Law schools, advocacy groups and an array of other interests picked up the tab for 680 trips by federal appellate judges during 2010, and gave them gifts including theater tickets and club memberships, financial disclosure reports show.
The trips ranged from quick stays while judging moot courts to a three-week journey through four Southeast Asian countries attending a conference and consulting. And the gifts ranged from $282 worth of books reported by Senior Judge Kenneth Ripple of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit to $723,672 in legal and consulting services reported by 9th Circuit Judge Jay Bybee, who was locked in an ethics fight over his tenure at the U.S. Department of Justice.
