WASHINGTON - February 24 - The Sierra Club today formally requested the recusal of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia from its case against Vice President Cheney and the secret Energy Task Force. Citing the intense public attention drawn to the January duck hunting trip taken by Cheney and Scalia, the Sierra Club reluctantly concluded that recusal is necessary to "redress an appearance of impropriety and to restore public confidence in the integrity of our nation's highest court."

"Unfortunately, the Cheney-Scalia vacation mirrors the secrecy with which the Bush Administration often conducts business," said David Bookbinder, Sierra Club's Washington Legal Director. "The public is continually shut out."

The recusal motion filed today cites the dozens of editorials and editorial cartoons calling for Justice Scalia's withdrawal from the case as evidence that his impartiality is being reasonably questioned--the federal test for recusal. From the editorials and cartoons in papers across the country, to Jay Leno's monologue on the Tonight show, opinion leaders are questioning this trip and how it reflects on the Supreme Court.

"The public debate clearly echoes the common sense conclusion that the duck-hunting vacation taken by Cheney and Scalia creates the appearance of impropriety," said Bookbinder.

Sierra Club is suing Vice President Cheney and the Energy Task Force under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), seeking an accounting of energy industry participation in crafting the Bush Administration's destructive energy policy, which relies on subsidies to polluting and outdated fossil fuel industries. The District Court ordered the Administration to provide information about participation from these industries, which the Bush Administration refused to do, claiming Constitutional immunity from such inquiries. The District Court rejected that contention, pointing out that the Administration was attempting to "cloak what is tantamount to an aggrandizement of Executive power with the legitimacy of precedent where none exists." The Administration appealed, asking the D.C. Circuit to make new law that would effectively shield it from any legal scrutiny. The Circuit Court denied their request. The Bush Administration appealed to the Supreme Court, which will hear arguments in April.

Copies of the brief, including several examples of editorial cartoons, are available by contacting David Willett at 202-675-6698 or david.willett@sierraclub.org

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