John,

The need for substantial reforms at the Supreme Court has become glaringly obvious.

Whether it’s Supreme Court justices clandestinely bought and sold over decades by billionaire oligarchs, or deciding on cases in which they have clearly personal interests yet do not recuse themselves, the lack of accountability to citizens or of any regular means of turnover short of literally dying has left the American people increasingly convinced of a fundamental lack of integrity in the nation’s most powerful court.

The Constitutional checks and balances between the powers of the judiciary, legislative, and executive branches have been thrown out of whack as the Supreme Court spirals out of control with no means to bring it back toward the concerns of ordinary citizens.

Meanwhile the Court continues to decide on cases that will shape the character of the United States for generations to come. From reproductive rights to guns, social media to racial gerrymandering, the impact of the Court’s decisions will affect every American. The Court may even be called upon to determine whether the instigator of an insurrection is eligible to hold the office of President of the United States. Yet the Supreme Court is not even bound by a basic ethical code.

The Supreme Court of the United States must be held accountable to standards that are ethical and transparent. Sign the petition today to demand that Congress pass essential reforms.

As the public becomes aware of investigations into irregularities in the justices’ finances, and repelled by the controversial overturning of decades of reproductive rights precedent in the Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court has lost the public’s trust. According to a new poll by Politico and Morning Consult, over two-thirds of Americans support substantial reforms into how the Supreme Court does business:

• 75% of voters support an enforceable ethics code for justices.

• 68% support term limits for justices (some bad apples need to be thrown out).

• 67% believe oral arguments before the Court should be televised.

• 66% think there should be an upper age limit, to prevent cognitive decline.

The Court has historically been separated from the vicissitudes of electoral politics in order to protect its integrity, but now it is operating without any means of accounting for unethical behavior or decisions that are far removed from the values of the American people. We are demanding change now, and we can’t afford to wait.

Please sign the petition to demand Congress pass needed reforms in areas such as term limits, age limits, visible transparency, and accountability to a written code of ethics.

The Supreme Court has work to do to regain the trust of the American people. Serious ethics reform would go a long way toward re-establishing its integrity.

- Amanda

Amanda Ford, Director
Democracy for America
Advocacy Fund