The Supreme Court on Monday issued an ethics code in an effort to shore up collapsed public trust following a series of revelations that donors showered judges with secret gifts and lucrative property deals.
The nine judges insisted they had long been bound by ethical standards and that recent criticism was the result of “misunderstandings” and not missteps on their part.
“To dispel this misunderstanding, we are issuing this code, which largely represents a codification of principles that we have long regarded as guiding our behavior,” they said.
A series of polls show public confidence in the Supreme Court at a record low, following allegations of improper relationships between justices and benefactors.
Many of those stories focused on Judge Clarence Thomas and his failure to disclose travel, hospitality and other financial ties to wealthy conservative donor Harlan Crow.
The nine Supreme Court justices bowed to public pressure and published a code of conduct on Monday, even as they insisted they were already bound by ethics rules
Much of the public criticism stemmed from the close relationship between Judge Clarence Thomas and billionaire real estate developer Harlan Crow (right)
The new code will do little to reassure critics that judges are taking the criticism seriously.
Law professor and former White House ethics attorney Richard Painter said, “This Supreme Court code of ethics includes the do’s and don’ts that the justices said they were following anyway (but they weren’t).
‘This code of ethics also has no enforcement method and does not describe any consequences if judges do not comply with the rules. Fail.’
Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse wrote: “This is a long overdue step by the justices, but for a code of ethics to be binding, there must be a mechanism to investigate potential violations and enforce the rules.”
The nine-page code places no specific restrictions on gifts, travel or real estate offers.
Instead, it says that judges “shall not allow family, social, political, financial or other relationships to influence official conduct or judgment.”
And they may not participate in activities that ‘affect the dignity of the office of justice’ or ‘have a negative impact on the impartiality of the judiciary’, such as speaking at political events.
Over the past year, pressure has been put on judges to sign a code of conduct.
Unlike other federal courts, the Supreme Court had no formal rules of its own, but the justices insisted that they followed the rules used by U.S. lower courts.
Critics of the court said they doubted the code would change anything
A series of investigations revealed how Thomas in particular had enjoyed billionaire Crow’s generosity.
ProPublica revealed that the donor helped pay the tuition bill — as much as $150,000 for four years at a private school — of a relative of the justice, who treated Thomas like a son.
One earlier ProPublica The report revealed that Thomas used luxury jets, a mega yacht and beautiful retreats all owned by the same real estate mogul.
None of it had been disclosed.
“Harlan and Kathy Crow are among our dearest friends, and we have been friends for more than twenty-five years,” Thomas said at the time.
‘Like friends, we have accompanied them on a number of family outings in the more than quarter of a century that we have known them.
Billionaire Harlan Crow helped pay the college tuition bill of a relative of Clarence Thomas. This included assistance for Randolph-Macon Academy of $6,000 per month in Virginia
Thomas was a regular at his friend’s estate in New York
The retreat offers boat trips and fishing, and features exotic furnishings
Thomas said he followed the advice of others in deciding what required disclosure and that Crow himself had no cases before the court.
Due to his wife’s political activities, he faced additional questions. Virginia Thomas, along with allies of Donald Trump, was active in an effort to overturn the 2020 election results.
Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor have also come under scrutiny.
Alito was revealed to have made a secret escape in 2008 for a luxury fishing trip organized by hedge fund founder Paul Singer; Gorsuch was involved in a real estate deal with the CEO of a major law firm; and Sotomayor’s assistants promoted sales of her books.
Confidence in the court fell close to historic lows in September, according to Gallup polls.
About 58 percent said they disapproved of the way the company operated, compared to just 41 percent who approved of it.