Former Federal Judge Demands Supreme Court Form Ethics Panel
HuffPost
The Supreme Court’s relatively new code of conduct lacks teeth. A former judge and federal watchdog said they know how to change that.
A retired federal judge and federal watchdog are demanding that the Supreme Court create a three-member ethics panel, following a string of embarrassing scandals over undisclosed gifts and travel for judges from right-wing outside groups.
Former U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of California — who also serves as director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute — joined arms with the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington this week to propose a three-member ethics panel that would be, among other things, tasked with giving Supreme Court justices confidential advice and creating a mechanism where a justice’s qualification to preside over a case can be challenged because of “personal bias, prior involvement as legal counsel or financial conflict of interest.”
The renewed push to the court comes as support for an “enforceable” ethics code has emerged publicly from Justices Kentanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan this summer and after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris announced a plan to reform the Supreme Court.
The idea of toughening up the court’s current and mostly feckless code of conduct isn’t that far-fetched. The Supreme Court’s decision to adopt a code of conduct in November 2023 — and for the first time ever in its history — only happened after investigative reporting into the court from groups like ProPublica and others erupted and public backlash followed.
The structure of the proposed panel and how its powers would be outlined resemble existing checks and balances on judicial conduct in the nation’s lower courts. Fogel and Noah Bookbinder, the president of CREW, noted it was Kagan who suggested recently that lower court judges could help enforce the code of conduct for the highest court in the land.
Hannah Kobayashi’s father had traveled to Los Angeles to help search for her.
Natalie Harp has been managing much of the president-elect’s social media activity and formal correspondence, reports The New York Times.
The president-elect used a childish nickname for the journalist and called her "a third rate writer and fourth rate intellect."
Democrats Ron Wyden and Dick Durbin told FIFA president Gianni Infantino: "We urge you to seek out a host country with a record of upholding human rights."
Millions of obese Americans would be eligible to have popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Ozempic covered by Medicare or Medicaid under a new proposed rule.
The incident occurred the same day lawmakers sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asking him to re-ground the military’s entire fleet of V-22 Ospreys.
Trump's own lawyers concluded Boris Epshteyn had asked at least two people for the monthly payments.
The New York Times reporter responded to footage of Pam Bondi, the president-elect's pick for attorney general.
“No, this is not a, ‘Them’s the rules as usual’ kind of situation," said Harry Litman.
Not everyone is buying her excuse for the mistake.
Walmart joins a list of major corporations that have been under pressure by conservative activists.