In April, End Citizens United (ECU) // Let America Vote (LAV) commissioned a poll which found that Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of implementing ethics and transparency reforms in the Court. Ahead of today’s Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act markup, ECU // LAV is calling on Congress to advance this bill and hold the Supreme Court accountable.
“The ongoing scandals plaguing the Supreme Court only serve to reinforce Americans’ deepest concerns about the institution’s alarming lack of ethics and integrity. It’s no secret that the Court fell prey to shadowy dark money groups and billionaires,” said ECU // LAV President Tiffany Muller. “These findings undeniably reflect the public’s demand for greater transparency regarding the justices’ external engagements, with a sharp focus on identifying potential conflicts of interest and ensuring accountability when they break the law. Congress must not ignore these warnings; instead, it should quickly implement the SCERT Act to reestablish faith and confidence in one of our democracy’s most important institutions.”
See coverage of the poll in the American Independent.
Key findings:
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A majority of voters don’t have trust or confidence in the Supreme Court.
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67% of voters believe a code of ethics and a method for investigating violations would restore trust in the institution.
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64% of voters believed that the Supreme Court made decisions based on the influence of special interests and their own political ideology, rather than on a fair and impartial interpretation of the law.
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80% of voters are in favor of requiring organizations that spend money to influence judicial decisions to disclose their largest donors.
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74% of voters feel that there should be strong repercussions for Justice Clarence Thomas’ ethical violations, and believe he should face some sort of penalty.
Click here to read the memo.
Public Policy Polling surveyed 630 voters nationally on April 18 and 19 with a margin of error of +/-3.9%. The interviews were conducted by phone and text.
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