End Citizens United (ECU) // Let America Vote (LAV) Action Fund President Tiffany Muller issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decisions in the Biden v. Nebraska case to block President Biden’s historic student loan relief program. The decision comes days after the bombshell ProPublica report on Justice Alito, highlighting his close relationship with billionaire dark money mega-donor Paul Singer, who is chair of the Manhattan Institute, which filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court opposing the student loan relief program.
“Millions of Americans are denied relief because Supreme Court Justices put the interests of their Big Money allies ahead of much-needed student loan relief. Despite the plan’s overwhelming popularity, it was met with intense opposition by the right-wing’s dark money machine and their corporate special interest backers. These are the same corporate and billionaire-funded dark money groups that have helped stack the courts with extremist judges and pushed for corporate tax handouts.
“Justice Alito himself highlighted the corruption within the ranks of the conservative justices. He refused to recuse himself in a case in which his billionaire friend and benefactor Paul Singer had his fingerprints all over.
“The Supreme Court’s inability to adhere to its own ethics laws puts into question their interpretation of all other decisions, and the American people are left to suffer the consequences. It’s clear the only way to ensure fair and equal justice is for Congress to act.”
ECU // LAV 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:
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Creates and publishes a code of conduct and develops a process for enforcing said code of conduct
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Requires a transparent process for the public to submit ethics complaints against the justices
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Requires SCOTUS to adopt and enforce disclosure rules that are at least as rigorous as the House and Senate disclosure rules
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Creates new recusal requirements governing gifts, income, or reimbursements given to judges
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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
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Exposes dark money influence on Supreme Court nominations
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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
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Allows voters to know the wealthy donors and special interests spending millions to influence the direction of the Supreme Court
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