Supreme Court Adopts Ethics Code for Justices Following Scrutiny Over Undisclosed Gifts 

The Supreme Court on Monday adopted an ethics code for justices in light of recent scrutiny over undisclosed gifts to two current justices.

A statement from the court attached to the 14-page Code of Conduct states that “for the most part these rules and principles are not new.”

It adds that 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.”

“To dispel this misunderstanding, we are issuing this Code, which largely represents a codification of principles that we have long regarded as governing our conduct.”

Among the other rules stated, the most notable subsection is labeled “financial activities,” which calls for justices to “comply with the restrictions on acceptance of gifts and the prohibition on solicitation of gifts set forth in the Judicial Conference Regulations on Gifts now in effect.” 

Another notable subsection deals with outside influence, saying justices “should not allow family, social, political, financial, or other relationships to influence official conduct or judgment.”

It adds that justices “should neither knowingly lend the prestige of the judicial office to advance the private interests of the Justice or others nor knowingly convey or permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence the Justice.” 

The justices said that the code is “substantially derived” from an existing code of conduct that applies to the lower court which has now been adapted to the “unique institutional setting of the Supreme Court. But it is unclear how the code would work or who would enforce it.

The release of the ethics code comes after the court faced intense scrutiny to act following a series of reports by ProPublica that found Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito failed to report trips funded by Republican megadonors. 

Reports from the outlet detailed how Republican megadonor Harlan Crow paid for Thomas’ luxury vacations and private jet travel for many years. It also detailed how Crow bought several properties from Thomas and his relatives and paid Thomas’s great-nephew’s private school tuition. 

Another report from the outlet detailed how judicial activist Leonard Leo arranged for Alito to take a fishing trip in Alaska with a billionaire hedge fund manager. 

Both men have since said they didn’t think they needed to report the private jet travel and free trips under the rules in place for the court at the time. 

Justice Sonia Sotomayor also reportedly pushed colleges and libraries to buy her books.

And the new code comes despite the justices releasing a statement in April saying they “reaffirm and restate” their commitment to ethics principles.