(Washington) The nine judges of the American Supreme Court, facing virulent criticism, particularly for the behavior of some of its most conservative members, adopted a code of conduct on Monday.
Most legal commentators immediately noted that this nine-page code of conduct, published on the Court’s website, did not provide for any sanction or enforcement mechanism.
The nine judges appointed for life by the current president – currently six conservatives and three progressives – were until now the only federal judges not subject to an explicit code of conduct.
In a press release on the first page of this document, the nine judges, all signatories to the text, affirm that “for the most part these rules and principles are not new”.
PHOTO OLIVIER DOULIERY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
The nine justices of the Supreme Court of the United States from left to right: 1D row Sonia Sotomayor, Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan, and on the 2e row Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson
“The absence of a code has, however, led in recent years to the misunderstanding according to which the judges of this Court, unlike all other jurists in the country, consider themselves exempt from any ethical rule,” they add, explaining posting this code to “clear up this misunderstanding”.
In particular, the influential Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been campaigning for months for the adoption of a binding ethics code for Supreme Court justices.
In addition to very general principles, notably on conflicts of interest, the document published Monday sets out rules regarding participation in public events or acceptance of gifts.
The two most conservative judges, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, were singled out for the largesse they received from Republican billionaires, including in the form of trips or stays.
A Democratic senator from the Judiciary Committee, Sheldon Whitehouse, welcomed in a press release “a measure which was long overdue from the judges” of the Supreme Court.
“But a code of ethics is not binding without a mechanism to investigate possible violations and enforce the rules,” he stressed, pleading for the adoption of his text tabled in the Senate on the Supreme Court.
Popularity and confidence in this crucial institution of American democracy have sunk to unprecedented levels over the past two years, in particular due to the conservative majority’s overthrow of pillars of liberal American society in the 1960s and 1970s, starting with the law. federal government on abortion in June 2022.
Only 41% of Americans approve of the Supreme Court’s action, according to a Gallup poll released at the end of September.