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WASHINGTON, May 2 (AP) – Senate Democrats pledged Tuesday, amid reports that Justice Clarence Thomas took a lavish vacation and struck a real estate deal with a top Republican donor. Later, they will create a stricter code of ethics for the Supreme Court. Republicans have made clear they strongly oppose the effort.
Senator Dick Durbin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said lax ethical standards have contributed to a lack of public confidence in the nation’s highest court.
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“The Supreme Court can sort this out on its own,” Durbin said at the start of the hearing. “For years, they’ve refused because the courts won’t act and Congress has to act.”
Republicans, however, criticized the hearing as an attempt to damage the reputation of Thomas, one of the most staunchly conservative voices on the court. Their comments show just how likely Congress is to pass legislation on the matter, and parties are wildly different when it comes to the credibility of the Supreme Court, especially after last June’s seismic decision that overturned abortion rights.
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“This attack on Justice Thomas goes far beyond morality. It’s about trying to delegitimize a conservative court appointed through the traditional process,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, the committee’s top-ranking Republican.
Graham also asserted that defamation of the court puts the safety of the judges at risk.
Democrats called the hearing after news reports detailed Thomas’ close relationship with conservative donors in Texas.
The donor, Dallas billionaire Harlan Crow, bought three properties belonging to Thomas and his family in a deal worth more than $100,000, according to the nonprofit investigative news organization ProPublica, which Thomas never disclosed. The group also revealed that Crow provided Thomas and his wife, Ginni, with annual vacations and trips worth hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past few decades.
Durbin had invited Chief Justice John Roberts to testify at Tuesday’s hearing, but he declined, saying the chief justice’s testimony was extremely rare because of the importance of maintaining judicial independence. Roberts also provided a “statement of ethical principles and practices” signed by all nine justices describing the ethical rules they follow with regard to travel, gifts and outside income.
While the rules are not new, the statement provided by Roberts said the undersigned judges “reaffirmed and affirmed today the fundamental ethical principles and practices to which they subscribe in the discharge of their duties as members of the Supreme Court of the United States.”
Instead of hearing from Roberts, senators heard from five legal and ethics experts, including former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who served under President George W. Bush. He said recent criticism of the High Court judge was baseless.
Jeremy Fogel, a retired federal judge for 20 years, said he did not attend the hearing to criticize any judiciary or engage in political debate. Bucher expressed his concern about undermining public confidence in the Supreme Court, in part due to an increasingly contentious confirmation process and the spread of disinformation on social media.
The “lack of clarity about judges’ moral obligations,” Fogel said, only fuels the perception that judges decide cases based on political preferences rather than the law.
Fogel said he agrees with Roberts’ explanation of how the Supreme Court differs from other federal courts and why simply adopting a code of conduct that applies to all other federal judges is inappropriate.
“But that doesn’t mean the court shouldn’t have a formal code at all, and it can’t use a modified code to explain these differences,” Fogel said.
Kedric Payne, senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, advocated for a stronger ethical framework. He said the Supreme Court lacked formal recusal procedures and binding codes of conduct, among other things. The center advocates for every American’s right to participate in the democratic process.
“There is no room for argument that the Supreme Court has the weakest code of ethics in the federal government,” Payne said.
Mukasey defended Thomas in his testimony. He noted that Thomas had said he had consulted others, including colleagues, about whether to include the trips on his financial disclosure form, but was told that hospitality for friends was exempt. Last month, when the federal judiciary tightened disclosure requirements for all judges, Thomas said he would be guided by that and include such travel and vacation stays in future reports.
Mukasey also said it was a loss for Thomas to buy his childhood home. He was obliged to report but failed to do so because he wrongly believed that he did not have to report the trades on which he suffered a loss. He noted that Thomas had indicated his intention to amend financial disclosures for the relevant periods.
“If the public misunderstands that the court’s integrity has been compromised, the fault lies with those who continue to level unfair criticism of the court and its judges,” Mukasy said.
In the wake of the Thomas reports, Democrats in both chambers are seeking legislation to establish a process to investigate Supreme Court misconduct and strengthen recusal standards and disclosures of travel and hospitality. They also sought changes through the spending bill process, calling on lawmakers to direct the Supreme Court to adopt binding and enforceable ethics rules.
“The court has conclusively proven that it cannot regulate itself,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat who led the legislative effort.
“Unless the Supreme Court has an honest ethics process, these messes will continue,” Whitehouse said.
Republicans on the panel have repeatedly defended Thomas, including playing Thomas’ testimony during his 1991 confirmation hearing, in which he said he was the victim of a “high-tech lynching.”
“It’s sad to see this committee repeat the same despicable tactics 30 years later,” said Senator Ted Cruz. R – Texas.
In the Senate, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he believes in the integrity and honesty of all Supreme Court justices. “Nine of them. They shouldn’t be paying any attention to partisan grandstanding,” McConnell said. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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