Chief justice orders inquiry into ethics

WASHINGTON - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist has ordered a study of federal judicial ethics, after intense criticism of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's hunting trip with Vice President Dick Cheney and congressional complaints that judges were lax in policing themselves.

A six-member committee appointed by Rehnquist will begin meeting next month, about the time the Supreme Court is expected to rule in a case involving Cheney that generated much of the criticism. Rehnquist named Justice Stephen Breyer, a Clinton appointee, to chair the panel.

Supreme Court justices decide for themselves if they have conflicts of interest, and their decisions are final. Separately, a law allows complaints alleging federal judges have engaged in "conduct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts."

House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., told judicial leaders at a private meeting this spring that judges are not adequately disciplining their colleagues. Sensenbrenner's remarks focused on controversies that arose before the Scalia hunting trip.

"I decided that the best way to see if there are any real problems is to have a committee look into it," Rehnquist said Tuesday through a court spokesman.

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