On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced the adoption of a code of ethics amid allegations of ethics lapses.
As reported by NBC News, the high court published a 14-page document that included five canons of conduct regarding various matters, including when justices should recuse themselves and what types of external activities they can engage in.
“The undersigned justices are promulgating this Code of Conduct to set out succinctly and gather in one place the ethics rules and principles that guide the conduct of the Members of the Court,” the justices said in an attached statement, which they all signed.
Although there have been existing principles, there has never been a published code.
“The absence of a Code … has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the Justices of this Court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules,” the statement said. The Hill reported. “To dispel this misunderstanding, we are issuing this Code, which largely represents a codification of principles we have long regarded as governing our conduct.”
On Monday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) contended that although the newly adopted ethics code is “important steps, they fall short of what we could and should expect,” such as leaving many decisions up to the individual justices.
“For now, I will note that the court’s adoption of this code marks a step in the right direction,” he added.
“It may fall short of the ethical standards which other federal judges are held to, and that’s unacceptable, and if it falls short, the American people will ultimately have the last word, and the court’s integrity is at issue.”
According to the General Social Survey by NORC at the University of Chicago, about 18 percent of Americans say they have confidence in the Supreme Court, which dropped from 26 percent in 2021. Meanwhile, 36 percent said they do not have confidence in the nation’s high court, which was an increase from 21 percent.
As reported by the Associated Press, 46 percent of Americans have “only some” confidence in the Supreme Court.
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Video Courtesy: Reuters via YouTube
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for Christian Headlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
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