Senate Committee To Vote On Supreme Court Code of Ethics After Clarence Thomas’ Alleged Misconduct

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to establish legislation that will require the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt a binding code of ethics, follow strict disclosure agreements, and detail recusal decisions to the public. The decision comes after a slew of reports were released that Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Sonia Sotomayor exhibited behaviors that could be considered inappropriate for their positions.

Thomas and Alito both failed to disclose their personal ties to wealthy businessmen and political donors, while Sotomayor used taxpayer-funded staff to help sell copies of her book. Deep dives into the complex nature of these failings by members of the highest court in the country have caused controversy and demands for better policies.

“They are the most powerful judges/justices in the entire nation, and yet they are not required to follow even the most basic ethical standards. It’s time for that to change,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Judiciary Committee chairman.

The bill, which is sponsored by Democrats, seeks greater oversight of the justices as well as more transparency around gifts, travel, and income, therefore binding them to the same rules as lower court judges. In addition, a system to investigate complaints about their behavior would be created, according to ABC News.

A statement released by all nine justices opposes the push for more oversight and argues that being forced to recuse themselves and then reveal to the public the details of the recusals may cause more harm than good. “If the full Court or any subset of the Court were to review the recusal decisions of individual justices,” they wrote, “it would create an undesirable situation in which the Court could affect the outcome of a case by selecting who among its members may participate.” The justices believe that public discourse can be used to paint inaccurate pictures of them by lawyers looking to disqualify certain members from presiding over future cases.

Impeachment is the only constitutionally authorized way to remove a lifelong appointed justice from their seat on the Supreme Court, according to ABC News. Many argue that even the public mishaps of the aforementioned justices would fail to rise to that level of punishment.