| Friend, Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee began holding hearings about the egregious ethics violations of Supreme Court justices, including Clarence Thomas and John Roberts.(1) But neither Justice Thomas nor Justice Roberts will have to sit before the Senate and answer for their corruption. Why? Because Senator Dianne Feinstein is still not back in the Senate. Without Sen. Feinstein, the Judiciary Committee chair has almost no power -- he can’t subpoena Justices Thomas or Roberts, and he can’t move new ethics rules for the Supreme Court forward for a vote.(2) The Supreme Court is in an ethics crisis, and this may be the last chance we have to reform the Court for years to come. Sen. Feinstein should not be holding up the process.
The revelations about the Supreme Court over the past few weeks have been disheartening, to say the least. We learned that a group affiliated with billionaire Harlan Crow had business before the Supreme Court at the same time that Justice Thomas was accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gifts from him.(3) We learned that Thomas has been lying on his tax returns in order to cover up the sources of some of his income.(4) We also learned that Chief Justice John Roberts’ wife earned $10.3 million in commissions from law firms that then argued cases in front of Justice Roberts himself.(5) Friend, if you or I conducted business this way, we’d surely lose our jobs and would possibly be convicted of a crime. But due to Sen. Feinstein’s absence, Justices Thomas and Roberts can’t even be subpoenaed. If Democrats lose control of the Senate next year, there is no chance Republicans will rein in this rogue Supreme Court. Sen. Feinstein must step aside and let the Judiciary Committee establish real ethics rules and hold Justices Thomas and Roberts accountable. The New York Times, The Sacramento Bee, and even the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee himself has asked her to step down, but she needs to hear from us, her constituents. This is incredibly important. Will you call today?
Yours in the fight for functioning democracy, Irene, along with Annie, Angela, Isidra, Lindsay, Mai, and Scottie (and the rest of the Courage team) Footnotes:  |
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