Only 35% of Americans trust the US judicial system. This is catastrophic; The Guardian, December 21, 2024

David Daley, The Guardian; Only 35% of Americans trust the US judicial system. This is catastrophic

"It’s not surprising that Americans have lost all faith in something as anti-democratic as an unelected body (with a majority appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote) granted lifetime fiefdoms to cast final judgement over acts of the elected branches, without any accountability or ethics code that might, for example, prevent them from taking luxury vacations paid by billionaire benefactors."

Senate review of Supreme Court ethics finds more luxury trips and urges enforceable code of conduct; AP, December 21, 2024

LINDSAY WHITEHURST, AP; Senate review of Supreme Court ethics finds more luxury trips and urges enforceable code of conduct

"A nearly two-year investigation by Democratic senators of Supreme Court ethics details more luxury travel by Justice Clarence Thomas and urges Congress to establish a way to enforce a new code of conduct. 

Any movement on the issue appears unlikely as Republicans prepare to take control of the Senate in January, underscoring the hurdles in imposing restrictions on a separate branch of government even as public confidence in the court has fallen to record lows.

The 93-page report released Saturday by the Democratic majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee found additional travel taken in 2021 by Thomas but not reported on his annual financial disclosure form: a private jet flight to New York’s Adirondacks in July and jet and yacht trip to New York City sponsored by billionaire Harlan Crow in October, one of more than two dozen times detailed in the report that Thomas took luxury travel and gifts from wealthy benefactors."

Justice Kagan elaborates on potential Supreme Court ethics code enforcement; NBC News, September 9, 2024

Lawrence Hurley, NBC News;  Justice Kagan elaborates on potential Supreme Court ethics code enforcement

"Justice Elena Kagan on Monday outlined how the Supreme Court's new ethics code could be improved if it had an enforcement mechanism, rejecting claims that the idea she has proposed would be ineffective.

The court, under pressure over claims of ethics violations mostly aimed at conservative justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, issued a new code last year but it was immediately criticized for lacking any way of enforcing it.

Kagan, a member of the court's liberal minority, has called for creating a panel of lower court judges appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts to handle allegations made against the justices."

Joe Biden: My plan to reform the Supreme Court and ensure no president is above the law; The Washington Post, July 29, 2024

Joe Biden , The Washington Post; Joe Biden: My plan to reform the Supreme Court and ensure no president is above the law

"That’s why — in the face of increasing threats to America’s democratic institutions — I am calling for three bold reforms to restore trust and accountability to the court and our democracy.

First, I am calling for a constitutional amendment called the No One Is Above the Law Amendment. It would make clear that there is noimmunity for crimes a former president committed while in office. I share our Founders’ belief that the president’s power is limited, not absolute. We are a nation of laws — not of kings or dictators.

Second, we have had term limits for presidents for nearly 75 years. We should have the same for Supreme Court justices. The United States is the only major constitutional democracy that gives lifetime seats to its high court. Term limits would help ensure that the court’s membership changes with some regularity. That would make timing for court nominations more predictable and less arbitrary. It would reduce the chance that any single presidency radically alters the makeup of the court for generations to come. I support a system in which the president would appoint a justice every two years to spend 18 years in active service on the Supreme Court.

Third, I’m calling for a binding code of conduct for the Supreme Court. This is common sense. The court’s current voluntary ethics code is weak and self-enforced. Justices should be required to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest. Every other federal judge is bound by an enforceable code of conduct, and there is no reason for the Supreme Court to be exempt.

All three of these reforms are supported by a majority of Americans — as well as conservative and liberal constitutional scholars. And I want to thank the bipartisan Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States for its insightful analysis, which informed some of these proposals.

We can and must prevent the abuse of presidential power. We can and must restore the public’s faith in the Supreme Court. We can and must strengthen the guardrails of democracy.

In America, no one is above the law. In America, the people rule."

If Supreme Court won't act to reform its ethics, Congress should step in; Chicago Sun Times, June 7, 2024

CST Editorial Board, Chicago Sun Times; If Supreme Court won't act to reform its ethics, Congress should step in

"When the U.S. Supreme Court justices in November announced new ethics rules that had no teeth, they said it would “dispel” the “misunderstanding” the justices “regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules.”

Well, that didn’t work. It’s time for Congress to step in as new revelations about questionable ethics keep popping up...

At a time when the nation is polarized, we need a court that is an honest arbiter of disputes. Without an enforceable ethics code, we can’t hope to get one."