Court rejects motion to disqualify justices ruling on judicial docs

The state Supreme Court Wednesday rejected a motion from the Legislature for a blanket disqualification of all justices sitting on a case over the scope and authority of lawmakers’ subpoena power, with Justice Laurie McKinnon writing for the court that the Legislature’s argument — that the judges can’t fairly serve on a proceeding involving a judicial employee — is “conspicuously absent” any specific allegation of judicial bias.

The court’s order plainly accuses the Legislature of seeking to manufacture disqualifying conflicts of interest for nearly every member of the judiciary through the issuance of subpoenas for judicial records to each sitting justice as well as court administrator Beth McLaughlin...