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Hi,
ANOTHER bombshell just dropped about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
According to the latest report, Justice Thomas secretly appeared at fundraising events for the Koch brothers' network of powerful right-wing political organizations and hobnobbed with Charles Koch annually at an exclusive all-male resort in Northern California.
Even more damning is that after being wined and dined for years by the Kochs, Thomas flipped his vote on a major legal doctrine called "Chevron deference," which the Kochs had lobbied on for years.1
This breathtaking corruption would prompt severe disciplinary action on any lower-court judge. But because the Supreme Court has no binding code of ethics, Thomas is getting away with it.
Enough is enough. It's past time for Congress to force the Supreme Court to enact a binding code of ethics to hold Thomas and other justices accountable.
Multiple reports this year have already shown how Thomas lives a life of luxury thanks to a shadowy network of ultrarich conservative megadonors.2
Now it's clear that these gifts were part of an effort by the Koch brothers and other big-money special interests to flip Clarence Thomas's vote on Chevron deference, the key legal precedent established in the 1984 case Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council.
Back in the '80s, corporate America loved Chevron deference, because it gave the Reagan administration the ability to impose lax rules on polluters. So did Thomas, who drafted an opinion in 2005, upholding the Chevron ruling.
But when Democrat Barack Obama was in the White House, conservatives began to sour on the Chevron opinion. Nearly two decades and innumerable luxury vacations later, Thomas has changed his tune, too.3
Now the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the Chevron doctrine entirely in a case shepherded by Koch network lawyers. The result could be a massive rollback of protections for workers, consumers, and the environment.
The Supreme Court cannot and will not police itself. That's why Demand Progress Action has already mobilized more than 100,000 people to demand that Congress pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act.
With gratitude for all that you do,
Tihi and the team at Demand Progress Action
Sources:
1. The Lever, "Clarence Thomas Reversed Position After Gifts And Family Payments," May 9, 2023.
2. ProPublica, "Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events," September 22, 2023.
3. The Lever, "Clarence Thomas Reversed Position After Gifts And Family Payments," May 9, 2023.
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