John B. Poindexter, owner of Cibolo Creek Ranch in Shafter, Texas, where Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead on February 13, said that the justice was not charged for his stay, something Poindexter described as a policy for all guests at the ranch. The 1978 Ethics in Government Act requires judges to identify and describe when someone who is not a relative gives them “transportation, lodging, food, or entertainment.”
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s sudden death at Cibolo Creek Ranch in Shafter, Texas has raised questions about the nature of his travel, who paid for the trip and whether justices are subject to the same disclosure guidelines as other judges or federal officials, the Washington Post reported.
Ranch owner John B. Poindexter told the Post that Scalia was not charged for his stay, something he described as a policy for all guests at the ranch. “I did not pay for the Justice’s trip to Cibolo Creek Ranch,” Poindexter wrote in a brief email. “He was an invited guest, along with a friend, just like 35 others.
“The Justice was treated no differently by me, as no one was charged for activities, room and board, beverages, etc. That is a 22-year policy.’’ Poindexter added that he did not pay for Scalia’s charter flight to Texas, and would not identify Scalia’s friend.
Stephen Gillers, who teaches legal and judicial ethics at the New York University School of Law, said there is an unease that arises when judges and officials from major companies are invited to seminars or educational events that bring them together for periods of time, the Post reported.
“People worry at those kinds of things; there’s a creation of access on the part of people with an interest in the courts, and that is unfair,” Gillers said.
Justices disclose their gifts and investments the same way other federal judges do: by filing reports outlining their outside income, gifts and times they are reimbursed for things, the Post reported.
The 1978 Ethics in Government Act, passed in the wake of the Watergate scandal, states that all federal judges—up to and including the chief justice and the associate justices—are required to report certain gifts. It also requires them to identify and describe when someone who is not a relative gives them “transportation, lodging, food, or entertainment” worth a certain amount, the Post reported.
Judges must report reimbursements related to travel totaling $335 or more, according to filing instructions posted by the group Judicial Watch. And judges are not allowed to accept anything of value from a person who has a case in their court, the document notes, the Post reported.
These instructions include an exemption for “food, lodging or entertainment received as a personal hospitality,” which includes a stay at a property owned by a person. As a result, it is unclear if Scalia’s stay would have ultimately been reported, said Gillers. (Travel, however, is not exempt.)
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