Well, a few months ago, Michael Ponsor (a federal judge from Springfield, Massachusetts) rightly criticized Alito for that extreme ethics violation. Then, unbelievably, in response to a complaint from a right-wing interest group, another federal judge from the 4th Circuit officially deemed Ponsor’s criticism of Alito “ethical misconduct" (per the Wall Street Journal).

All of this seems especially absurd given that Alito himself, in the wake of the scandal, faced no larger consequences than a few negative headlines.

It’s a perfect example of how broken our system is: While every other federal judge is bound by an ethics code, the nine most powerful judges in the land are allowed to “police” themselves. In practice, that means they can do whatever they want — and act as unethically as they want — without any accountability.

It’s ridiculous. It’s anti-democratic. And it’s a huge reason why we at Take Back the Court are committed to fighting for a Supreme Court that is accountable to — and works for — all of us. Will you help us hit the ground running in the new year?

TLDR; Alito displaying a “Stop the Steal” flag in his yard as he considered cases about the 2020 election? A-okay. Criticizing Alito for that very obvious conflict of interest? An ethics violation.

If we have any hope of a future where Supreme Court justices don’t act like they’re above the law, we must reform this broken institution. Will you support our work to rein in the out-of-control justices and strengthen our court reform movement?

When I see news like this, it reminds me how thankful I am to have supporters like you in this fight with us. With your help, we’ll keep sounding the alarm on corruption and misconduct — and together, our movement will be unstoppable.

Thank you for all that you do,

Sarah Lipton-Lubet,
President, Take Back the Court Action Fund

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