United for Democracy on SCOTUS Code of Ethics: “Woefully Inadequate,” “Simply Puts the Foxes In Charge of the Henhouse”
Washington, DC – Today, United for Democracy released the following statement on the news that the Supreme Court has released a code of ethics for Supreme Court justices following months of public pressure.
“While it’s great to see the Supreme Court finally respond to public pressure and acknowledge that they have serious ethics and corruption issues that must be addressed, the code of ethics announced today is woefully inadequate and cannot be allowed to stand as the final word,” said United for Democracy campaign director Stasha Rhodes.
“This extreme Supreme Court majority has made it clear that they have no interest in actually preventing justices from engaging in rampant corruption, ethics breaches, and influence peddling – and no American should feel comforted by a ‘solution’ that simply puts the foxes in charge of the henhouse. This so-called code of ethics relies far too heavily on suggested ‘shoulds” over mandated ‘musts.’ And by not specifying any actual enforcement mechanisms, this code has a loophole big enough for Justice Thomas to sail through on his next luxury yacht trip.
“Now that even the Supreme Court has acknowledged they have an ethics and corruption problem, we call on Congress to move quickly to exercise its judicial oversight role and finally stand up to this powerful and out-of-control Supreme Court with a Congressionally-mandated ethics code with actual enforcement and accountability.”
Last month, United for Democracy hosted its “We Object” rally on the first day of the Court’s new term to emphasize the urgency of reining in the Court after a summer when extreme justices attacked core fundamental freedoms and were caught in the pockets of their wealthy benefactors.
In July, United for Democracy and 90 grassroots organizations, labor unions, advocates for reproductive rights, gun violence prevention, the environment, workers’ rights, and more, sent a letter to members of Congress calling on them to investigate and take action to address the broken and extreme Supreme Court.