A recent article came out by NBC News pointing out that because of many judicial improprieties that have been going on, that there have been increased calls for the Supreme Court to be subject to a code of ethics, like all other U.S. courts, but that Chief Justice John Roberts has consistently defended the court’s refusal to adopt one, rejecting all suggestions of congressional or other oversight. The article points out that the Supreme Court has refused for over 50 years to adopt the Judicial Conference code, or any other code, making it the only court in the United States without a formal set of ethics rules. Roberts’ stated position is that the Supreme Court has “no reason to adopt the Code of Conduct as its definitive source of ethical guidance.” Roberts says that “every justice seeks to follow high ethical standards” and that they may turn to “judicial opinions, treatises, scholarly articles and disciplinary decisions,” and also seek advice from one another. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/supreme-court-chief-justice-john-roberts-gives-incomplete-history-lesson-ncna1286943. Roberts has his head in the sand when he suggests that all is hunky-dory in the way that the judiciary policies itself. Contrary to what Roberts… Read More

There is something very fundamentally flawed in the way that federal judges are vetted in the appointment and confirmation process. Federal district court judges, circuit court of appeals and supreme court judges are political appointments and are nominated by the president and confirmed by the senate. Because these are basically lifetime appointments, we should be much more inquisitive in the selection process. Quite frankly, the questions that the senators ask at the senate confirmation hearings of the judicial nominee are getting to be old hat and not helpful to the majority of the population in terms of the limited subject matter of the questions. The public has been quite accustomed to listening to the same types of questions as to the same issues time after time whenever there is a senate confirmation hearing, irrespective of which political party is in power. The issues that are thrust into the confirmation hearings are always the hot button issues involving abortion rights, gun control and so forth, and a small handful of others that have made it to the front pages of the day. It’s the same old drill every time as the… Read More

Chief Justice John Roberts has been recently quoted as saying that the nation’s federal courts are doing a better job of policing themselves which he called essential for the ability of the judicial branch to maintain its independence. Roberts also said that the judiciary’s power to manage its own internal affairs “insulates courts from inappropriate political influence and is crucial to preserving public trust in its work as a separate and co-equal branch of government.” https://nypost.com/2022/01/01/chief-justice-john-roberts-warns-against-inappropriate-political-influence-in-federal-courts/. Roberts must be delusional if he thinks what the courts are doing are “preserving public trust” since the same article in which he was quoted pointed out that the latest Gallup poll showed only a 40 percent approval by the public of the court’s performance, which is down 20 points from two decades ago and a new low for that survey. Roberts then went on to say that the federal courts need to do a better job at spotting potential conflicts that should require judges to take themselves off cases involving companies in which they or members of their families own stock. The article pointed out that a recent Wall Street Journal analysis found… Read More