Congress Must Pass Supreme Court Ethics Code After Latest Thomas Corruption Revelations

Stand Up America’s Managing Director of Policy and Political Affairs, Brett Edkins, issued the following statement after a Democratic Senator revealed that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose additional private jet flights funded by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow:

“The Supreme Court should be the gold standard for judicial ethics, yet billionaires like Harlan Crow are buying the loyalty of justices one private jet flight at a time.

“Our nation’s highest court has become a political plaything for the ultra-wealthy and well-connected. Congress must step up as a co-equal branch of government and tackle the corruption plaguing the Court. It’s time for our leaders to restore integrity and transparency to the Supreme Court by passing a binding code of ethics and term limits.”

Last year, a poll by Stand Up America, End Citizens United, and Alliance for Justice Action Campaign found 78% of voters want Congress to take action to impose a binding code of ethics and create greater accountability for the U.S. Supreme Court justices. Earlier this year, Stand Up America conducted a poll that found that an overwhelming majority of voters want Congress to take action to reform the Supreme Court, including by passing 18-year term limits for current and future justices.

Stand Up America community members have driven over 900,000 constituent calls and emails to Congress in support of Supreme Court reform legislation, including term limits for current and future justices and a binding code of ethics. In June, Stand Up America launched its Supreme Court Voter campaign, a seven-figure digital campaign aimed at educating and mobilizing voters around the stakes of the Supreme Court for this election.