UPDATE: Associate Justice Alan Page "took no part in the consideration or decision" of a pending case involving stadium funding, according to a Supreme Court order issued Tuesday.
Anti-stadium gadfly Will Shapira suggested Tuesday that Alan Page, an associate justice for the Minnesota Supreme Court and former Minnesota Viking, recuse himself from a court case involving the $1 billion Vikings stadium.
Before Page was named to the state's highest court in 1993, he played for the Vikings from 1967 to 1978, and was part of the team's famed defensive line, the Purple People Eaters. A Hall of Famer, he finished his NFL career with the Chicago Bears. (He's No. 88 above.)
Late last week, three Minneapolis residents filed a writ with the Supreme Court challenging the state's $468 bond sale that will help fund the stadium, which is slated to open by the 2016 NFL season. The state called off the sale until the legal matter is ironed out.
In an email to Twin Cities media, state officials and politicos, Shapira argues Page has a conflict of interest because of his previous ties to the Vikings.
A hearing on the matter has not been scheduled. Court spokesman John Kostouros said the recusal issue is essentially a non-issue at this time because "the Court hasn't done anything yet."
