4 ms·
The document itself: https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/Code-of-Conduct-for-Justices_November_13_2023.pdf https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/Code-of-Conduct-for
by Amorymeltzer 3y ago
The document itself: https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/Code-of-Conduct-for-Justices_November_13_2023.pdf https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/Code-of-Conduct-for-Justi...
>For the most part these rules and
principles are not new: The Court has long had the
equivalent of common law ethics rules, that is, a body of rules
derived from a variety of sources, including statutory
provisions, the code that applies to other members of the
federal judiciary, ethics advisory opinions issued by the
Judicial Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct, and
historic practice. The absence of a Code, however, has led
in recent years to the misunderstanding that the Justices of
this Court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard
themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules. To dispel
this misunderstanding, we are issuing this Code, which
largely represents a codification of principles that we have
long regarded as governing our conduct.
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From a quick scan, I think the inclusion of spouses in some of the suggestions for recusal are probably among the most notable. Also:
>A Justice may attend a “fundraising event” of law-
related or other nonprofit organizations, but a
Justice should not knowingly be a speaker, a guest
of honor, or featured on the program of such event.
In general, an event is a “fundraising event” if
proceeds from the event exceed its costs or if
donations are solicited in connection with the event.
Is maybe interesting, especially re: Federalist Society and Leonard Leo.
At any rate, it says "should" and "may" rather than "must" so YMMV.
- barryrandall 3y agoThere are no consequences and no requirements in the code. It accomplishes nothing. This is absolutely, positively worthless.
- Eddy_Viscosity2 3y agoYep. This might as well be a poem about squirrels for all the effect it will have on justices' behavior.
- jcranmer 3y agoOne of the noticeable lacks I see is that there's a mention that a justice shouldn't be a member of a civic or charitable organization if it's going to be engaged in litigation before the court, but there's no corresponding mention for legal organizations that may be engaged in litigation. Given that one of the issues is the role of the Federalist Society in the many seeming conflicts of interests it produces, this does seem like an intentional oversight.
- justrealist 3y agoI think at that point you'd run into the infringement of first amendment rights for the judges themselves. You'd really say they aren't allowed to openly be a member of the ACLU or whatever?
- moate 3y agoI missed the part discussing enforcement and consequences, because surely this wouldn’t just be a mealy mouthed list of suggestions without recourse. What would the point of that be other than a fig leaf over Clarence Thomas? Oh wait…