A Senate panel Thursday advanced a bill that would require the Supreme Court to adopt a code of ethics after a fiery partisan debate over recent scandals involving justices that underscored the measure’s low chances of success.
The legislation, backed by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a response to revelations about justices − in particular, Justice Clarence Thomas − accepting free luxury travel. Polls suggest public approval of the Supreme Court has reached historic lows, and even Chief Justice John Roberts has described the ethics issues swirling around the nation’s highest court as an “issue of concern.”
Citing a “steady stream of reports of justices’ ethical failures,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, described the legislation as “a crucial first step in restoring confidence in the court.”
But Republicans on the committee − who voted in unison against the bill − framed the legislation as a “very partisan” effort to “bully” a Supreme Court, where conservatives have a 6-3 majority. Republicans offered a series of amendments, including one that would make it easier for federal judges to carry weapons and another that would bar journalists from publishing stories about draft opinions without approval from the court itself.
Republican senators called the legislation “dangerous” and “unserious.” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., described the proposal as “dead as friend chicken on the Senate floor.”
“This bill is going nowhere,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “What you’re trying to do is not improve the court. You’re trying to destroy it as it exists.”
What’s in the Supreme Court code of ethics bill?
- The legislation would require the Supreme Court to adopt a code of ethics, the kind already in place for lower federal court judges and other government officials. It would also set up a procedure for reviewing complaints against justices, creating a “judicial investigation panel” made up of five lower court judges.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the bill on an 11-10 party-line vote, underscoring that ethics changes at the high court have become a deeply partisan issue unlikely to gain widespread support in Congress.
- Polls suggest a decline in support for the Supreme Court, though the numbers vary by the party. A Reuters/Ipsos poll this month found that 56% of Americans have unfavorable view of the Supreme Court – a slightly better result than the U.S. Senate. Seven in 10 Americans support term limits for the justices, according to the poll.
Thomas, Alito and Sotomayor
The legislation comes in the wake of a series of questionable ethical decisions by the Supreme Court justices. Most of those have focused on Thomas, who was the subject of stories in ProPublica this year that revealed private jet trips and luxury yacht travel he received from GOP donor Harlan Crow. Thomas said Crow is a friend and said he was advised such “personal hospitality from close personal friends” did not have to be disclosed at the time.
Justice Samuel Alito acknowledged last month he flew to Alaska for a fishing trip on a private jet in 2008 that belonged to a hedge fund manager who brought cases before the court. By accepting the travel and not reporting it, Alito said, he “followed what I understood to be standard practice.”
Aides to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor pressed colleges and a library to order copies of books she had written in connection with public speaking events, according to an Associated Press report earlier this month. In a statement to the AP, the Supreme Court said it works with the justices and their staff to ensure they are “complying with judicial ethics guidance for such visits.”
