The nine Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it adopted a code of ethics for the first time for its justices following congressional and public outcry over several revelations of undisclosed gifts, luxury trips, incomplete financial disclosures and other benefits enjoyed by justices.
What does it say?
The 14-pager clearly states that the nine justices should not use the prestige of their office to “advance the private interests of the Justice or others” nor give “the impression that they are in a special position to influence the Justice.”
The Supreme Court was the only federal judiciary without a code of conduct. A need for it came about this year after a ProPublica report in April disclosed Justice Clarence Thomas accepted several luxury trips funded by billionaire Republican megadonor Harlan Crow.
Just a couple of months later, another investigative report found Justice Samuel A Alito’s luxury vacations with GOP megadonor and billionaire Paul Singer, whose business went before the court at least 10 times—including once in 2014 in which Justice Alito sided with the majority decision favoring the businessman.
Good but vague
The new ethics code has drawn criticism from several congressmen for its vagueness and lack of enforcement mechanisms.
“Where do you file a complaint; who reviews it; how does fact finding occur; who compares what happened to what’s allowed?” asked the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sheldon Whitehouse.