Supreme Court Will Not Debate Kagan’s Recusal From Reform Law Case
On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected a request from the conservative advocacy and legal group Freedom Watch to debate whether Justice Elena Kagan should recuse herself or be disqualified from the upcoming review of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the federal health reform law, The Hill's "Healthwatch" report.
The court also rejected the group's petition to participate in the hearings in March (Baker, "Healthwatch," The Hill, 1/23).
Freedom Watch officials sought Kagan's recusal or disqualification because she served as solicitor general in the Obama administration when the law was passed, which they say raises questions about a potential conflict of interest (AP/Washington Post, 1/23).
According to Politico, the Supreme Court announced its decisions without comment, but noted that Kagan did not participate in them (Haberkorn, Politico, 1/23).
In a statement, Freedom Watch founder Larry Klayman called the Supreme Court's decision to block its participation in oral arguments "predictable but very troubling." He added that the high court decided only not to debate Kagan's recusal and did not actually rule on whether Kagan should recuse herself. Klayman said he would like the court to respond to that question (Norman, CQ HealthBeat, 1/23).
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