USA
Expensive gifts: US Supreme Court gets code of conduct
Reports of expensive gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas sparked an ethics debate. photo
© J Scott Applewhite/AP
After a real estate mogul’s gifts to a Supreme Court judge sparked an ethics debate, the most powerful court in the USA has agreed on a corresponding set of rules for the first time.
For the first time in the history of the Supreme Court, the judges USA agreed to a code of conduct. This emerges from a statement from the Supreme Court. The document describes, among other things, when they must withdraw from a case – for example because of “personal bias” or “a financial interest”.
It remains unclear who is responsible for enforcing the code of conduct and what penalties there are for non-compliance. In the document, the chief justices admit that this may require additional resources. This should now be checked.
Ethics debate
Reports about expensive gifts from Texas real estate mogul Harlan Crow to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had previously sparked an ethics debate – in addition to Thomas, his colleagues also came into focus. While US federal judges are already subject to a code of conduct, there was no corresponding set of rules for the most powerful court in the US until Monday’s announcement.
“For the most part, these rules and principles are not new,” the document said in its introduction. However, the lack of a uniformly defined line led to the “misunderstanding” that the chief justices, unlike other lawyers in the country, did not feel restricted by any ethical rules.
Expensive presents
According to a report by the investigative publication “ProPublica”, major conservative donor Crow had, among other things, donated Thomas a trip to Indonesia in 2019, which the ultra-conservative judge and his wife Ginni spent on board Crow’s yacht. They were also traveling in his private jet.
The 75-year-old judge then submitted a report and stated that he had been advised not to take scheduled flights for safety reasons. The background is his negative attitude towards abortion rights and the reaction of violent leftists to it.
On the Supreme Court, whose nine justices are appointed for life and make sociopolitically groundbreaking rulings, Thomas usually represents staunchly conservative positions.