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Supreme Court justices have been receiving significant attention lately–possibly more than they should. Justice Clarence Thomas is drawing criticism for taking luxury trips funded by a Republican billionaire and failing to report them, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh is now getting pushback from his fellow justices for having “lightweight” opinions and writing the fewest words of any recent justice.
Straight Arrow News contributor Dr. Rashad Richey says with the amount of power the Supreme Court has, there needs to be an enforceable code of ethics to keep justices like Kavanaugh in line.
He [Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh] was accused of having an inappropriate sexual encounter by a now-university professor. He came over that, at least in the eyes of Republicans, and was confirmed.
But let’s look at SCOTUS as a whole: Clarence Thomas continues to be on the news because a billionaire bought him, his mama, his wife, and his nephew, who’s really like a son to him. You also have undisclosed trips, things of high value. You have this happening with multiple justices. But here’s the reality. These particular judges do not have an official binding code of ethics that they must follow. Every other judge in America does, from a traffic judge, to a county judge, to a state judge, magistrate judge, et cetera. Except the United States Supreme Court.
You see power can only be balanced by the enforcement of penalty if you decide to act outside of the rules. Rules are there so that transparency, fairness can be present for you and I — it’s not for them. It’s for us. And when you have this much power, to where you can overrule the president of the United States if you choose to, there must be appropriate balance.
