Wow! A couple of Supreme Court justices say they’re now starting to think that maybe the Court should sorta start thinking about possibly, perhaps, someday adopting some sort of anti-corruption reforms.
This nine-member group of unelected, supremely powerful judges is allowed to make up its own rules of ethical behavior. So – Surprise! – they’ve chosen to have no code of conduct like all other top officials are expected to obey. Unsurprisingly, then, the justices feel free to accept financial payments (excuse me: “Bribes”) from moneyed interests seeking favorable legal rulings from the supposedly-impartial Court.
But – oops – the general public has begun to notice the corruption, and public belief in the court’s integrity has plummeted. Thus, one of the far-right Supremes, Amy Coney Barrett, is now supporting a vague veil of an ethics code for her colleagues, even as she attests that all “are very committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct.”
Seriously? Including the notorious money sleaze, Clarence Thomas?
But wait, even a progressive justice, Elena Kagan, joins in the charade that an ethical code might produce… well, ethics. Or, at least, political cover for the lack thereof. A code, she surmises, would “go far in persuading other people that we were adhering to the highest standards of conduct.”
Hello – would you be persuaded? Yet, these “Supremes” won’t even take the minimal step of adopting a simple code to measure basic integrity. “It would be a good idea for us to do it,” Barrett meekly says. “It would be a good thing for the court to do that,” Kagan echoes.
Stop it! Stop the pitiful posturing. There’s only nine of you – you’re in charge! Convene a Happy Hour, confront reality, and do the right thing! Just do it – I’ll buy the beer.
Do something
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A Supreme Court of Ethical Weasels