Americans don't trust the Supreme Court, but this helps the justices help themselves

The American people want to know that there is a guidebook for occupying a seat on our nation’s highest court.

Importantly, our bill does not prescribe what the code of conduct should look like – based on the separation of powers, we defer to the Court on that. Our bill simply requires the Court to establish its own rules within one year, publish them, and appoint someone to review concerns or complaints. This is not extreme; it would simply bring the Court into alignment with the structure governing judicial conduct across the nation.

Virtually every judge in the country—whether in the state or the federal system—already follows a publicly available code of conduct. The Maine and Alaska state courts both have such codes; in fact, every state court across the nation has its own set of standards, as does the entire federal judicial system. All but the nine justices of the Supreme Court, that is.