(RepublicanJournal.org) – Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, a case the Supreme Court agreed to review in May 2023, recently caught the attention of some Liberals, who want Justice Clarence Thomas off the case. They say he has a conflict of interest that would prevent him from making a fair and unbiased decision, so he should recuse himself. Supporters of the conservative judge say the Left is creating unfounded allegations in an attempt to remove a right-wing vote and cheat the system.
Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo challenges a previous Supreme Court decision, Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which attempted to define industry permitting and monitoring laws as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The new case came about after one interpretation of the law led to excessive costs for commercial fishermen, who claimed the third-party monitors imposed hundreds of dollars in added costs to their daily bottom line, devastating their business.
Democrats in Congress say the proceedings won’t be fair because Thomas might have connections with the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, Loper Bright Enterprises of New Jersey. Fifty-one members of Congress sent a joint letter to the Supreme Court justice asking that he recuse himself. They note that staff attorneys working for the Koch Network are defending the plaintiffs, adding that Thomas has attended numerous fundraisers for the elite investors, which places him too close to people on one side of the argument. They state that by remaining on the case, he would be violating the Code of Conduct for US Judges.
The Daily Caller spoke to a close friend of Thomas, Mark Paoletta, who stated that Liberals were “inventing new recusal standards” without any legal basis. He claimed the Left wanted to clean out the lineup to improve their chances of helping the defendants — which would ultimately be a win for the EPA and environmental activists hoping to keep strict regulations, enforced by the vague language, intact.
Thomas has since recused himself from a Jan. 6 case for the first time on Monday, October 2nd.
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