How About This for an Ethics Code for the Supreme Court

Following is an Ethics Code for the Supreme Court, drafted by The New York Sun and shared in a friendly spirit.1. No justice is permitted to engage in ex parte conversations or written communications with any person or organization the justice, in his or her best estimate, deems to be animated by a decision of the Court or a matter before it. An ex parte communication means one concerned with a single party or point of view — a hearing in Congress, say, that is ostensibly about ethics but is fueled by unhappiness with, say, the reversal of Roe v. Wade. 2. No justice is permitted to breach separated powers — by, for example, subjecting himself or the Court to an investigation by another branch. This would restrict the justices from participating in, say, a hearing in Congress or answering questions from, say, an inspector general. The danger is that such investigations could be driven by displeasure with a decision of the Court or concerned in respect of a matter before it.3. No justice may recuse himself, for any reason, including a financial interest, if his absence could affect the outcome of a case before the court. Another way of stating this is that the Rule of Necessity and the Duty To Sit trump — no pun intended — any disability. No justice may be removed from the bench save for impeachment for and conviction of any matter that violates the constitutional requirement of “good behavior.”4. No justice may recuse himself because of any behavior or action or statement or financial or political entanglement by a spouse. The reason for this is that otherwise the spouse could be accorded the power to affect the outcome of a case before the Court. No justice may turn down a gift that he would have accepted had he not been on the court, lest the justice be vulnerable, while on the bench, to reverse financial pressure.5. No Justice nor other officer of the court shall disclose, directly or indirectly, how he or she voted in any case. Nor shall any justice sign any opinion. This measure, known as the Rule of Anonymity or the Editorial Writer’s Rule, protects the Justice from pressure or retribution — or blackmail by members of Congress seeking to use the court for political ends. It enables any justice challenged to blame the “court” and allow as how he or she only works there.

How About This for an Ethics Code for the Supreme Court

How About This for an Ethics Code for the Supreme Court

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