Senate panel to examine US Supreme Court ethics as questions swirl

[May 02, 2023]  By Andrew Chung and John Kruzel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ethics concerns relating to U.S. Supreme Court justices are set to be scrutinized on Tuesday by a Senate panel during a hearing called amid revelations about luxury trips and real estate transactions involving members of the nation's top judicial body.

None of the nine justices will appear at the Judiciary Committee hearing, with Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday declining an invitation by Senator Dick Durbin, the panel's Democratic chairman, for him to testify. Instead, the committee will hear from lawyers and academics versed in the subject.

"Supreme Court ethics reform must happen whether the court participates in the process or not," Durbin said in a statement responding to the decision by Roberts not to appear. "It is time for Congress to accept its responsibility to establish an enforceable code of ethics for the Supreme Court, the only agency of our government without it."

The news outlet ProPublica has detailed ties between conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, the court's longest-tenured member, and wealthy Republican donor Harlan Crow, including real estate purchases and luxury travel paid for by the Dallas businessman.

Separately, the news outlet Politico has reported that conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch failed to disclose the buyer of a Colorado property in which he had a stake - the chief executive of a major law firm whose attorneys have been involved in numerous Supreme Court cases.

Despite calls over the years to tighten their ethical restraints, Supreme Court justices are not bound like other federal judges by a code of conduct adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States, the policymaking body for the broader federal judiciary.

Other federal judges under that code must avoid even the "appearance of impropriety." Roberts has said Supreme Court justices consult that code in assessing their own ethical obligations. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.

In a letter to Durbin declining to testify, Roberts attached a "Statement on Ethics Principles and Practices" to which the justices adhere. The statement noted that justices in 1991 voluntarily adopted a resolution to "follow the substance" of the Judicial Conference's regulations and since then follow disclosure requirements on gifts and outside income.

U.S. Supreme Court justices pose for their group portrait at the Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., October 7, 2022. Seated (L-R): Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Samuel A. Alito, Jr. and Elena Kagan. Standing (L-R): Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

ProPublica last month reported that Thomas did not publicly disclose the 2014 purchase by one of Crow's companies of properties in the Georgia city of Savannah from Thomas and his relatives, calling it the first known instance of money going directly from Crow to the justice.

ProPublica also reported that Thomas has for decades accepted luxury trips from Crow, who he considers a close friend, also without public disclosure.

Durbin in an April 10 letter urged Roberts to investigate the revelations. Highlighting concerns that were raised in 2011 about Thomas and his dealings with Crow, Durbin stated: "Mr. Crow's dispensation of favors escalated in secret during the years that followed. Now the court faces a crisis of public confidence in its ethical standards that must be addressed."

Witnesses scheduled for Tuesday include former federal judge Jeremy Fogel and judicial ethics expert Amanda Frost of the University of Virginia School of Law, who both contend that the justices need a code of conduct. Two other witnesses, former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and lawyer Thomas Dupree, argue that imposing such a code through legislation would infringe on the U.S. Constitution's separation of powers among the government's executive, legislative and judicial branches.

Two U.S. senators, independent Angus King who caucuses with Democrats and Republican Lisa Murkowski, introduced legislation on April 26 that would require the Supreme Court to create a code of conduct and appoint an official to review ethics complaints.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York and John Kruzel in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham and Scott Malone)

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