This was on the Sierra Club's Energy Forum today............................

Why the Sierra Club should also care about judicial appointees ---

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26381-2003Jul8.html?nav=hptop
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Court Rejects Bid to Stop Cheney Lawsuit
By Henri E. Cauvin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 8, 2003; 4:16 PM

A federal appeals court today rejected Vice President Dick Cheney's bid to
keep secret the workings of his energy task force, saying sufficient
safeguards were already in place to prevent the disclosure of genuinely
privileged information.

The 2-1 ruling, by a panel of judges from the Court of Appeals, does not in
itself order the release of specific information, but it affirms the lower
court judge's order seeking documents that would shed light on the
membership of the Cheney group.

Drawing on two rulings rendered by the court against President Clinton,
Judge David S. Tatel said that the Cheney group had not shown that
irreparable harm would be done if the lower court were allowed to proceed.
Tatel, a Clinton appointee, was joined in the ruling by Judge Harry T.
Edwards, a Jimmy Carter appointee. Judge A. Raymond Randolph, who was
appointed by President George H.W. Bush, dissented.

(snip)
But critics of the energy task force have charged that leading energy
industry figures, such as Kenneth Lay of Enron, were essentially members of
the advisory group, and that its work was therefore subject to public
scrutiny. Judicial Watch, a legal advocacy organization, sued in 2001,
accusing the task force of breaking federal law and demanding the release of
the records of the task force. A similar suit filed subsequently in
California by the Sierra Club was joined with Judicial Watch's suit, and the
consolidated action ended up before U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G.
Sullivan.

(snip)

******************************************************
     . U.S. Circuit Court Ruling
                  . Background on Energy Task Force Litigation
                  _____Background_____

                  . GAO Ends Fight With Cheney Over Files (The Washington
Post, Feb 8, 2003)
                  . Is Judge's Past Prologue in Cheney Case? (The Washington
Post, Nov 26, 2002)
                  . Judge Orders White House Papers' Release (The Washington
Post, Oct 18, 2002)
                  . White House Told to Turn Over More Data on Energy Panel
(The Washington Post, Aug 3, 2002)
                  . White House Faces Disclosure Suit (The Washington Post,
Jun 8, 2002)
                  . Executive: 'Big Coal' Swayed Bush (The Washington Post,
May 23, 2002)

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