Opinion by Greg Sargent: Finally, a bipartisan response to the Clarence Thomas fiasco emerges
Talk of imposing specific rules on justices while also mandating an enforcement mechanism regularly draws criticism that it would violate the Constitution’s separation of powers. The King-Murkowski proposal appears designed to circumvent that objection.
By requiring the court to clearly state when self-imposed rules have been violated and to reveal what disciplinary action it took, the proposal would remain largely faithful to the oft-praised principle that the court’s own internal pressures should maintain its standards. But it also would give the public a clear glimpse into those inner workings and give lawmakers more information about any violations, enabling Congress to act on its own with clearly defined powers such as impeachment.
that would require the Judicial Conference of the United States to create an ethics code for the court and appoint counsel to run investigations, policing the court from the outside. But even so, the King-Murkowski proposal, if it passed, might compel the court to adopt an ethical code commensurate with thatTo be sure, it’s hard to imagine the proposal passing. Democrats are often skittish about exercising oversight on the judiciary. Republicans view any talk of ethics reform as an assault on their grand project of taking over the courts.
But recall that a wide bipartisan majority backed fixes to the Electoral Count Act. Occasionally, reforms happen if it can be sold as merely shoring up the integrity of institutions and doesn’t trigger negative partisanship.This Supreme Court reform is similar. If lawmakers can’t support requiring the court to police itself, what can they support? As congressional scholar Josh Chafetz told me, “if there’s any Supreme Court ethics bill that can pass the Senate, it would be this.
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