The United States Supreme Court issued a new “Code of Conduct” after being pressured to do so by the Senate Judiciary Democrats.
“The undersigned Justices are promulgating this Code of Conduct to set out succinctly and gather in one place the ethics rules and principles that guide the conduct of the Members of the Court,” the code reads.
“For the most part these rules and principles are not new: The Court has long had the equivalent of common law ethics rules, that is, a body of rules derived from a variety of sources, including statutory provisions, the code that applies to other members of the federal judiciary, ethics advisory opinions issued by the Judicial Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct, and historic practice.”
“The absence of a Code, however, has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the Justices of this Court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules. To dispel this misunderstanding, we are issuing this Code, which largely represents a codification of principles that we have long regarded as governing our conduct.”
The updated code includes two new “canons” in response to travel arrangements and the use of Court staff for book promotions.
“A Justice should not to any substantial degree use judicial chambers, resources, or staff to engage in activities that do not materially support official functions or other activities permitted under these Canons,” it reads.
“A Justice may accept reasonable compensation and reimbursement of expenses for permitted activities if the source of the payments does not give the appearance of influencing the Justice’s official duties or otherwise appear improper,” the rules state. “Expense reimbursement should be limited to the actual or reasonably estimated costs of travel, food, and lodging reasonably incurred by the Justice and, where appropriate to the occasion, by the Justice’s spouse or relative.”
In May, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) accused Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee of launching a “concentrated effort” to invalidate the conservative majority Supreme Court.
“This assault on Justice Thomas is well beyond ethics,” Graham said, referring to reports that Justice Clarence Thomas vacationed with an individual who is also a GOP donor. “It’s about trying to delegitimize a conservative court that was appointed through the traditional process.”
“This is an unseemly effort by the Democratic left to destroy the legitimacy of the Roberts Court, it’s put people at risk, it’s put their personal safety at risk,” he added.
