By John Kruzel and Andrew Chung
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch will not take part in next week’s environmental hearing involving a proposed railroad in Utah, the court said on Wednesday, a move that followed calls by some Democrats to resign. about conflict of interest.
The one-paragraph notice announced by the chief justice came in a letter written to the lawyers in the case which will be heard next Tuesday. Another eight judges will hear and decide the case.
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Gorsuch chose not to participate in the case in accordance with a code of conduct adopted by the court last year, the statement said, but gave no further explanation.
US congressman Hank Johnson and a dozen other Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Gorsuch on Nov. 21 recommending that he be removed because businessman Philip Anschutz, a former legal client of the administration, has a “direct financial interest in the outcome” of the case. The lawyers said that Anschutz Exploration Corporation and other companies related to the entrepreneur could be affected by this case.
Johnson, who has called for moral rigor on the Supreme Court, applauded Gorsuch on Wednesday for his recusal decision, calling it “a good and honorable thing to do.”
“It is important for the court to show the public that it is not in the pocket of the billions that are helping,” said Johnson. “However, I believe we need a system that doesn’t just rely on individual judges to do the right thing in everything.”
The court last year announced the constitution of judges amid revelations related to undisclosed luxury trips and other financial ties to the wealthy, although there was no enforcement mechanism.
The case dismissed by Gorsuch involves the appeal of a group of states in Utah to build a railroad to connect the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah to an existing freight railroad that would be used primarily to transport waxy crude oil.
The case tests the range of environmental impact studies that federal agencies must conduct under the 1970 federal law called the National Environmental Policy Act, which is aimed at preventing potential environmental damage from large projects.
(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)