End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund Legislative Affairs Director Rushad Thomas issued the following statement ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s markup of the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act:
“Following bombshell reports on the questionable ethical practices and blatant corruption of Supreme Court justices, it comes as no surprise that Americans have no trust in the Court. As these ethics crises mount, Senate Democrats have an antidote: the SCERT Act.
“The SCERT Act would force the court to adopt a higher, necessary standard of accountability and transparency—which federal and lower court judges already follow. It’s unacceptable that justices on our highest Court are not held to account for their unethical actions and relationships, which impact the lives of millions.
“We thank Senator Whitehouse and Senator Durbin for their continued leadership on this important bill, and we urge the Senate to swiftly pass it—we can’t wait any longer while this corrupt court is bought by billionaires and shadowy special interest groups.”
Details of the SCERT Act:
Create Code of Conduct and Develop a Process for Enforcement
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Require the Supreme Court to adopt a code of conduct within 180 days;
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Require the Supreme Court to publish its code of conduct and any other rules or procedures related to ethics, financial disclosure, and judicial misconduct;
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Require the Supreme Court to create a transparent process for the public to submit ethics complaints against the Justices, and for a random panel of chief judges from the lower courts to investigate and make recommendations based on those complaints.
Improve Hospitality and Financial Disclosures
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Require the Supreme Court to adopt rules requiring disclosure rules for gifts, travel, and income received by Justices and law clerks that are at least as rigorous as the House and Senate disclosure rules;
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Require greater disclosure of amicus curiae funding;
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Require parties and amici curiae before the Supreme Court to disclose any recent gifts, travel, or reimbursements they’ve given to a Justice;
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Require parties and amici curiae before the Supreme Court to disclose any lobbying or money they spent promoting a Justice’s confirmation to the Court.
Strengthen Recusal Requirements
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Create new recusal requirements governing gifts, income, or reimbursements given to judges;
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Create new recusal requirements governing a party’s lobbying or spending money to campaign for a judge’s confirmation;
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Ensure that requests for a judge to recuse are reviewed by a panel of randomly selected, impartial judges, or by the rest of the Justices at the Supreme Court;
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Require written notification and explanations of recusal decisions;
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Require the judiciary to develop rules explaining when a judge’s connection to an amicus curiae brief might require recusal; and
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Require 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.
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