Where we left off: Common Cause has been actively working on ethics issues surrounding members of the U.S. Supreme Court since January 2011, when we first raised questions about Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas’ travel, disclosure, and fundraising activities. Despite Justice Thomas’ quick revision of years of disclosure documents and compounding questions from legal experts and members of Congress, there has been no response from the Court.
As a timeline of our work shows, the questions only grow larger and more insistent as this research continues.
What’s happened since then: Common Cause has asked for clarification and specific answers from the Supreme Court itself, as well as Chief Justice John Roberts, the Federal Marshals Service, the Department of Justice and Attorney General Eric Holder, and the American Bar Association.
The New York Times reported in late June about the cozy relationship between Justice Thomas and Dallas-based developer Harlan Crow, including apparent financial benefits received by Justice Thomas and gifts of travel on Crow’s corporate jet and his yacht. Failure to disclose such travel would be a criminal offense, and we against wrote to Thomas and Chief Justice Roberts to urge full disclosure and prompt action to ensure that the court is complying with the highest ethical standards. Neither Thomas nor Roberts has responded.
Common Cause also subsequently wrote to the president of the American Bar Association to urge the nation’s largest group of lawyers to join in efforts to persuade the Court to publicly embrace the code of conduct that all other federal judges must follow and to enforce tough ethical standards on its members.
Now what? Our work on ethical issues surrounding members of the Supreme Court continues to have implications for the ongoing activities of the Court. As recently as yesterday, in a report on requirements for recusing themselves from cases before the Court, NPR led with a reminder of Common Cause’s request that the Justice Department investigate Justice Thomas’ actions.
Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced a bill that now has 27 co-sponsors and would enforce the judicial code of conduct at the Supreme Court. “Without any real disclosure and transparency requirements, without any enforceability on the code of conduct, we’re just left at believing the word of the justices,” Murphy has said. Given the silence that follows long-term failure to disclose, we are left wondering just how much we can take the justices at their word.
