Many organizations are demanding the Supreme Court adopt a code of ethics to preserve its integrity.
The Project on Government Oversight (POGO), a non-partisan independent watchdog based in Washington, D.C., is amongst several groups that have proposed a set of ethical rules for the justices to follow.
Sarah Turberville, director of the Constitution Project at POGO, told theGrio that her organization has advocated for the Supreme Court to adopt “stronger ethical standards” for “self-preservation.”
“[The justices] are blind to the fact that the public’s faith in the institution is waning, and the public’s faith is the only thing that gives the court’s ruling any force of law,” she said.
Turberville said the high court’s lack of a code of conduct “diminishes the public’s faith in the court as an institution [and] as a fair and impartial arbiter of the law and of justice.”
According to a Gallup poll conducted in September 2022, more than 50% of Americans said they did not have much trust and confidence, or not at all, in the judicial branch headed by this current Supreme Court.
Last month, the American Bar Association (ABA) demanded the court adopt a set of ethical rules similar to those used by federal judges.
ABA President Tahmina Watson wrote a resolution that stated, “The absence of a clearly articulated, binding code of ethics for the justices of the Court imperils the legitimacy of the Court.”
Watson added, “If the legitimacy of the Court is diminished, the legitimacy of all our courts and our entire judicial system is imperiled.”
The groups advocating for the Supreme Court to adopt a code of ethics are concerned that justices have ruled in cases where there has been an issue of conflict of interest and suggest justices recuse themselves from such cases to maintain the appearance of impartiality.
This rule would have prohibited Justice…
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