For years now many of us here in the blogosphere have been telling the world that there was a moral and ethical crisis within our Supreme Court….now a report has been issued but it will be attacked as misinformation and just naysayers popping off.
Some of the judges have been taking favors from special interests and some have been openly partisan and others….well you get the jest….
The report of which I spoke….
A report released Saturday by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee after a 20-month investigation declares the Supreme Court “has mired itself in an ethical crisis of its own making.” The report lists a series of ethical lapses and failures and estimates the value of gifts accepted by Justice Clarence Thomas in the millions of dollars. “The number, value, and extravagance of the gifts accepted by Justice Thomas have no comparison in modern American history,” the report says, per the Washington Post. Those gifts sometimes came from people with issues before the court, it adds.
Congress needs to enact an enforceable ethics code that would provide for an independent panel to review complaints, the report says. The committee approved such a bill this year along party lines, per NBC News, but Republicans prevented a Senate vote. “It’s clear that the justices are losing the trust of the American people at the hands of a gaggle of fawning billionaires,” Chairman Dick Durbin said in a statement. Republicans on the committee did not take part in the investigation.
The report lists previously documented gifts as well as free travel by Thomas that hadn’t been disclosed, including a yacht trip to New York City sponsored by Harlan Crow, a Texas billionaire and Thomas benefactor. Thomas did not answer investigators’ inquiries but previously maintained he wasn’t obligated to report many gifts because they were covered by a “personal hospitality” exemption in force at the time. As polls have shown its public popularity falling, the court approved an ethics code a year ago, per the Post, that has no enforcement mechanism.
More than few people have been calling for some sort of true reform of SCOTUS….from term limits to retirement age to recusal mandatory when appropriate….things need to change the court is NO longer the ‘referee’ of our government but the spokesman for one party.
This is just a wish list as we head into yet another dismal 4 years and all I can do is just fight back as I see fit.
When I read the report I thought ‘seriously? How long did it take to come up with this conclusion? A conclusion that many already have.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Removing a Supreme Court justice in the United States is a rare and serious process that involves impeachment and conviction. Here’s an overview:1. Impeachment by the House of Representatives
2. Trial and Conviction in the Senate
3. Removal from Office
Historical Context
This high threshold ensures the independence of the judiciary by making it difficult to remove justices for political reasons.
That was from ChatGPT. I’m with you!
There will be no impeachment…..reform and lots of change is call for…..these days they are just political hacks. not guardians of our society. chuq
Is that not the whole point of the 49% of Americans who voted for Trump… reform and lots of change? He’s warming up in the batter’s box as we speak, picking his team from the incompetents. Hell, he even wants an imperial America…. Greenland and Panama… tomorrow the world!
Reform? We want it but we did not vote for it. chuq
That is very true. But some people believe they did.
Seems to me that any change would require an amendment to the constitution. The would be
difficult but could be done.
Don’t see any problem that a majority were nominated by presidents of the same party. I suspect that in 1952 most of the justices would have been appointed by democratic party presidents. Democrats had been in the White House for 20 years. Republicans were in the White House for most of the last part of the 19th century. The White House goes back and forth between the parties, sometimes over seemingly long periods of time.
They should be chosen by their knowledge of the Constitution not their political party chuq
I think the scrotum (scrotus)(scotus) or whatever it is called these days would dearly love to replace the executive branch entirely.
I think they like working from the shadows better they are protected for the most part. chuq
John’s right. “They’re coming to take me away… ha-ho, ha-he.. to the funny farm, where life is beautiful all of the time….”
I fear the “Farms” they will be taking us away to will not be so funny…but I am sure you are right about them taking us away to some kind of “Farm,” Venue, Location, –camp….very selectively at first….then more general ….until all the scum has been purged…one way or the other.
Surely this will only get worse under Trump’s second term? He has plenty of rich friends who will be happy to bribe supreme court judges.
Best wishes, Pete.
I am afraid you have hit the nail on the head. chuq