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Hi,
ANOTHER ethics controversy is raising new questions about the independence of the Supreme Court.
According to a new report by The Guardian newspaper, a conservative legal group with multiple cases before the Supreme Court may have bankrolled Justice Samuel Alito’s trip last year to Rome, Italy.1
This would be just the latest example of how wealthy special interests are funneling money to gain access and influence with the Court justices. And it comes on top of reports that the justices — despite promising years ago to “seriously study” the issue — still refuse to adopt a code of ethics.2
The Supreme Court can’t be trusted to police itself. That’s why we’ve mobilized more than 200,000 people to ask Congress to pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act, requiring the nation’s highest court to follow basic rules of disclosure and recusal.
Alito’s visit to Italy was sponsored by the anti-abortion Religious Liberty Initiative, which invited him to deliver the keynote at the group’s gala dinner at a gilded private palace. The Religious Liberty Initiative has filed at least six briefs on high-profile cases before the Supreme Court in the last two years — including the one that overturned Roe v. Wade.3
Alito used his speech to mock and taunt world leaders who had criticized the decision overturning Roe v. Wade.4 At best, this is a clear example of how right-wing groups use their deep pockets to gain access and attempt to influence the justices. If they paid for the travel as well, that would raise even greater concerns.
That’s not all — far from it. Recent reports show corporations with active cases funneled huge donations into a nonprofit connected to the Court to try to curry favor with the justices.5 High-powered D.C. law firms with business before the court paid Jane Roberts, the wife of the chief justice, millions of dollars in commissions for her work as a legal recruiter.6 The list goes on.
Unlike every other federal judicial branch, there are no rules regarding when justices must recuse themselves or even reveal potential conflicts of interest in instances like these.7 At a time when the Supreme Court’s right-wing majority is tossing out decades of precedent and rolling back our rights, the need for a code of ethics has never been greater.
When the justices failed to agree on a code of ethics earlier this year, two good government groups, the Project on Government Oversight and the Lawyers Defending American Democracy, proposed a draft, setting out clear rules for reporting on outside sources of income and recusal from cases that raise conflicts of interest. The proposal would also bar the justices and their spouses from engaging in partisan political activity.8
We’re gaining momentum. The influential American Bar Association passed a formal resolution urging the Supreme Court to adopt a binding set of rules for the justices. Now we need to double down and build pressure on Congress to make it happen.
With gratitude for all that you do,
Tihi and the team at Demand Progress Action
Sources:
1. The Guardian, "Ethical no man’s land: can the US supreme court be trusted to police itself?" March 24, 2023.
2. The Washington Post, "Supreme Court justices discussed, but did not agree on, code of conduct," February 9, 2023.
3. The Guardian, "Ethical no man’s land: can the US supreme court be trusted to police itself?" March 24, 2023.
4. Slate, "Alito’s Speech Mocking Foreign Leaders Has a Deeper, Darker Message," July 29, 2022.
5. The New York Times, "A Charity Tied to the Supreme Court Offers Donors Access to the Justices," January 1, 2023.
6. The New York Times, "At the Supreme Court, Ethics Questions Over a Spouse’s Business Ties," January 31, 2023.
7. Brennan Center for Justice, "Brennan Center Urges Supreme Court Justices to Adopt a Code of Ethics," September 24, 2019.
8. NPR, "Outside groups take a first stab at a Supreme Court ethics code," March 9, 2023.
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