Democrats Set The Stage To Hold Alito And Thomas Accountable
It won't happen this year, but if Democrats take back the House, they now have legislation to oversee and investigate the Supreme Court.
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Democrats Prepare A Response To Supreme Court Corruption
Of all of the threats that democracy in the United States currently faces, the one that the system of governance may least be prepared to handle is the current corruption issues within the Supreme Court majority.
From the unreported gift-taking by Justice Thomas and other conservatives on the court to Justice Alito's open right-wing extremist activism, the Supreme Court has entered some new territory, and it is clear that more oversight is needed.
After Alito refused to recuse himself from 1/6 cases over his Stop The Steal activism, House Democrats introduced the Supreme Court Ethics And Investigation Act.
According to the office of Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY):
Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10), Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet Subcommittee Ranking Member Hank Johnson (GA-04), and Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) introduced the ‘Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act.’
This bill would establish dedicated investigative body within the Supreme Court that would provide transparency and accountability through exhaustive investigations into alleged ethical improprieties and reports to Congress on its findings. The ‘Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act’ would also establish an ethics counsel charged with providing advice to justices on ethical issues, including disclosure requirements and recusal.
Here is what the Supreme Court Ethics And Investigations Act does:
Establishes an Office of Ethics Counsel within the Court to advise justices on ethical matters
Provides ethics training and advice to justices and their spouses through dedicated ethics counsels
Establishes an Office of Investigative Counsel within the Court to probe potential instances of ethical impropriety by justices and report to Congress on compliance
Provides Congress the ability to submit ethics complaints to the Office of Investigative Counsel and delivers reports on those complaints in a timely manner
Congress would have oversight power over the Supreme Court.
Congress is currently limited to investigations and impeachment. It has limited ability to raise ethical complaints beyond writing to Chief Justice John Roberts, and there is no mechanism for Congress to get reports on the complaints that they submit.
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