John McGee

Idaho State Sen. Arrested For DUI And Grand Theft Auto

Aaron Wiener | June 19, 2011, 3:03PM

A Republican lawmaker from Idaho was arrested early Sunday morning for allegedly stealing and driving a Ford Excursion under the influence of alcohol.

State Sen. John McGee (R), who has been mentioned as a possible candidate for higher office, including governor, was charged with misdemeanor drunk driving and felony grand theft.

The Idaho Statesman has the details:

According to Sgt. Carlos De Leon with the Ada County Sheriff's Office, events unfolded like this:

McGee began drinking at a golf course at about 10 p.m. Saturday night. At some point, McGee left the clubhouse on foot and walked for a distance, eventually coming upon a parked Ford Excursion with a 20-foot travel trailer near the Muir Woods Subdivision in Southeast Boise.

The keys were in the vehicle and McGee drove away just before 3 a.m. Sunday. McGee pulled the vehicle into a long driveway in the subdivision near Overland and Victory roads and Five Mile Road, in an attempt to turn around. The Excursion and travel trailer were jack-knifed in the driveway.

Two kids in the house were watching McGee's activities. He exited the vehicle, walked up and down the street a few times, got in the back of the Excursion and went to sleep. The kids called police.

Deputies arrive on scene at 3 a.m. and found McGee in the truck. McGee told deputies he was headed to Jackpot. Deputies determined he had been drinking and McGee was arrested. He was booked into the jail at 4:27 a.m. Sunday.

McGee is the Idaho Senate Majority Caucus Chairman and the chairman of the Canyon County GOP.

Supreme Court

Benefactor's Activities Raise New Ethical Concerns About Justice Thomas

Aaron Wiener | June 19, 2011, 11:54AM

Some degree of conflict of interest is inherent in any judge's professional life -- Justice Sonia Sotomayor, for instance, saw it necessary to recuse herself from at least 141 cases before she joined the Supreme Court -- but when it comes to ethical complications on the nation's highest court, Clarence Thomas takes the cake. Of particular concern is Thomas' wife, Virginia, who founded a Tea Party-affiliated group called Liberty Central that opposes various progressive causes, including health care reform -- an issue that's almost certain to come before her husband's court.

But an increasing number of revelations about Clarence Thomas' own activities are raising questions about his impartiality. The New York Times reports that the real estate magnate Harlan Crow -- a good friend of Thomas and a benefactor of his wife, to whom he gave $500,000 to help start Liberty Central -- is now financing a multimillion-dollar restoration of an old Georgia cannery where Thomas' mother once worked, at the justice's behest.

These activities do not appear to be illegal, since Supreme Court justices are not required to abide by the ethics code that binds federal judges. Still, other justices have said they adhere to it, and Thomas' apparent disregard of it is raising red flags.

The Times reports:

The code says judges "should not personally participate" in raising money for charitable endeavors, out of concern that donors might feel pressured to give or entitled to favorable treatment from the judge. In addition, judges are not even supposed to know who donates to projects honoring them.

While the nonprofit Pin Point museum is not intended to honor Justice Thomas, people involved in the project said his role in the community's history would inevitably be part of it, and he participated in a documentary film that is to accompany the exhibits.

Deborah L. Rhode, a Stanford University law professor who has called for stricter ethics rules for Supreme Court justices, said Justice Thomas "should not be directly involved in fund-raising activities, no matter how worthy they are or whether he's being centrally honored by the museum."

In another potential conflict of interest, Thomas and Justice Antonin Scalia attended a political retreat run by the Koch brothers; their subsequent ruling in the Citizens United campaign finance case greatly benefited the Koch brothers' political activities. The advocacy group Common Cause has asked the Justice Department to open an investigation into the propriety of the justices' participation in the case.