Congressman Dan Goldman Leads Renewed Call from Former Prosecutors, Law Enforcement Officials, and Judges for Supreme Court to Establish Ethics Counsel and Independent Investigative Body
Renewed Call Follows June 27 Request that went Acknowledged but Ignored by Chief Justice Roberts
Since June Request, Increasingly Damning Reporting Has Emerged Regarding Ethical Improprieties on Behalf of Sitting Justices
Follows Deeply Troubling Comments by Justice Alito Undermining Constitutional Principal of Checks and Balances; Hostility to Essential Ethics Reforms
Members Call for Coordination between SCOTUS and Judicial Conference of the United States to Adopt Appropriate Ethics Standards that Apply to all Other Federal Justices
Read the Letter Here
New York, NY – Congressman Dan Goldman today led 14 members of Congress in responding to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ refusal to commit to establishing an ethics counsel and independent investigative body within the Supreme Court – as requested on June 27, 2023 by Congressman Goldman and 17 of his Congressional colleagues. Chief Justice Roberts confirmed receipt of Goldman’s original request but refused to commit to these necessary reforms. Today’s response highlights the ever-increasing importance of these necessary reforms to restore faith in the Supreme Court in the wake of continually damning reporting regarding ethical improprieties on behalf of sitting Justices.
The Members’ renewed call addresses the Judicial Conference of the United States in the hopes that Chief Justice Roberts will coordinate with that body to adopt appropriate ethics standards for the Highest Court that apply to all other federal judges.
On June 27, Congressman Goldman led 17 fellow members of Congress who are all former prosecutors, law enforcement officials, or judges in sending a letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts urging the Chief Justice to establish an ethics counsel within the Supreme Court to standardize the Court’s ethics procedures, advise justices on ethics issues – including disclosure requirements and recusals – and prevent ethical misjudgments. The letter also urged Chief Justice Roberts to establish an independent investigative body that can provide transparency and accountability through exhaustive investigations into alleged ethical improprieties.
“We write to follow up to our previous letter dated June 27, 2023, urging you to establish an independent investigative body and dedicated ethics counsel within the Supreme Court to restore trust and confidence in the institution. We appreciate your response dated July 6, 2023, but find it insufficient and unavailing, especially in light of recent reporting of additional serious ethics violations by Justices,” the Members wrote. “Accordingly, we renew and reaffirm our recommendations to address the Court’s escalating crisis of legitimacy. We have copied the Judicial Conference of the United States in the hopes that you will coordinate with that body to adopt appropriate ethics standards for the highest Court that apply to all other federal judges.”
Since the Members’ request in June, and Chief Justice Roberts’ refusal to act, deeply troubling new reporting has emerged detailing even more extensive and severe allegations of ethical impropriety by Justice Clarence Thomas, including the unreported receipt of lavish gifts from billionaire patrons, often with business before the Court, during his time on the Court that include:
At least 38 destination vacations, including a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas.
26 private jet flights, plus an additional eight by helicopter.
A dozen VIP passes to professional and college sporting events, typically in the skybox.
Two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica.
One standing invitation to an uber-exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast.
The Members also address their concern with recent comments by Justice Samuel Alito questioning Congress’s oversight authority over the Supreme Court. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Justice Alito stated: “No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court—period.” This statement undermines the Constitution’s basic principle of checks and balances among the three branches of government and demonstrates a troubling hostility to essential ethics reforms for the Court.
Responding to a question about Justice Alito’s comments, Justice Kagan argued: “it just can’t be that the court is the only institution that somehow is not subject to any checks and balances from anybody else.” She added that the Court is “not imperial” and that it is “part of a checking and balancing system in various ways.”
Congressman Goldman and the signatories of this letter agree. The Court does not have exclusive authority to place checks on other branches of government without being subject to similar checks and balances. As the first branch of government, Congress is vested with “All legislative Powers”. Congress has previously used these powers to regulate certain judicial matters, including ethical standards applicable to the Court.
The escalating allegations of ethical improprieties by justices on the Court that would not be permitted under the Judicial Code of Ethics applicable to all other judges not only undermines the legitimacy of the Supreme Court but of the entire judiciary, as well. In order to restore credibility to the Judiciary Branch, Goldman and the other members reiterate their strong recommendation that Chief Justice Roberts adopt an independent investigative body and a dedicated ethics counsel to establish and enforce essential ethics reforms for the Supreme Court.
