(Photo
by
Justin
Sullivan/Getty
Images)
Supreme
Court
ethics
are
in
complete
disarray.
It’s
actually
embarrassing
for
our
nation
that
the
highest
court
in
the
land
can’t
get
it
together.
The
last
year
and
a
half
has
been
an
onslaught
of
ethics
scandals
that
have
plagued
the
Court.
Most
prominent
of
those
scandals
were
those
surrounding
Clarence
Thomas.
Specifically,
that
he
took
hundreds
of
thousands
of
dollars
in
undisclosed
gifts.
Thomas
had
wealthy
buddies
cover private
school
tuition
for
his
family
on
his
behalf, provide
his
mother
rent-free
housing, and buy
him
an
RV.
There were so so so many revelations
about
the luxury
gifts Thomas received and repeatedly failed
to disclose.
And
part
of
the
reason
the
gifts
started
pouring
in
to
the
justice
was
because
he
made conservatives
nervous
he
was
going
to
retire
if
he
*didn’t*
start
living
the
high
life.
Plus,
we
learned
Ginni
Thomas (Clarence’s
wife)
was
a supporter of
the January
6th
rioters,
and despite
this,
Thomas
refused
to recuse
himself
from
any
cases
related
to
the
insurrection.
But
Thomas
wasn’t
the
only
justice
who
had
issues
disclosing
fancy
gifts.
Samuel
Alito
notably
got
gifts
from
European
aristocracy,
including
a
knighthood
(ignore
the
constitutional
issues
with
that
one).
And
there’s
the
insurrection
sympathy
Alito’s
flirted
with.
Though
he
blamed
it
on
his
wife,
Alito’s
home
was
seen
flying
a
flag favored
by
insurrectionists.
And
his
vacation
home
on
Long
Beach
Island,
New
Jersey,
flew an
“Appeal
to
Heaven”
flag
which
has
come
to
be
seen
as
symbol
of
Christian
nationalism.
Which
tracks,
given
he was
also
caught
on
tape saying
there
are
“fundamental
things
that
really
can’t
be
compromised”
with
the
left.
And
that
he
thinks
the
country
needs
to
return
to
a
place
of
godliness.
There
was
also
the
questionable
Neil
Gorsuch
real
estate
deal. The work
of
Jane
Roberts,
wife
of
the
Chief,
(probably
wrongly)
also
came
under
scrutiny.
As
did
Sonia
Sotomayor’s
publishing
deal.
Despite
these
mounting
scandals,
the
institutional
response
has
struggled.
Unlike
every
other
federal
court,
SCOTUS
didn’t
actually
have
an
ethical
code.
And
when
the
Court
finally
released
one
it
was…
unenforceable.
A
lot
of
sound
and
fury
signifying
nothing.
But
at
least
some
justices
have
come
out
in
favor
of
an
ethical
code
with
teeth. The
New
York
Times
recently
published
an
exposé
revealing
the
behind-the-scenes
discussion
that
led
to
the
neutered
code.
Alito
and
Thomas,
predictably,
blew
off
concerns
as
”
politically
motivated
and
unappeasable.”
Which
is
a
fantastic
red
herring
to
throw
in
the
road
when
most
of
the
focus
has
been
on
you.
But
interestingly,
the
most
vocal
opponent
of
an
enforceable
code
of
ethics
was
someone
else.
Justice
Gorsuch
was
especially
vocal
in
opposing
any
enforcement
mechanism
beyond
voluntary
compliance,
arguing
that
additional
measures
could
undermine
the
court.
The
justices’
strength
was
their
independence,
he
said,
and
he
vowed
to
have
no
part
in
diminishing
it.
That’s
a…
weird
reaction
—
Gorsuch
even
penned
a
10-page
memo
outlining
all
the
reasons
why
the
Court
should
not
be
bound
by
mere
ethical
concerns.
As
noted
by
Fix
the
Court’s
Gabe
Roth,
Gorsuch’s
“stridency
is
odd
seeing
as
how
Gorsuch
was
a
circuit
judge
for
more
than
a
decade
and
lived
quite
blissfully
under
an
enforceable
ethics
regimen.
And
having
a
body
of
senior
judges
recommend,
say,
that
a
justice
return
a
gift
or
take
an
ethics
training
course,
or
whatever
the
panel’s
‘enforcement’
decision
would
be,
would
in
no
way
imperil
the
independence
of
the
Supreme
Court.
Really
an
overblown
concern
here.”
Maybe
he
was
just
in
the
writing
zone
and
decided
having
rules
that
actually
apply
to
him
was
too
off
brand.
At
the
time
the
justices
were
debating
the
ethics
questions,
Justice
Gorsuch
was
working
on
a
book
asserting
that
Americans
were
afflicted
with
too
many
laws.
He
warned
colleagues
that
enforcement
could
undermine
the
independence
of
the
court
by
putting
other
figures
in
a
position
to
judge
the
justices,
according
to
several
people
familiar
with
the
discussions.
Justice
Alito
echoed
some
of
those
concerns.
Gorsuch
might
like
fancying
himself
bound
by
no
rules,
but
the
American
people
pretty
dislike
it.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
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her
with
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questions,
or
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@Kathryn1 or
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@[email protected].