The Supreme Court is responsible for safeguarding civil rights and liberties by invalidating any laws that violate the Constitution. It plays a crucial role in ensuring that there are checks and balances within our government and that everyone is treated equally under the law.
Given that their decisions have a significant impact on the entire nation, it is reasonable to expect that the nine justices are held to the highest standards of scrutiny.
However, it seems that today’s justices are not held to this standard.
In recent years, Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Chief Justice Roberts have fallen under heavy criticism for some of their questionable decisions as Justices of the Court.
According to the Associated Press, Justice Thomas took undisclosed trips nearly every year from Republican megadonor Harlan Crow without reporting them on financial disclosure forms. Supreme Court Justices are obligated to file an annual financial disclosure form where they must report any gifts that they received.
In a separate article written by the AP, Justice Alito accepted an Alaska resort vacation from GOP donors. According to the report, one of the two men had interests before the court. When Justice Alito was asked about whether or not they discussed such matters he responded, “On no occasion have we discussed the activities of his businesses, and we have never talked about any case or issue before the Court.”
Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor, came under fire when her staff prodded colleges and libraries to buy her books, according to the AP.
One thing is clear by omitting details about vacations, personal finances or business trips. These Justices are in clear violation of a code of ethics.
Justices should know better. There is no excuse to make such lapses in judgment. It is not a partisan issue but rather a code of ethics issue. This is why on Nov. 13, 2023, after weeks of criticism the Supreme Court released a written code of conduct for the Justices.
According to the 15-page document it was released because, The absence of a Code, has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the Justices of this Court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules. Although this document is a first of its kind it fails to address the problem at its root.
After reading the document it is clear, the document is more of an advisory document for the way the Justices should act rather than a concrete binding agreement on how they must act. “In the end, this code is neither binding nor enforceable when there is an instance of impropriety among the justices,” said the American Progress.
How are we holding our Justices accountable with a non-binding agreement?
When comparing the Supreme Court’s code of ethics to other government employees, including judges and lower courts, the Supreme Court is a free-for-all. The gifts received by Justice Alito and Justice Thomas would never be permitted in other government spaces. “Federal employees cannot accept gifts valued at more than $50 per year. Members of Congress and their staffs are similarly prohibited from accepting gifts from anyone who is not a family member or close personal friend,” said the American Progress.
Why are we accepting the fact that Justices are in clear ethical violation of their standard of conduct in and outside the Court as government officials? The Supreme Court should be ashamed of its mishandling of such situations and do better to ensure that its decisions are upheld under an enforceable code of ethics.
After all, no one is above the law.
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