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The official formal group photograph of the current U.S. Supreme Court.
Senators want ethics rules for SCOTUS
Two US Senators introduced a bill on Wednesday that would require the Supreme Court to introduce its own code of ethics. The bipartisan bill – sponsored by Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats – would not dictate the standards but simply require the court to get on it within a year.
The fact that Supreme Court justices are not required to adhere to the same ethics rules as federal justices has come into sharp focus since a recent investigation by ProPublica found that Justice Clarence Thomas has taken lavish trips paid for by wealthy Republican donor Harlan Crow. (For context, federal employees have rules for giving and receiving gifts.)
Thomas, who rose to the bench in 1991 after the controversial Anita Hill hearing, did not include these trips in his financial disclosures. He also failed to note that Crow bought a house from him in Savannah, Georgia, where Thomas’s mother continues to live … rent-free. Justice Neil Gorsuch also failed to disclose crucial business dealings.
Similar proposals for ethical standards have been floated recently by Democrats in the House and the Senate. But Murkowski and King hope that this more lenient bill can get buy-in from both parties in the upper chamber, where Dems have a razor-thin majority.
Podcast: Trumped up charges? The law & politics of investigating a president's crimes
Listen: Where democracy is built upon the principles of rule of law, legal challenges faced by public officials are a sober matter. On the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer sits down with former US Attorney for the Southern District of NY and podcast host, Preet Bharara. Together, they explore the current state of the US legal system, the hurdles for keeping public officials to account, and the potential implications for democracy when a former president is criminally charged by federal courts. Bharara draws from his extensive experience as a prosecutor to offer insightful perspectives on pressing legal concerns, including the role of executive privilege in government accountability. The duo also takes a deep dive into news headlines, addressing the ethical dilemma surrounding Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and the ongoing Department of Justice investigation into the Ukraine leak.
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