Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) has cosponsored two bills—the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act and the Supreme Court Ethics Act—to bring accountability to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Congressional effort, led by Rep. Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (D-Ga.), comes in the wake of a ProPublica investigative report that found Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has for years accepted gifts and luxury trips from billionaire and Republican megadonor, Harlan Crow. Among several provisions, these bills would impose a Code of Conduct to hold the justices to higher ethical standards and help restore Americans’ waning faith in the Judicial Branch.

“Trust in the Supreme Court was already at a historic low, but this level of corruption by Clarence Thomas shows why it is necessary for the Court to adopt a code of conduct, just like every other federal judge and member of Congress,” said Congresswoman Pingree. “Frankly, it’s preposterous that judges who sit on the highest court in the country are operating without explicit, enforceable rules. Thankfully, strong investigative journalism is exposing corruption, but we need a statutory solution to ensure the Supreme Court is one the American people can trust. Given the recent disturbing revelations, it’s clear that now more than ever, Congress must act to hold the high court accountable and to restore integrity in the institution.”

Under the SCERT Act, among other things, there would be:

• A code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices
• Minimum lobbying/gift/travel/income disclosure rules
• Disclosure of funding sources for amicus briefs
• An investigative board composed of Circuit Court judges to review complaints submitted against Supreme Court justices, and public posting of their decisions
• Circumstances that require recusals

The Supreme Court Ethics Act would:

• Create a statutory requirement for the Judicial Conference of the United States to issue a code of conduct that applies to the Supreme Court; 
• Direct the Supreme Court to appoint an Ethics Investigations Counsel who will establish a process for the public to report information about potentially unethical conduct by the Justices and to issue a public annual report on the disposition of allegations and investigations; 
• Empower the Ethics Investigations Counsel to conduct their own investigations into potential violations of the code of conduct; 
• Require Justices who recuse themselves from a case to publicly disclose the reason; 
• Require Justices who deny a proper motion to recuse to publicly disclose the reason.

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