Last week, Chief Justice John Roberts issued a "Statement of Ethics Principles and Practices," signed by all nine justices — an apparent attempt to head off further criticism.
But a "statement of principles" falls far short of a comprehensive code, argues Lubet, the Williams Memorial Professor at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, who has been writing about the need for the Supreme Court to adopt a code of conduct for nearly two decades.
"It fails to address, or even mention, numerous important ethics issues covered by the Judicial Conference code, such as political activity, solicitation of contributions, avoiding outside influence, ex parte communications and leaking information, public comments on pending cases and reporting misconduct, among others," Lubet writes.
He adds: "The nine justices are extremely intelligent people who routinely adjudicate some of the most complex problems in American government and society. Writing a code of conduct should present no problem for them at all."
Congressional support for legislation calling for a Supreme Court code of ethics seems to be gaining ground, and a code may be needed for the court to begin to rebuild the public's trust.
Of course, Lubet notes, "If the Supreme Court had adopted a code of conduct in 2005, or pretty much any time in the past 18 years, the issue would now be well behind them."
Read the op-ed at TheHill.com.
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