Justices aren't above the law: Pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act


Erin Tulley for Daily Kos Activism
Daily Kos Staff
Friday March 03, 2023 · 


Public approval of the U.S. Supreme Court is extremely low. Justices’ failure to avoid conflicts of interest and inability to investigate themselves further undermines public trust in the court at a time when its legitimacy is already a matter of significant public debate.

Recently, we learned that the investigation into the leak of the court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization did not include any real investigation into the Supreme Court justices themselves. And we have witnessed and continue to witness many, many examples of conflicts of interest undermining public trust.

Every federal judge in this country—except the nine justices of the Supreme Court—is bound by a code of ethics that prevents blatant conflicts of interest. It’s time to boost the transparency and accountability of the Supreme Court.


Sign the petition to Congress: Pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act.


Recently, Chief Justice Roberts’ conflicts of interest arose via his wife’s work, which Roberts conveniently failed to disclose. Jane Roberts’ recruiting work placed lawyers involved firms with business before the court, and, surprise surprise, the chief justice did not properly recuse himself from impacted cases.

RELATED STORY: Drip, drip, drip: The Supreme Court’s legitimacy is eroding by the day

And how can we forget Justice Clarence and Ginni Thomas? Ginni Thomas advocated for the overthrow of the government. Meanwhile, Justice Thomas continued to rule on SCOTUS cases that directly impacted the insurrection aftermath, including Donald Trump’s attempt to block the Jan. 6 select committee from getting White House documents. In fact, Thomas was the only justice to dissent in that case. SUSPECT

Supreme Court justices must be held accountable for flouting the ethical rules that apply to every other judge in the country. We must restore public trust, transparency, and accountability in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act, recently re-introduced in Congress, would directly address accountability and transparency at the Supreme Court. This legislation would require the creation of a code of ethical conduct for the U.S. Supreme Court and the appointment of an Ethics Investigations Counsel, as well as require justices to publicly disclose recusal decisions.

We are calling on Congress to pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act and try to begin to salvage the distrusted SCOTUS.