The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will adopt a formal code of conduct for the first time following months of controversy over undisclosed gifts and travel.
All nine judges have signed off on the new code, which includes some details on enforcement and spells out many of the rules the high court says are already in force.
“Courts have long had an equivalent common law rule of ethics,” the Supreme Court said in a statement. “The absence of a Code, however, has led in recent years to a misunderstanding that the Judges of this Court, unlike all other members of the judiciary in this country, consider themselves not limited by any ethical rules.”
“To remove this misunderstanding, we issue this Code, which largely represents a codification of the principles we have long regarded as governing our conduct.”
The 14-page document claims that the ethics code is largely “derived from the Code of Conduct for US judges but adapted to the unique institutional environment of the Supreme Court.”
The push for a formal ethics code began in April following the first of a series of reports by ProPublica detailing how Justice Clarence Thomas “received lavish trips almost every year” from Dallas-based real estate guru and GOP donor Harlan Crow.
Other justices have come under similar scrutiny, with Politico reporting that Neil Gorsuch sold a Colorado property for about $1.825 million to the chief executive of a major law firm nine days before his 2017 confirmation to the high court.
Clarence Thomas is under scrutiny for failing to disclose travel and other financial ties to wealthy conservative donors including Harlan Crow and the Koch brothers.REUTERS
Democrats led by Senate Judiciary Committee member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) have pushed for an ethics code similar to that used by lower courts.
Last week, Durbin canceled a vote on two subpoenas he had planned to send to Crow and Leonard Leo, co-chairman of the conservative Federalist Association, who worked closely with former President Donald Trump in determining his three Supreme Court nominations.
Backing Capitol Hill’s fight over Supreme Court ethics is a constitutional concern.
Congress is widely understood to have authority over lower courts, including in matters of ethics, but the Supreme Court is a separate branch of government.
“Congress did not create the Supreme Court,” Alito told the Wall Street Journal in a July article. “I know this is a controversial view, but I am ready to express it. No provision in the Constitution gives them the power to regulate the Supreme Court – period.”
Members of the Supreme Court occupy a new group portrait in 2022.AP
Other judges are more open to ethics reform.
In May, for example, Chief Justice John Roberts said there was more the high court could do to “adhere to the highest ethical standards,” though he did not elaborate at the time.
Just last month, Judge Amy Coney Barrett voiced support for some sort of ethics reform.
“I think it’s a good idea for us to do it, especially so that we can communicate to the public exactly what we’re doing — and in a much clearer way than we’ve probably been able to do so far,” Barrett said at an event.
“There was unanimity among all nine judges – that we should and do hold ourselves to the highest standards, the highest ethical standards possible.”
The code unveiled on Monday lays out several parameters for the disclosure of travel and prizes.
“Reimbursement of expenses shall be limited to the actual or reasonably estimated cost of travel, meals, and accommodation reasonably incurred by the Judge and, where appropriate under the circumstances, by the Judge’s spouse or relative,” he said.
The high court also hinted that it might change its disclosure requirements about those who bring cases before judges at some point.
“Regarding financial disclosure,” he said, “The judge will continue to seek guidance from [Justice Department] Office of Legal Counsel and relevant Judicial Conference committee staff.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
