WASHINGTON (AP) — A panel of judges has dismissed ethics complaints against new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The judges say the complaints must be dismissed because they were filed under a federal law that does not apply to Supreme Court justices. That’s the outcome many ethics experts predicted once Kavanaugh took his Supreme Court seat.
The complaints deal with statements Kavanaugh made during his confirmation hearings. They were filed originally with Kavanaugh’s old court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Chief Justice John Roberts took no action on them while Kavanaugh’s nomination was pending, then transferred them to federal judges in Colorado and neighboring states. Roberts received the first three of 15 eventual complaints on Sept. 20, a week before Kavanaugh’s testimony angrily denying sexual assault allegations.
Now he can really lie, grope, and sexually assault with impunity.
I’m shocked! Shocked!!
Being on the top rung of any government ladder means immunity for anything I guess.
So much for holding your seat under “good behavior”. Those complaints may well be the basis for some hearings.
If the ABA model code, used in most states, applied,he’d have a lot to answer for. There is something wrong with allowing the federal judiciary not to have a well functioning disciplinary system. It’s hard when they’re judges for life, which generally I’m fine with, but there should be some clear code and a disciplinary body able to censure or otherwise hold an errant judge up for public awareness. Given some of the egos on that bench, it might be useful.