Add Your Name: We need the strongest possible ethics standards for the Supreme Court.
John, our Supreme Court is facing a crisis of legitimacy.
Trust in the court is at an all-time low – and it’s not hard to see why [1]. In addition to recent decisions rolling back rights, we’ve seen story after story about massive ethical violations by Supreme Court justices – from private trips with billionaire donors to undisclosed tuition and real estate deals.
And these justices continue to serve big money interests rather than the people. The Supreme Court ended its term with a series of extreme rulings curtailing affirmative action, allowing LGBTQ+ discrimination, and gutting the plan to fix the student debt crisis.
And in doing so, the Supreme Court remains the only federal court whose justices are not bound by a code of conduct. We cannot allow the highest court to have the lowest ethical standards.
But we’re making a difference – thanks to massive grassroots pressure from over 100,000 Common Cause members like you calling for action from Congress, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has just promised to take action as soon as this month on a bill to bring accountability to our highest court and establish a binding Supreme Court code of conduct.
Now, we need to make sure that the legislation they move forward is the strongest possible.
Sign The Petition: Our highest court must be held to the highest ethical standards. The Senate should pass the strongest possible ethics standards for the Supreme Court.
John, we barely had enough time to celebrate our landmark win over anti-voter extremism in Moore v. Harper before the Supreme Court issued a slew of new disastrous rulings going after widely popular programs [2].
And this isn’t a surprise. Time after time, a bloc of justices on the Supreme Court has chosen to put corporate special interests above the interests of the people. From Citizens United to Shelby County to Rucho, the Court is creating a legacy of restricting the rights of millions of Americans, all while vacationing for free with billionaires and megadonors and eroding the public’s confidence in the Court.
How could we trust the court to act fairly and impartially when Justices are letting megadonors pay for lavish trips and fund their family’s schooling – with no disclosure and no accountability?
But, John, I continue to have hope, because Common Cause members like you have always shown up to fight back against big money influence and anti-democracy power grabs.
It was advocacy from members like you that first shed light on Justice Clarence Thomas’ incomplete financial disclosures back in 2011 – and it’s that same grassroots energy that has moved the Senate Judiciary Committee to finally commit to advancing a Supreme Court code of conduct. [3]
We need you with us again to ensure equal justice for all. Join us today in calling for the strongest possible code of conduct for the Supreme Court – and help us create the democracy we deserve.
Thanks for all you do,
Stephen Spaulding, Vice President of Policy & External Affairs
and the team at Common Cause
[1] https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-poll-abortion-confidence-declining-0ff738589bd7815bf0eab804baa5f3d1
[2] https://www.commoncause.org/press-release/u-s-supreme-court-rejects-dangerous-attempt-to-destroydemocracy; https://www.mooreharper.org/
[3] https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/releases/following-propublica-report-regarding-justice-alito-durbin-and-whitehouse-announce-markup-in-senate-judiciary-committee-on-supreme-court-ethics-reform-legislation-during-next-work-period
