High court hijinks: This didn’t get much play in the MSM when it was released a few days ago, but here are some details of the Supreme Court justices’ 2005 travel and financial information for your edification and delight. Note: the money ain’t bad, and the travel perks are great. Unless you’re Clarence Thomas, that is.
Chief Justice John Roberts: Two trips, to New Haven, Conn., for a moot court and to London to teach a Georgetown University Law School summer program. Sold stock in companies such as Coca-Cola Co. and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. in September, a week before his Senate confirmation. Assets: $2.9 million to $7 million.
Justice John Paul Stevens: Four trips, to Chicago to throw out the first pitch of a Chicago–Cincinnati game and talk to lawyers, to Las Vegas for a lawyers meeting, to Fordham Law School in New York and to an American Bar Association meeting in Chicago. Assets: $1.5 million to $3.5 million.
Justice Antonin Scalia: Received permission to file report late (after the media reports, don’t you reckon?).
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy: Fifteen trips, including to Thailand for a meeting of Asian judges; to Hong Kong University; to Salzburg, Austria, to teach a course for McGeorge School of Law; to Prague, Czech Republic, for a meeting of the American Bar Association; and to Fresno, Calif., for a courthouse dedication. Assets: $65,000 to $195,000.
Justice David H. Souter: One trip, to Harvard Law School for a moot court. Assets: $5.6 million to $26.3 million.
Justice Clarence Thomas: Three trips, to Omaha, Neb., to teach at Creighton University; to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for a program of the Horatio Alger Association; and to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to lecture at the University of Alabama. Assets: $150,000 to $410,000.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Nine trips, including a teaching assignment at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law and speeches at Duke University, the University of Kansas, Wake Forest University, West Virginia University and Emmanuel College in England. Assets: $6.4 million to $28 million.
Justice Stephen Breyer: Fourteen trips, including a lecture in Melbourne, Australia, and the Saban Forum in Israel. Sold stock in Gannett Co., Merck & Co. and Fannie Mae, while buying stock in Nestle SA, Carnival Corp. and Teva Pharmaceutical. Assets: $3.4 million to $11 million.
Justice Samuel Alito: Two trips, while living in New Jersey, to Washington for a Constitution Project event at Georgetown Law School and to Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va., to give a speech, both before his nomination to the court. Assets: $665,000 to $1.7 million.
Source: Financial Disclosure Reports, filed with the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts.
