Washington The release of a report on Saturday that criticized the judiciary and called for legislative reforms that the incoming Republican leadership opposes marks the conclusion of a protracted probe by Senate Democrats into alleged ethical transgressions by Supreme Court justices.
The article is probably the last word on the matter for some time to come, as Republicans are expected to take over the Senate in January.
The paper claims that by ignoring justices’ unethical behavior for decades, the Supreme Court has enmeshed itself in an ethical crisis of its own making.
The previously publicized alleged offenses are detailed in the 95-page document, which also includes Justice Clarence Thomas’s unreported travels with his friend, billionaire Harlan Crow. The inquiry was started by ProPublica’s coverage of the travels beginning in April 2023.
The justices did eventually establish a new ethics code in November 2023 as a result of the heightened focus on the court’s ethics, but it was quickly condemned for being inadequate, primarily due to the lack of an enforcement mechanism.
Democratic lawmakers lamented in the report that Chief Justice John Roberts had not addressed the Judiciary Committee, which is led by Senator Richard Durbin, D-Ill.
Additionally, they demanded that Congress enact legislation establishing a stricter code that would enable an impartial tribunal to review ethical allegations.
Republicans delayed a final Senate floor vote this year, despite the Judiciary Committee’s party-line approval of the bill.
According to the research, given the Supreme Court’s inability to regulate itself, an enforceable code of behavior is crucial.
The investigation also discovered that justices are not always vigilant about recusal-triggering conflicts of interest. Given that his wife, Ginni Thomas, assisted then-President Donald Trump in his attempts to alter the results of the 2020 election, it also faults Thomas for not recusing himself from matters involving the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters.
The Judicial Conference has not enforced financial disclosure rules, according to the study, which also criticizes the administrative branch of the judiciary.
Ahead of the report’s publication, Thomas’ conservative buddy Mark Paoletta wrote a lengthy article on X criticizing the justices’ probe.
Since the Supreme Court is no longer functioning as a super legislator issuing rulings that carry out the Democratic political agenda, he said, the entire probe was never about ethics but rather about attempting to weaken the Court.
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