Two Republicans in the U.S. Senate are demanding answers from a group of West Coast federal judges over plans for an August legal conference in Hawaii that supposedly could cost taxpayers $1 million.
"This conference is further evidence the federal government is in a state of financial chaos," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who wrote a letter to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals asking for answers.
Sessions was joined by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) in issuing a release Monday morning that said the August judicial gathering in Maui was suspect on a number of fronts, citing a schedule that included "numerous recreational activities not related to any official judicial business."
The Senators say this year's event includes such weighty legal questions as "yoga, surfing lessons and a Catamaran snorkel trip."
The Ninth Circuit even has a web page devoted to this year's conference in Hawaii.
"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 told Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit.
The letter said this is not the first expensive conference, as the Senators cited information from documents that showed "the Ninth Circuit spent over $657,000 on travel-related costs for the 2010 Judicial Conference," and a total of $860,000 on travel costs for the 2008 and 2009 conferences which were held in Sun Valley, Idaho and Monterey, California.
"We are concerned that using the tax dollars of the American people to pay for conferences of this sort is not the most appropriate use of funds," wrote Sessions and Grassley.
The two Senators, who are the top Republicans on the Budget and Finance committees, asked the Ninth Circuit for a rundown of costs and attendance at past conferences, including the number of court employees, a list of expenses, all outside speakers and their expenses, any pre-conference travel for planning, and the total amount of money spent.
"Why was the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa selected as the venue for this conference?" was one question.
"Please explain how this venue, rather than a teleconference or some other avenue for the Court to conduct its business, will lead to improve the administration of justice," the Senators added.
The Senators letter can be seen here.
"The taxpayers can’t sustain this kind of spending, and they shouldn’t have to. The court should re-examine whether this is the best use of tax dollars," said Grassley.
We'll see if the Ninth Circuit has to change anything, especially in the wake of stories about big spending at the General Services Adminstration 2010 gathering in Las Vegas.
