee
report,
detailing
decades
of
Supreme
Court
justices
living
high
on
the
hog
over
the
course
of
some
900
pages
and
putting
a
lot
of
the
responsibility
for
the
Court’s
loose
relationship
with
ethical
obligations
on
Ole
Nino
himself.
Scalia’s
last
trip
was,
apparently,
not
out
of
the
ordinary
for
the
justice.
Kicking
back
in
a
luxury
ranch
owned
by
a
wealthy
businessman
to
hang
out
with
more
rich
people
—
“a
group
of
friends
sympathetic
to
the
justice’s
views,”
as
his
host
put
it.
Justice
Scalia
regularly
accepted
luxury
travel
and
lodging
from
wealthy
benefactors
and
failed
to
report
the
gifts
on
his
financial
disclosures,
in
contravention
of
federal
law.
From
his
confirmation
in
1986
until
his
death
in
2016,
Justice
Scalia
took
at
least
258
subsidized
trips,
more
than
any
other
justice.
Despite
all
of
these
trips
being
funded
by
private
donors,
many
were
only
partially
disclosed,
while
several
dozen
others
appear
to
have
never
been
disclosed.
For
instance,
Justice
Scalia
would
often
disclose
trips
to
give
speeches,
but
fail
to
disclose
hunting
trips.
Justice
Scalia
tragically
passed
away
during
one
of
these
undisclosed
hunting
trips.
All
for
a
hunting
excursion
run
by
the
Order
of
St.
Hubertus,
a
hunting
club
of
Eyes
Wide
Shut
extras
knighted
by
the
King
of
Spain
—
though
it
seems
Scalia
at
least
had
the
good
constitutional
sense
not
to
be
knighted
himself,
unlike
some
justices
we
could
mention.
As
an
aside,
several
FedSoc
keyboard
warriors
tried
to
downplay
Alito’s
decision
to
get
knighted
—
despite
Article
I,
Section
9
of
the
Constitution
—
by
arguing
that
Alito’s
specific
knighthood
is
“just
an
honorary
title.”
That’s
what
knighthoods
are!
He’s
not
marching
against
the
Starks
under
his
personal
sigil
(upside-down
flag,
naturally).
The
Brits
don’t
actually
expect
Elton
John
to
lead
an
expeditionary
force
against
the
French
crown.
Knighthoods
haven’t
been
more
than
an
honorary
title
for
centuries.
In
the
Senate
report
—
which
dropped
over
the
weekend
before
Christmas
in
a
timing
decision
that
could
not
better
encapsulate
Dick
Durbin’s
tenure
in
charge
of
that
body
—
the
Judiciary
Committee
concluded
that
the
Supreme
Court
needs
an
enforceable
ethics
code
which
the
Court
would
refuse
to
acknowledge
and
the
incoming
Congress
lacks
any
interest
in
pursuing.
And
while
the
Republican
appointees
star
in
the
most
egregious
examples,
the
report
doesn’t
ignore
the
publishing
and
teaching
issues
that
justices
across
the
spectrum
have
had.
This
instant
investigation
grew
out
of
ProPublica’s
rockstar
work
identifying
half
a
million
in
gifts
that
Clarence
Thomas
took
from
billionaire
Harlan
Crow
and
Sam
Alito’s
private
jet
trip
as
a
guest
of
a
man
with
business
before
the
Court.
Alito
attempted
to
preemptively
downplay
this
report
and
claim
he
barely
knew
his
benefactor
—
a
claim
that
ran
smack
dab
into
Above
the
Law’s
own
reporting
from
2009.
As
the
Senate
dug
deeper,
they
found
Thomas
took
even
more
undisclosed
vacations
and
had
an
RV
purchased
with
help
(in
whole
or
in
part)
from
a
health
care
executive.
But
for
all
the
work
Thomas
and
Alito
have
done
to
abuse
the
public
trust
and
spit
on
the
institution,
they
still
have
to
take
a
back
seat
to
the
OG.
Thomas
may
have
collected
more
in
gifts
and
have
a
wife
taking
money
under
the
table
and
Alito
might
be
streets
ahead
of
anything
Scalia
did
when
he’s
engaging
in
coup
curious
vexillology,
but
Scalia
deserves
top
honors
for
developing
the
strategy
to
brazenly
invoking
the
“personal
hospitality”
exception
—
designed
to
prevent
judges
from
having
to
disclose
flopping
on
their
college
roommate’s
couch
—
as
a
catch-all
for
“hundreds
of
subsidized
trips,
including
several
dozen
hunting
and
fishing
trips
with
prominent
Republican
donors
and
politicians”
in
a
bid
to
prevent
the
public
from
learning
what
goes
on
up
there.
FINDING
3:
Justice
Scalia
misused
the
“personal
hospitality”
exemption
to
the
Ethics
in
Government
Act
to
hide
or
obscure
lavish
gifts.
The
Ethics
in
Government
Act
requires
federal
officials,
including
Supreme
Court
justices,
to
file
financial
disclosure
reports.
The
law
includes
certain
exemptions
for
what
must
be
included
in
these
reports,
including
a
limited
exemption
for
personal
hospitality
that
applies
only
to
food,
lodging,
or
entertainment
received
from
an
individual.
Justice
Scalia
regularly
misused
the
personal
hospitality
exemption
to
improperly
characterize
travel-related
gifts
as
reimbursements
and
failed
to
disclose
transportation
and
trips
in
part
or
in
whole.
Aside
from
stretching
the
“personal
hospitality”
exception
beyond
all
reasonable
limits
—
and
certainly
beyond
whatever
“original
public
meaning”
those
words
might
bear
—
the
idea
that
a
justice
is
just
“hangin’
with
the
boys”
when
he
jumps
on
a
private
jet
to
stay
at
a
resort
with
a
billionaire
is
deeply
problematic.
It’s
one
thing,
to
use
the
above
hypothetical,
if
their
college
roommate
turned
out
to
be
a
multimillionaire
running
a
hedge
fund
cross-wise
with
the
SEC,
but
these
benefactors
have
zilch
connection
with
the
justices
beyond
their
jobs.
These
mega
rich
“buddies”
wouldn’t
give
Thomas
or
Alito
the
time
of
day
if
they
were
traffic
court
judges.
They
only
have
these
friends
offering
“personal
hospitality”
by
dint
of
the
office
and
the
prospect
that
the
ideological
justices
might
leave
if
they
aren’t
treated
right.
Which,
when
you
think
about
it,
is
really
sad.
Imagine
taking
the
position,
as
a
matter
of
law,
that
the
wealthy
sycophants
throwing
around
pocket
change
to
curry
favor
are
your
“close
friends.”
Seems
like
a
sort
of
empty
life.
But
it’s
the
sort
of
empty
life
that’s
easier
to
enjoy
from
a
yacht.
Earlier:
Clarence
Thomas
Has
Forgotten
More
Vacations
Than
You’ll
Ever
Know
Sam
Alito
Laments
It’s
Getting
So
You
Can’t
Take
All-Expense
Paid
Luxury
Vacations
Funded
By
Billionaires
Anymore
Sam
Alito
Got
Knighted…
Just
Like
The
Founding
Fathers
EXPLICITLY
MADE
UNCONSTITUTIONAL
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
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Follow
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if
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Joe
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Managing
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