Dear People For supporter,
As we wait for President Biden’s historic first Supreme Court nomination, we need to fix a glaring loophole in the rules under which the court operates: the nine justices on the Supreme Court are the ONLY U.S. judges not covered by a binding ethical code of conduct.
It’s a not-infrequent situation where a federal judge has some type of personal or financial conflicting interest in a case that’s been brought before them. The ethics codes that govern the U.S. judicial system will typically require those judges to recuse themselves from the case in order to preserve impartiality. Not so for the Supreme Court. The ethics rules that apply to the rest of the federal judges do not apply to justices of the Supreme Court, who make their own decisions about whether they should recuse themselves from any case.
Troubling examples that have come to light recently give us ample reason to doubt the impartiality and fairness of a court without those ethical guidelines in place.
For example, Ginni Thomas – the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas – signed on to a letter in December from conservative leaders blasting the work of the House Select Committee investigating the events of January 6th. Just weeks later, Justice Thomas failed to recuse himself from a case in which the former president was trying to shield White House records from the committee ... and then was the sole vote in support of Trump’s request. [1]
In another case decided last year, Justice Amy Coney Barrett – whose confirmation was supported by a “seven-figure” ad-buying campaign from Americans for Prosperity – failed to recuse herself from a case in which that organization’s linked foundation appeared before the Court, attempting to shield its donor records from the state of California. Justice Barrett then voted with the majority to keep those records hidden, in a decision that Justice Sotomayor warned would open the gates for more anonymous money to flow into political donations.[2]
In response to this ethical crisis, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA) have introduced the Supreme Court Ethics Act, which would require the U.S. Judicial Conference to develop an ethical code of conduct that would apply to the Supreme Court.
Numerous recent cases decided along partisan lines – as well as the longstanding, dark-money-fueled efforts from groups like the Federalist Society to tilt our judicial system and produce rulings favoring corporate and right-wing interests – have given Americans ample reasons to doubt the integrity of the Supreme Court. Passage of the Supreme Court Ethics Act would be a big step in the right direction to reverse this trend and hold the justices to basic ethical standards.
Thanks in advance for taking action on this issue!
Sincerely,
Paul Gordon, People For the American Way
Sources:
1. "Critics say Ginni Thomas’s activism is a Supreme Court conflict. Under court rules, only her husband can decide if that’s true.," Washington Post, 01/31/22
2. "Amy Coney Barrett Rebuffs Demands To Recuse From Dark Money Case Involving Group That Supported Her Confirmation," Forbes, 04/26/21
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