Cibolo Creek Ranch Begins To Look Like A Payoff To Antonin Scalia

Cibolo Creek Ranch Begins To Look Like A Payoff To Antonin Scalia
FEB 17, 2016by
Republicans like to describe the recently deceased Justice Antonin Scalia as a principled conservative who repeatedly ruled in favor of big businesses who had cases before the U.S. Supreme Court because of his “originalist” legal principles.

That’s not what it seems was going on with Justice Scalia and John B. Poindexter, the owner of the Cibolo Creek Ranch where Scalia was found dead last week.

Last year, the Mic Group, a subsidiary of a company owned by John B. Poindexter, was facing a discrimination lawsuit before the Supreme Court. Under circumstances that are not yet fully understood, the Supreme Court refused to allow the case against Poindexter’s company to go forward.

Today, the world is learning that Antonin Scalia received a vacation at the Cibolo Creek Ranch as a gift from John B. Poindexter. Scalia didn’t pay for his lodging, for his food, or for his hunting activities while at the desert resort.

antonin scalia john b. poindexter corruption

Scalia also had his plane ticket to Texas paid for by somebody, but at this point, it’s not known who that person was.

Scalia brought a “friend” with him to the Cibolo Creek Ranch, although the identity of this “friend” is also not yet known.

There’s a great deal of mystery around Scalia’s free vacation, but right now, it looks like a payoff.

The question many are asking now is how many other payoffs Antonin Scalia received during his time as a Supreme Court Justice. It may well be that Scalia repeatedly ruled in favor of big business interests because he received financial rewards for doing so, rather than for any ideological reason.

At present, the public does not have access to any details of the discussions about legal cases before the Supreme Court that were held between Poindexter and Scalia behind closed doors, at the Cibolo Creek Ranch or elsewhere. We don’t have definitive proof that bribery took place, but it appears that corruption of some sort did go forward.

When judges take big gifts from people who have received favorable rulings before their courts, it looks to reasonable eyes that court decisions are for sale. That appearance is what matters. When shadowy dealings such as those between Antonin Scalia and John B. Poindexter are allowed to take place, it’s impossible for ordinary citizens to have trust that the courts will provide them with true justice if they ever have to go to court against a wealthy adversary.