Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Scalia's Airline Admission
The NY Times today has an Op-Ed piece by Yale Law School professors Ian Ayres and Barry Nalebuff. They discuss a secondary issue that Justice Scalia raised in his memorandum regarding his decision not to recuse himself from the upcoming Cheney v. United States case (Docket No. 03-475).
In justifying his accepting a ride to Louisiana on Air Force Two, Scalia states that as Cheney returned to Washington prior to the rest of the party, Scalia and his son-in-law purchased round trip tickets to use for the one-way trip home, and therefore spent the same amount of money as he would have if he had not travelled on Air Force Two. He states that the round trip tickets were less expensive than the one-way tickets. Ayres and Nalebuff point out that the airlines have legitimate business reasons for charging more for one-way than round trip tickets, and that they indeed have rules prohibiting the purchase of round-trip for intended one-way travel.
The professors go so far as to label Scalia's purchasing strategy as promissory fraud, and close by suggesting that should a case regarding the pricing policies of airlines, Justice Scalia should perhaps recuse himself.
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In justifying his accepting a ride to Louisiana on Air Force Two, Scalia states that as Cheney returned to Washington prior to the rest of the party, Scalia and his son-in-law purchased round trip tickets to use for the one-way trip home, and therefore spent the same amount of money as he would have if he had not travelled on Air Force Two. He states that the round trip tickets were less expensive than the one-way tickets. Ayres and Nalebuff point out that the airlines have legitimate business reasons for charging more for one-way than round trip tickets, and that they indeed have rules prohibiting the purchase of round-trip for intended one-way travel.
The professors go so far as to label Scalia's purchasing strategy as promissory fraud, and close by suggesting that should a case regarding the pricing policies of airlines, Justice Scalia should perhaps recuse himself.
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Posted by Rogueslayer at 8:34 AM 