The letter was signed by Representatives Hank Johnson (GA-04), Ted Lieu (CA-36), Adam Schiff (CA-30), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Glenn Ivey (MD-04), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02), Bill Keating (MA-09), Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Stacey Plaskett (D-VI), and Sylvia Garcia (TX-29).
Read the letter here or below:
The Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr.
Chief Justice
Supreme Court of the United States
1 First Street NE
Washington, DC 20543
Dear Chief Justice Roberts:
We write to follow up to our previous letter dated June 27, 2023, urging you to establish an independent investigative body and dedicated ethics counsel within the Supreme Court to restore trust and confidence in the institution. We appreciate your response dated July 6, 2023, but find it insufficient and unavailing, especially in light of recent reporting of additional serious ethics violations by Justices.
Accordingly, we renew and reaffirm our recommendations to address the Court’s escalating crisis of legitimacy. We have copied the Judicial Conference of the United States in the hopes that you will coordinate with that body to adopt appropriate ethics standards for the highest Court that apply to all other federal judges.
New Allegations against Justice Thomas
Since our last letter, public reporting has exposed even more severe allegations of impropriety by Justice Clarence Thomas. According to a recent ProPublica report, Justice Thomas has received the following unreported gifts during his time on the Court:
At least 38 destination vacations, including a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas.
26 private jet flights, plus an additional eight by helicopter.
A dozen VIP passes to professional and college sporting events, typically in the skybox.
Two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica.
One standing invitation to an uber-exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast.
As the report points out, while some of these instances of personal hospitality such as stays in personal homes may not require disclosure, that is not the case for flights, yacht cruises and expensive sports tickets. These extravagant gifts are even more problematic when considering the benefactors: Paul Novelly, H. Wayne Huizenga, David Sokol and Harlan Crow — four billionaires who reportedly first met Justice Thomas after his appointment to the Court. It has become increasingly clear that Justice Thomas, at a minimum, has created an appearance of conflicts of interest — if not actual conflicts — in violation of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.
Justice Alito’s Extreme Rhetoric
We are further troubled by recent comments by Justice Samuel Alito questioning Congress’s oversight authority over the Supreme Court. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Justice Alito stated: “No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court—period.” This statement undermines the Constitution’s basic principle of checks and balances among the three branches of government, and demonstrates a troubling hostility to essential ethics reforms for the Court.
In response to this assault on Congressional authority and inappropriate comments on an issue that may come before the Court, members of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, including Chairman Richard Durbin, have rightfully called for Justice Alito to recuse himself from all future cases involving existing legislation that regulates the Court. As the Senators point out, Justice Alito’s assertion that Congress has no role in regulating the Court’s ethical standards is not supported by historical precedent or Constitutional authority — in fact, quite the opposite. Further, they correctly find it “unacceptable for the highest court in the land to have the lowest ethical standards.”
We agree wholeheartedly.
Justice Kagan’s Dissent
At least one justice has publicly criticized Justice Alito’s absolutist views of the Court’s sovereignty. During a recent appearance at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference in Portland, Oregon, Justice Elena Kagan defended the principle of interbranch checks and balances.
Responding to a question about Justice Alito’s comments, Justice Kagan argued: “it just can’t be that the court is the only institution that somehow is not subject to any checks and balances from anybody else.” She added that the Court is “not imperial” and that it is “part of a checking and balancing system in various ways.”
We agree. The Court does not have exclusive authority to place checks on other branches of government without being subject to similar checks and balances. As the first branch of government, Congress is vested with “All legislative Powers”. Congress has previously used these powers to regulate certain judicial matters, including ethical standards applicable to the Court.
Even Justice Alito, however, must agree that the Court itself has the authority to implement ethics reforms that become increasingly necessary by the day. Yet additional comments by Justice Kagan raise further concerns that certain justices have become roadblocks within the Court — hampering meaningful, consensus reforms of its own ethical standards. If the Court can and will police itself, as you have insisted, we once again urge you to take action. And if justices who have run roughshod over basic ethical standards are objecting to ethics reforms, then that further confirms the need for you to take decisive steps to restore confidence in the Court.
We face escalating allegations of ethical transgressions by justices on the Court that would never be tolerated under the Judicial Code of Ethics applicable to all other judges. This ethics crisis at the top of the judicial system undermines the legitimacy of the Supreme Court and reflects poorly on the entire judiciary. In order to restore credibility to the Judiciary Branch, we strongly restate our recommendation that you adopt an independent investigative body and a dedicated ethics counsel to establish and enforce essential ethics reforms for the Supreme Court.
The stakes are simply too high to wait any longer.
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