According to Wikipedia: “Two sections of Title 28 of the United States Code (the Judicial Code) provide standards for judicial disqualification or recusal. Section 455, captioned “Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge,” provides that a federal judge “shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” The same section also provides that a judge is disqualified “where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding”; when the judge has previously served as a lawyer or witness concerning the same case or has expressed an opinion concerning its outcome; or when the judge or a member of his or her immediate family has a financial interest in the outcome of the proceeding.”
If Justice Kagan refuses to recuse herself, then after the November election, I suspect these will be a strong effort to impeach her based on her obvious infraction. The other justices should be put on notice that if they expect to avoid the public spectacle that would forever tarnish and damage the court, then they should pressure Kagan to recuse herself. It is high time the court’s authority was reeled in somewhat by the ultimate source of power, WE THE PEOPLE, and unless the Supreme Court wants to avoid a public spanking, then they should undertake to excise the problem before it festers. Kaga’s obvious political motivation in this case is going to rapidly fester into a nasty boil on the A$$ of the Supreme Court.The other justices can circle the wagons wall they want, but they better understand that this could very well be the last straw. Impeaching a sitting justice will be a nasty matter indeed, but one that is long overdue.

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