WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has recused himself from the pending case involving the Uinta Basin Railway, which is set to be argued before the court next week.
NBC News reports that lawyers involved in the case were informed of the move in a letter sent on Wednesday, Dec. 4. The letter from Supreme Court Clerk Scott Harris said the decision was “consistent with the code of conduct” the court adopted last year, with no further explanation. However, NBC reports some of members of Congress and liberal interest groups had requested the move because Gorsuch once represented billionaire Philip Anschutz, who has an interest in the case. As an appeals court judge, Gorsuch usually recused himself from cases involving Anschutz.
Anschutz Exploration Corp, an oil and gas company involved in production in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming, has filed an amicus brief in support of the Utah group seeking a decision limiting the scope of environmental reviews.
The case, scheduled to be argued Dec. 10, is an appeal by the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition — the government body supporting construction of the 88-mile railway in eastern Utah. The coalition is appealing a lower-court decision that blocked Surface Transportation Board approval of the project [see “Supreme Court to review decision …,” Trains News Wire, June 24, 2024]. Citing conflicting lower-court decisions, it asks the Supreme Court to determine whether regulatory agencies must consider environment impacts beyond actions within the agency has jurisdiction. The STB approval was blocked because the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia found that the rail regulators failed to consider all downstream environmental effects of the rail project, including potential harm from oil drilling in the Uinta basin and from the refining of that oil [see “Federal court strikes down approval …,” News Wire, Aug. 18, 2023].
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who wrote a November letter to Gorsuch in which he and 12 other members of Congress sought the justice’s recusal, said in a statement on Wednesday that he applauds Gorsuch for “doing the right and honorable thing.” Johnson also called for passage of a bill he has authored creating an “enforceable ethics code with a mechanism for deciding ethics issues,” saying the system should not have to rely on justices choosing to do the right thing. That bill has been stalled in committee since it was introduced in February 2023.
A Democrat-nominated SCOTUS AJ wouldn’t recuse.
Not the specific point of this article, but what I wonder about with this potential new line is its effect on the UP Craig CO branch. Not that I’m an expert by any means, but it seems since the coal is all but gone, the only life left in that branch is it’s being the closest railhead to Vernon UT and it’s production.
Colorado is currently looking at setting up a passenger service to Craig for “nature tourism”. If they get the permits and funding, it will keep the line active.
The country between Craig and the Uinta Basin is really rough with few other traffic sources (gilsonite?) and it’s longer. The projected line south is bad enough with a steep grade (against empties).
The “Craig” alternative was one of many routes promoted in the initial action seeking a preferred alternative for the UBR. It was deemed to be a longer route away from the main UP system of lines connecting to the rest of the country and was dismissed quite early on. The “Whitmore Park” alternative was eventually chosen and approved by the STB as a more direct route for the railway. Of course, Colorado environmentalist filed suit in behalf of Eagle County because of UP lines running through that area (and others in Colorado) and then got the DC Court of Appeals to rule against it on a basis that the project EIS did not consider all “downstream effects” of Refining Oil, a decision that would essentially roll back all industry to the days of covered wagons. In effect, the same thing that was tried when UP attempted to reopen the long dormant Warner Branch in an area west of Salt Lake City for industrial growth but which was overturned by courts on the same basis that this case is proceeding. Delay, delay, D E L A Y! That is the tool of environmentalist. Kudos to Gorsuch for recusing himself, something I doubt any of the Democratically appointed judges would have done (my opinion) in a case such as this. Rep Johnson’s legislation is just more meddling in the courts processes due to its make up and the fact that Dem appointments are in the minority. It has two chances of passing: Slim and none and slim has already left the building…
Gorsuch recusing himself relative to Anschutz was easy because he had done so before he was on the SCOTUS. And there was a reference to the SCOTUS ethics code. While it is commendable that so many congressmen took an interest in the case, a letter from them has little legal bearing when in regards to the separation of powers.
Personally I find the ruling by the DC Appeals as an overreach. It’s looking for authority it doesn’t have. Pretty sure SCOTUS will over rule it.