Team,
It’s clear that there’s a major ethics problem at the Supreme Court. Americans know there’s a problem – and they are losing trust in the Court.
The justices are surrounded by much of the same kind of special interest influence that has infiltrated the rest of Washington, yet they’re subject to just about nothing in the way of ethical guardrails — unlike members of Congress, executive branch officials, and even lower court judges.
They can accept lavish gifts and trips from people with interests before the Court, undisclosed; and fail to recuse themselves from cases where they seemingly have a conflict (Justice Thomas hasn’t recused from January 6th cases despite his wife’s alleged involvement). There’s not even a process to submit an ethics complaint at the Court. And special interests who paid to help get certain justices on the Court are free to lobby those same justices with little disclosure.
So, before I tell you about my latest legislation I’m reintroducing to fix what’s broken at SCOTUS, I’m going to ask you to make a donation to my campaign right now before our mid-month deadline. It’s clear there’s a lot of work ahead, and since I rely entirely on the grassroots support from folks like you, every dollar matters.
Now, since the Supreme Court won’t willingly follow clear ethical guardrails, Congress should step in.
That’s why I’ve reintroduced my Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency Act. The bill would require the justices to be more transparent about possible conflicts of interest. They would have to disclose travel and gifts. Special interests who lobby the Court would have to make their funders public.
We’re implementing basic accountability and transparency for SCOTUS – so we can take a step in the right direction to restoring public trust and confidence in our Court. Can you join me in this fight and chip in $5 to help push for ethical guardrails to protect our democracy?
Thank you for being with me in this fight to change the course of the Supreme Court.
Sheldon Whitehouse
