July 21st 2023.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is pushing for legislation that will require the U.S. Supreme Court to follow a binding code of ethics, strict disclosure agreements, and detailed recusal decisions to the public. The decision comes after reports of inappropriate behaviors by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Sonia Sotomayor.
Thomas and Alito both failed to disclose their ties to wealthy businessmen and political donors, while Sotomayor used taxpayer-funded staff to help her sell copies of her book. These complex issues have sparked controversy and calls for greater oversight.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Judiciary Committee chairman, voiced his support for the bill. “They are the most powerful judges/justices in the entire nation, and yet they are not required to follow even the most basic ethical standards. It’s time for that to change,” he said.
The bill, sponsored by Democrats, seeks to impose the same rules on the Supreme Court justices as lower court judges, such as mandatory disclosure of gifts, travel, and income, as well as a system to investigate complaints about their behavior.
However, the nine justices released a statement opposing the push for more oversight. They argue that the public disclosure of their recusal decisions may cause more harm than good. “If the full Court or any subset of the Court were to review the recusal decisions of individual justices, it would create an undesirable situation in which the Court could affect the outcome of a case by selecting who among its members may participate,” they wrote.
The only constitutionally authorized way to remove a justice from the Supreme Court is through impeachment. Many argue that even the public mishaps of the aforementioned justices would fail to rise to that level of punishment. As such, the Senate Judiciary Committee is attempting to establish legislation that will ensure the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are held to the same high standards of ethics and transparency as the lower courts.
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