Supreme Court Ethics Reform Gets A Look In Senate Hearing

May 2, 2023
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 07: United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas (L) and Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts (R) pose for their official portrait at the East Conference Room of t... WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 07: United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas (L) and Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts (R) pose for their official portrait at the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court building on October 7, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court has begun a new term after Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was officially added to the bench in September. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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May 2, 2023

The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing today on ethics reform for the Supreme Court after a string of news reports documenting various cozy financial entanglements between right-wing justices and powerful figures in the conservative world.

Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) has been somewhat less than lightning fast in trying to address the issue substantively or to capitalize on it politically. But today is a small step in that direction.

Durbin had invited Chief Justice John Roberts — or a justice of his choice — to testify. Roberts declined.

Witnesses:

  • Jeremy Fogel: Executive Director, Berkeley Judicial Institute and Former U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of CA
  • Kedric Payne: Vice President, General Counsel, & Senior Director of Ethics, Campaign Legal Center
  • Amanda Frost: John A. Ewald Jr. Research Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law
  • Michael B. Mukasey: Former United States Attorney General and Former U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of NY
  • Thomas H. Dupree, Jr.: Partner and Co-Chair of the Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
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The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing today on ethics reform for the Supreme Court after a string of news reports documenting various cozy financial entanglements between right-wing justices and powerful figures in the conservative world.

Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) has been somewhat less than lightning fast in trying to address the issue substantively or to capitalize on it politically. But today is a small step in that direction.

Durbin had invited Chief Justice John Roberts — or a justice of his choice — to testify. Roberts declined.

Notable Replies

  1. The more people learn about the damage these people can do, the better. Some of this is the fault of people failing to link political candidates to their court nominations and confirmations.

    Resulting in catastrophic decisions impacting those too feckless and ill-informed to carefully choose decent candidates.

  2. Yep, the only thing we can really do about the SC right now is highlight its corruption and make Republicans and the Fascist justices uncomfortable.

    We need to keep banging on it, so each open corrupt move they make underscores the points we’ve been making…

    We want to make '24 about corrupt courts so we can elect a majority that can expand and reform.

    If we don’t Republicans will.

  3. Graham Is Scolding Democrats For Not Finding ‘Common Ground’

    Well, Harlan Crow didn’t make any cash offers, so…

  4. If they wish to get anything close to a fix here step number one is to let the SCOTUS know they’re not fooling anyone. The high and nightly language and haughty objections they use in their defense do not mask the fact that their unpopular rulings are GOP not Constitutionally inspired. No one should think these guys are i it for America. They didn’t come from the America most of us come from and defer to those from where they came.

  5. :+1:

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

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