While America Struggles Economically, Judges Host Hawaiian Conference That Could Exceed $1 Million

GOP blasts $1 million Hawaii conference for judges in wake of GSA scandal

Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) last week wrote to 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski to warn that the Hawaii meeting does not appear to fit with the 9th Circuit's own opinion that the federal budget is tight. The letter was sent just weeks after Republicans took the General Services Administration (GSA) to task for a notorious $800,000 conference that led several GSA officials to resign.

"We are concerned about the overall cost of this conference and do not believe that discussions about the administration of justice would be less successful were they held somewhere other than a spa and resort in Hawaii," the senators wrote. The letter adds that while conference organizers note that government funds are not to be used for recreation, the conference program "reads more like a vacation than a business trip to discuss the means of improving the administration of justice." Read more......