Supreme Court will adopt an ethics code
Kaelan Deese
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The Supreme Court announced Monday the justices will adopt an ethics code as they face increasing pressure over undisclosed travel and gifts.
Concerns about alleged ethical improprieties by the justices ignited earlier this year in April after the nonprofit outlet ProPublica reported that Justice Clarence Thomas had gone on trips paid for by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow. The high court released its new 14-page guidance, which includes rules for accepting travel opportunities, on Monday afternoon.
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The new guidance appears to allow justices to exercise their own discretion for accepting certain travel gifts, stating they “may accept reasonable compensation and reimbursement of expenses for permitted activities” if the source of the gift does not seem intended to influence a justice’s duties “or otherwise appear improper.”
“Expense reimbursement should be limited to the actual or reasonably estimated costs of travel, food, and lodging reasonably incurred by the Justice and, where appropriate to the occasion, by the Justice’s spouse or relative,” the new guidance states under a section titled “COMPENSATION, REIMBURSEMENT, FINANCIAL REPORTING.”
The new guidance, which marks the first time in the high court’s history that the justices have adopted an ethics code, states that the justices have “agreed to comply with the statute governing financial disclosure, and the undersigned Members of the Court each individually reaffirm that commitment.”
In the wake of allegations of ethical impropriety by some justices, including Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Sonia Sotomayor, the high court has repeatedly said it consults the ethical guidance that applies to lower court federal judges.
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Nearly every active justice on the nine-member court has said in recent interviews that it would be a good idea to adopt an ethics code, and the justices have been toiling over a code for years.
Read the 15-page ethics code here:
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