About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 Johanna Kalb & Alicia Bannon, Supreme Court Ethics Reform: The Need for an Ethics Code and Additional Transparency 1 (2019)

handle is hein.brennan/spctethc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Supreme Court Ethics Reform The Need for an Ethics Code and Additional Transparency By Johanna Kalb and Alicia Bannon PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 24,2019 oday, the nine justices on the Supreme Court are the only U.S. judges - state or federal - not governed by a code of ethical conduct. But that may be about to change. Justice Elena Kagan recently testified during a congressional budget hearing that Chief Justice John Roberts is exploring whether to develop an ethical code for the Court.' This was big news, given that the chief justice has previously rejected the need for a Supreme Court ethics code.2 In fact, however, the Supreme Court regularly faces challenging ethical questions,3 and because of their crucial and prominent role, the justices receive intense public scrutiny for their choices. Over the last two decades, almost all members of the Supreme Court have been criti- cized for engaging in behaviors that are forbidden to other federal court judges,4 including participating in partisan convenings or fundraisers,' accepting expensive gifts6 or travel,7 making partisan comments at public events or in the media, or failing to recuse themselves from cases involving apparent conflicts of interest, either financial or personal.9 Congress has also taken notice of the problem. The For the People Act,10 which was passed in March 2019 by the House of Representatives, included the latest of a series of proposals by both Republican and Democratic legislators to clarify the ethical standards that apply to the justices' behavior. Much of the Supreme Court's power comes from the public's trust in the integrity and fairness of its members. Controversies over the justices' ethical choices threaten this trust at a time when faith in our democratic insti- tutions is already low.12 In this era of hyperpartisanship, when confidence in the Supreme Court is imperiled by the rancor of recent confirmation battles13 and ongoing crit- icism from the president,14 the Court's decision to adopt its own ethical reforms would send a clear and powerful message about the justices' commitment to institutional integrity and independence. Moreover, voluntarily adopt- ing a code (rather than waiting for Congress to impose one) could actually enhance the Court's power by build- ing the Court's credibility and legitimacy with the public, thereby earning support for its future decisions. This white paper provides a brief overview of the current judicial ethics framework and highlights three changes that the Court could adopt right now to bring Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law 1

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most