Supreme Court to Adopt Code of Ethics Amid Scrutiny From Democrats

The Supreme Court has released its first code of conduct as it faces greater scrutiny from Senate Democrats and calls for ethics reform. Released on Nov. 13, the code touches on a long list of areas related to judicial ethics, including guidelines for recusal and disqualification in proceedings. Criteria surrounding financial, fiduciary, and other external activities were provided as well. Senate Democrats have called for Justices Samuel Alito’s and Clarence Thomas’ recusal from recent cases. Associates of both justices have been the subject of potential subpoenas by the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). Each of the nine justices signed onto the code, which drew on the already existing Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges. The Court said that it already followed existing rules derived from historic practice and other sources, but that “the absence of a Code, however, 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.”...