{"id":17260,"date":"2023-11-15T18:51:39","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T23:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewash.org\/?p=17260"},"modified":"2023-11-15T18:51:39","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T23:51:39","slug":"lawmakers-doubt-justices-will-enforce-their-own-ethics-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewash.org\/2023\/11\/15\/lawmakers-doubt-justices-will-enforce-their-own-ethics-code\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers doubt Justices will enforce their own ethics code"},"content":{"rendered":"
Lawmakers worry that enforcement of the U.S. Supreme Court’s new code of conduct will fall on congressional shoulders.<\/span><\/p>\n In the halls of Congress Wednesday, legislators such as Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., questioned who would enforce the code and called it a \u201cbig problem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSupreme Court members cannot remove themselves,\u201d Takano said. \u201cThe accountability comes back to Congress. When there\u2019s no remedy or enforcement, I don\u2019t get the teeth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Similarly, Rep. Jim Banks, R- Ind., said he had not reviewed the ethics code yet but the potential \u201cpurely internal\u201d process concerned him.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe all are checked-and-balanced by people outside of our organizations,\u201d Banks said. \u201cMy guess is there\u2019s more of a role for Congress than they\u2019ll take care of themselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Monday, the Supreme Court published a 15-page code of conduct, the first-ever code in the court\u2019s 234 years.<\/span><\/p>\n Media outlets including <\/span>×îÐÂÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñington Post<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>ProPublica<\/span><\/a> recently reported Justice Clarence Thomas\u2019s personal relationship with billionaire real estate developer Harlan Crow, a conservative donor.<\/span><\/p>\n \u200b\u200b<\/span>ProPublica<\/span><\/a> also revealed Justice Samuel Alito did not recuse himself from a case with a hedge fund billionaire who earlier gifted the justice a private jet trip to Alaska.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Justice Sonya Sotomayor also came under fire this year following accusations she leveraged public appearances to sell more autobiographies, according to the <\/span>AP<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The new list of rules is in response to the perception that justices \u201cregard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules,\u201d according to a statement by the court.<\/span><\/p>\n All nine justices signed the 15-page document codifying principles of conduct.<\/span><\/p>\n Rep. Jim Jordan, R- Ohio, said the code \u201cis fine\u201d because he preferred the legislative branch to not impose upon the judiciary.<\/span><\/p>\n While the Supreme Court never previously published a code of ethics or decorum, Article One of the U.S. Constitution accounted for legislative oversight of the judiciary. A simple majority in the House would impeach a justice\u2013 a subsequent two-thirds Senate vote would then remove the judge from the high court.<\/span><\/p>\n In 1804, the House impeached Justice Samuel Chase though the Senate later acquitted him, according to the <\/span>Brennan Center for Justice<\/span><\/a>. He is the only impeached Supreme Court justice.<\/span><\/p>\nWho rules the Court?<\/b><\/h2>\n