The last thing he needs Supreme Court related to United States of AmericaThese discourses, which have been discredited in the polls due to the image of partisanship and politicization that have been triggered since the establishment of a solid conservative majority, are ethical scandals. But not one, but several, and this situation in particular points to the judge. Clarence Thomas but also Samuel AlitoIt has come to light in recent months thanks to various journalistic studies.
shadows corruptionor at least conflict of interesteclipsed the powerful and decisive institution and Democratic effort in Congress to create ethical code adopting other measures that bind judges and increase transparency and accountability. and yet he doesn’t have a visa Given the distribution of power in the House and the rejection of many Republicans, being successful contributes to continuing the debate about the need to attract attention and establish controls.
Travel, gifts, conflict of interest?
The floodgates were opened in April by the research site ProPublicaDetails of the many trips to planes, yachts and luxury resorts that Judge Thomas and his wife Ginni have been invited to over the past two decades. Harlan’s CrowTexas real estate agent Republican Party mega donor and linked Think tanks that adopt conservative legal theories.
Also appeared in the post Suspicious real estate transactionTo this day, when Crow bought a Georgia home from the judge, Thomas’ mother continues to use it after investing in improvements by the Dallas businessman. And then he added the following finding: The magnate had paid for at least two years of education for the judge’s great-nephew. He had raised “like a son” at centers where the cost of registration was estimated at $100,000 during the time Crow paid.
The floodgates were opened, and other media were adding explanations. And finally, in August, ProPublica released another report detailing, among other gifts, a total of 38 holidays, 34 flights by private planes and helicopters, as well as a dozen VIP cards for sports and professional events.
Thomas did not report any of these transactions in his report. public annual statementsBecause his “colleagues” and “other judges” had anonymously assured him that this was not necessary. Finally i did this thursdayafter deferring this declaration for 90 days, but the document is apparently not comprehensive and only accepts three trips and three property purchases, all related to Crow.
Thomas also attached to the document a statement that he claims to have. skipped the “accidentally” information“and I tried to defend It’s at least one of the businessman’s private plane trips, suggesting he was advised not to use commercial flights “due to increased risks to the safety of judges” after the Supreme Court’s draft ruling was leaked a month later in May 2022. abolished the constitutional protection of the right to abortion.
The black judge, who entered the Supreme Court in 1991, did not give up on the cases concerning the companies. crowalso emerged donated most of a political group’s budget created by Ginny Thomas, the judge’s wife (and peppered with his own scandal In describing his contacts with Donald Trump’s private secretary, Mark Meadows, Pressing for the cancellation of the 2020 presidential election results, he called it “theft”).
Also Alito
Concerning Alito, another of the six conservative judges, ProPublica declared his guest On a trip to Alaska Paul singer is a billionaire investor and like Crow Mega donor to the Republican Party and conservative causes. Like Thomas, Alito did not make public appearances in his time and defended himself against an article in The Wall Street Journal even before it came to light. He also did not refuse in the following cases singer He was before the Supreme Court and his vote, for example, was in the investor fund in 2014. He earned $2.4 billion due to the dispute with Argentina.
Another common point is that the two judges agreed on these issues. Paid holidays with influential names, including Leonard Leo, one of the leaders of the Federalist Society, A powerful group that has worked for decades to increase the weight of conservatism in the legal and judicial world, and has drawn up a list of three judges Donald Trump has managed to form the current solid conservative majority.
a unique situation
Nothing Thomas and Alito do is considered illegal, at least for now., but the non-partisan Campaign Law Center requested the Judicial Conference to take action on the issue. This is the main governing body of the federal courts and can refer Thomas’ case to the Department of Justice for investigation; this is something rarely done for Supreme Court justices, but it led to the resignation of Judge Abe Fortas in 1969. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and four other Democratic congressmen also sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, following ProPublica’s release in August, urging him to launch a federal investigation into Thomas.
It also concentrated Both public and political scrutiny, absolute lack of regulation For Supreme Court judges. They are not subject to requirements that members of the executive and legislature must comply with, where a federal law passed after the Watergate scandal required, for example, approval from an ethics committee before accepting gifts from friends worth more than $250. dollars, and they and their spouses and dependents publicly report most of the gifts they receive.
Supreme Court judges, position and lifetime salary ($285,000 per year and $298,500 in the case of president) nor are they subject to the same code of conduct that applies to other federal judges, forcing them to avoid “even the appearance” of anything inappropriate. John Roberts, current presidenthad them use this code as a “guide”. However, this did not prevent, for example: Neil Gorsuch Sold a property to the head of a law firm who often has cases in court and also does not publicly reveal the identity of the buyer or assists the progressive judge sonia sotomayor They were putting pressure on the institutions they would go to to get tens or hundreds of copies of their memoirs.
Named after George Bush John Roberts, supreme president, He declined an invitation to testify about the crisis. of the judicial committee SenateIn July, it gave the green light to a bill to address the situation, although it is unlikely to advance the situation.
Won’t even get the 60 votes it needs in the Upper House, and with no choice in the Republican-controlled Lower House, this text will force Supreme Court justices to accept and abide by it. Rules equivalent to those applied to members of CongressIt will establish new transparency requirements and create a panel of appeals judges to review complaints against judges.
Democrat Dick Durbin, who chairs the judiciary committee, said lawsuits similar to those that emerged “wouldn’t be accepted in the city councilman case, but Almighty doesn’t even admit it’s a problem” . Sheldon Whitehouse, one of the drafters of the bill, said that “the highest court cannot have jurisdiction on this issue”. lowest ethical standards across the federal government” and Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal noted: “Just because they are a separate body of government does not mean they are not accountable. right now they act like a bunch of politicians accountable to no one“, that’s it. “This isn’t a separation of powers.”
Some Republicans confess here is the situation problem and they advocate establishing some form of control. However, among conservatives opposition to legislation It was supported by the Democrats. Senator Lindsey Graham, for example, acknowledged that “the court has legitimate ethical issues to deal with”, arguing that “Judge Roberts is better prepared than Congress to find a way to reassure the public of the integrity of the case.” court.
Republican Charles Grassley, Democrats “harass and intimidateappealing to the judges and trying to “destroy” the court. And Senator John Cornyn described the bill as “part of an effort.” weakening confidence in a court with which they disagreeespecially after decisions like abortion or the “end of the course” decision in June, hit positive discrimination And Rights and protection of the LGBT community And student cancels debt forgiveness program Joe Biden.