The U.S. Supreme Court. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America
Forty-three Members of Congress have now joined Chris Murphy’s call to end the Supreme Court’s ethics immunity.
Democratic Representative Chris Murphy of Connecticut issued a letter calling upon the House Judiciary Committee’s leadership to hold a hearing in an effort to pass his bill which ends the Supreme Court’s immunity to key judicial ethics laws. Murphy wrote the bill after numerous recent ethics scandals involving the Court’s most conservative members.
The letter reads as follows:
There have been alarming reports of justices – most notably Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito – attending political events and using their position to fundraise for organizations. These activities would be prohibited if the justices were required to abide by the Judicial Conference Code of Conduct, which currently applies to all other federal judges.
Recent revelations about Justice Thomas accepting tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of gifts from individuals and organizations who often have an interest in matters before the courts calls into question the Court’s impartiality. Canon 4D of the Code of Conduct incorporates regulations providing that “[a] judicial officer or employee shall not accept a gift from anyone who is seeking official action from or doing business with the court.” Yet Justice Thomas received a gift valued at $15,000 from an organization that had a brief pending before his Court at the very moment they gave him the gift. Incidents such as these undermine the integrity of the entire judiciary, and they should not be allowed to continue.
As stated above, 43 Congressmen have added their voice of approval to Murphy’s bill which adds a lot of weight to the effort to extend the code of conduct to the nation’s highest court. It also puts pressure on the Justices in question. Supreme Court Justices are appointed for life so it’s only fair that there be a code of ethics for them to adhere to, as well as consequences for violating it.
I’m all in favor of the proposal. Of course, only if and when the Congressmen themselves initiate and subscribe to provisions identical to those found in Canon 4D of the Code of Conduct.
What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander…