Justice Jackson signals support for Supreme Court code of ethics in CBS interview

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson indicated in an interview Sunday that she supports a binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court, adding that such requirements are “pretty standard” for the federal judiciary.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson indicated in an interview Sunday that she supports a binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court, adding that such requirements are “pretty standard” for the federal judiciary. “From my perspective, I don’t have any problem with an enforceable code,” Jackson, the newest member of the high court, told “CBS News Sunday Morning” in an interview about her new memoir. “A binding code of ethics is pretty standard for judges. And so I guess the question is, ‘Is the Supreme Court any different?’” Jackson said. “And I guess I have not seen a persuasive reason as to why the court is different than the other courts.” Asked whether she was considering supporting the idea, Jackson said she was “as a general matter.” Jackson is the latest justice to indicate an openness to an enforceable code of ethics at a time when the Supreme Court is facing heavy scrutiny — and near record low approval ratings — because of private jet flights and luxury travel accepted by some members of the court. President Joe Biden called for an enforceable code of conduct in late July. Jackson, Biden’s first and only nominee to the Supreme Court, declined to endorse any particular ethics policy.  She also declined to discuss Justice Clarence Thomas, who has been at the center of the court’s ethics controversies. Thomas initially failed to disclose trips and other gifts from GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, though the conservative justice has said he was following the court’s disclosure rules as he understood them at the time.