John,

As significant ethics violations of Supreme Court justices have continued to emerge in recent weeks, it has become increasingly clear: There must be means to hold Supreme Court justices accountable.

Testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee is one such means. But when Chairman Dick Durbin invited Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to testify before the Committee -- voluntarily -- on May 2, Chief Justice Roberts refused, saying that for a Chief Justice to give such testimony is “exceedingly rare.”

But Chief Justice Roberts is presiding over a court in which serious ethical violations have been anything but rare.

In recent weeks, concerns have arisen involving Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and even Roberts himself. If Chief Justice Roberts does not see fit to address these concerns before Congress voluntarily, then the Judiciary Committee must issue a subpoena to compel him to testify under oath.

Add your name to call on Chairman Dick Durbin to subpoena Chief Justice Roberts and hold the Supreme Court accountable for ethical lapses and they’re failure to police themselves now.

Among the most egregious examples of judicial misconduct of which we have learned, Justice Clarence Thomas accepting -- and not disclosing -- millions of dollars worth of gifts and travel from a Republican mega-donor, as well as his repeated refusal to recuse himself from cases due to conflicts of interest posed by his wife Ginni Thomas’s extremist activism, stand out.

But new concerns have arisen regarding other justices as well, such as the revelation that Justice Neil Gorsuch sold a 40-acre Colorado property for over $1.8 million to the CEO of a law firm with over 2,000 attorneys that has had 22 cases before the Supreme Court since Gorsuch was appointed.

Gorsuch reported the sale in disclosure documents, but strangely enough, though legally required, the box for indicating the buyer was left blank. Were Gorsuch’s opinions in these multiple cases biased by his business relationship with the CEO of Greenberg Traurig? He should have recused himself, but Gorsuch sided with Greenberg Traurig in 67% of the 12 cases in which he filed an opinion.

Gorsuch also spoke alongside Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence at a Florida Federalist Society event in 2022 that was closed to the press, and he failed to recuse himself from a case involving Penguin Random House Books, which has paid him over $650,000 in book sales since becoming a justice.

Other justices too have experienced ethical lapses. Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh met privately with the head of the National Organization for Marriage, which filed amicus briefs in three cases the justices decided. Alito also failed to recuse in a number of cases involving companies in which he held stock, including Disney, Merck, Rockwell, and PNC Bank.

Meanwhile, Americans for Prosperity spent over $1 million to support the confirmation of Justice Amy Barrett, but she did not recuse herself from a 2021 case involving the group. Justice Barrett also gave a speech standing next to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at the University of Louisville, having just enjoyed dinner with Senator McConnell and his friends, in which she proclaimed that the Court should not be viewed as political.

Now Chief Justice Roberts himself has come under fire for conflicts of interest, as his wife has earned millions of dollars in commissions for placing prominent Washington lawyers at top law firms, some of which have cases before the Supreme Court. Roberts also failed to recuse himself from cases involving firms in which he held stock, including Texas Instruments, Life Technologies, and AT&T.

Supreme Court Justices have too much power to be allowed to act with impunity, but Chief Justice Roberts has indicated he will not testify voluntarily for the Senate Judiciary Committee. Add your name to urge Chairman Dick Durbin to subpoena Chief Justice Roberts to address these concerns now!

Thank you for doing your part to bring accountability to the Supreme Court.

- Amanda

Amanda Ford, Director
Democracy for America
Advocacy Fund