End Citizens United (ECU) // Let America Vote (LAV) Action Fund President Tiffany Muller released the following statement ahead of today’s Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act:
“In light of Justice Clarence Thomas’ scandals and the corruption plaguing the Supreme Court, it’s no surprise that Americans’ faith in the highest court in the land is at an all-time low. As the only federal court without an ethics code, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent in secret to buy and influence the justices with no accountability.
“The SCERT Act is the antidote to the unfettered corruption that is consuming the Supreme Court. It would force the Court to adopt and follow a much-needed code of ethics, creating a tough new standard of accountability. By ensuring full transparency around the justices’ ethical issues, Americans can be confident that the rulings and decisions don’t reflect those of billionaires and dark money special interest groups.
“We urge the Senate Judiciary subcommittee to pass this critical piece of legislation. We also urge Republicans to vote for the passage of this bill—protecting our highest court from corruption and secrecy shouldn’t be a partisan issue.
“We are grateful to the subcommittee for holding today’s crucial hearing and applaud Senator Whitehouse and Senator Durbin for their tireless work promoting judicial ethics and accountability.”
Details of the SCERT Act:
Create Code of Conduct and Develop a Process for Enforcement
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Require the Supreme Court to adopt a code of conduct within 180 days;
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Require the Supreme Court to publish its code of conduct and any other rules or procedures related to ethics, financial disclosure, and judicial misconduct;
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Require the Supreme Court to create a transparent process for the public to submit ethics complaints against the justices, and for a random panel of chief judges from the lower courts to investigate and make recommendations based on those complaints.
Improve Hospitality and Financial Disclosures
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Require the Supreme Court to adopt rules requiring disclosure rules for gifts, travel, and income received by justices and law clerks that are at least as rigorous as the House and Senate disclosure rules;
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Require greater disclosure of amicus curiae funding;
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Require parties and amici curiae before the Supreme Court to disclose any recent gifts, travel, or reimbursements they’ve given to a justice;
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Require parties and amici curiae before the Supreme Court to disclose any lobbying or money they spent promoting a justice’s confirmation to the Court.
Strengthen Recusal Requirements
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Create new recusal requirements governing gifts, income, or reimbursements given to judges;
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Create new recusal requirements governing a party’s lobbying or spending money to campaign for a judge’s confirmation;
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Ensure that requests for a judge to recuse are reviewed by a panel of randomly selected, impartial judges, or by the rest of the justices at the Supreme Court;
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Require written notification and explanations of recusal decisions;
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Require the judiciary to develop rules explaining when a judge’s connection to an amicus curiae brief might require recusal; and
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Require the Federal Judicial Center to study and report to Congress every two years on the extent to which the judiciary is complying with recusal requirements.
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