Hi,
"The extremist Supreme Court is increasingly facing a legitimacy crisis,"
progressive champion Rep. Pramila Jayapal tweeted last week.^1 With each
new egregious ruling — including recent rulings on abortion rights,
environmental protection, and gun regulations — SCOTUS further proves its
illegitimacy.
As Rep. Jayapal stated, "A system without basic ethics is a corrupt
system."^2 The Supreme Court lacks any ethical standards preventing
justices from ruling in their own financial interests. And it's packed
with far-right extremists backed by the Koch brothers-funded Federalist
Society.
It's clearer than ever: the Supreme Court needs structural change. Along
with expanding the Supreme Court, another key change is passing the
Judicial Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act.
[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition: Pass the Judicial Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act,
legislation creating a Code of Ethics for Supreme Court justices and their
spouses!
ADD YOUR NAME
Progressive champions Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Sen. Elizabeth Warren
introduced the Judicial Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act in response to the
revelations about Justice Clarence Thomas’s highly questionable conduct on
the court.^3 Justice Thomas’s wife, far-right activist Ginni Thomas, got
caught texting with Mark Meadows about the insurrection and agitating to
overturn the 2020 election.
If a justice or justice’s spouse has a conflict of interest, the justice
must recuse themselves from the case. Otherwise we get situations like
Justice Thomas’s brazen effort to block the congressional committee
investigating the insurrection from accessing Trump’s papers.^3
Rep. Jayapal and Sen. Warren called for Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse
himself, but without a code of conduct, the Supreme Court is free to do as
it pleases.^4
In Rep. Jayapal’s words: "We can no longer stand by while our judges and
justices take advantage of our system to build wealth and power at the
expense of our country’s most marginalized." We need a SCOTUS Code of
Ethics — now!
[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition: Pass the Judicial Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act!
It's a key step to fixing this out-of-control Supreme Court.
Thanks for taking action,
Izzi and the team at Demand Progress
[ [link removed] ]DONATE
Sources:
1. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Twitter, [ [link removed] ]June 29, 2022.
2. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, "Warren, Jayapal, Colleagues Introduce Bill to
Reform Broken Judicial Ethics System," [ [link removed] ]May 10, 2022.
3. Washington Post, "With Supreme Court in spotlight, Warren and Jayapal
push judicial ethics overhaul," [ [link removed] ]May 10, 2022.
4. Washington Post, "Democrats in Congress ask Clarence Thomas to recuse
himself from Jan. 6 cases," [ [link removed] ]March 29, 2022.
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