With every new bombshell revelation involving the Supreme Court, it’s clear that the justices on our highest court are holding themselves to a different—a lower—set of standards than every federal judge and official in our democracy. These scandals have incensed a growing call on Congress to not only enforce Supreme Court ethics laws, but to strengthen them as well.
End Citizen United / Let America Vote Action Fund supports two pieces of legislation that would tackle the ethics problems plaguing the court: the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act and the DISCLOSE Act. These bills will offer more transparency into the justices’ outside activities to identify any potential conflicts of interests, and accountability when they run afoul of the law.
Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act:
- Creates and publishes a code of conduct and develops a process for enforcing said code of conduct
- Requires a transparent process for the public to submit ethics complaints against the justices
- Requires SCOTUS to adopt and enforce disclosure rules that are at least as rigorous as the House and Senate disclosure rules
- Creates new recusal requirements governing gifts, income, or reimbursements given to judges
- Requires the Federal Judicial Center to study and report to Congress every two years on the extent to which the judiciary is complying with recusal requirements
- Exposes dark money influence on Supreme Court nominations
- Requires organizations–including super PACs and 501(c)(4) dark money groups–that spend money on judicial nominations to disclose donors who spend $10,000 or more during an election cycle
- Allows voters to know the wealthy donors and special interests spending millions to influence the direction of the Supreme Court
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