The U.S Supreme Court is an institution that has traditionally been held to extremely high standards of ethics and integrity.
All eyes are currently on Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who has come under fire for using her taxpayer-funded staff to pressure universities and organizations into purchasing hundreds or even thousands of copies of her books prior to speeches she gives.
The Associated Press obtained documents from public institutions across the nation which have hosted Sotomayor since 2009, revealing how her staffers were actively pushing for these books sales.
This case brings up some very important issues regarding federal ethics laws and whether or not the Supreme Court should be exempt from them.
Members of Congress and other government employees are prevented by law from doing something like this, yet the court itself is allowed to enforce its own set of ethical guidelines without any external oversight or accountability.
In a statement given to the AP, the court said that judicial ethics guidance “suggests that a judge may sign copies of his or her work, which may also be available for sale” so long as there is “no requirement or suggestion that attendees are required to purchase books in order to attend.”
However, Kedric Payne—a former deputy chief counsel at the Office of Congressional Ethics—points out that “this is one of the most basic tenets of ethics laws that protects taxpayer dollars from misuse,” suggesting there needs to be someone outside the court enforcing these rules if justice is truly being served.
Additionally, it’s worth noting that while Justice Sotomayor’s office claims no one was ever required to buy a book in order to attend an event with her, officials at The University Of Michigan still reported shelling out $110 000 for 11 000 copies of ‘My Beloved World’ back in 2018 as part of their first year law students’ reading material – raising further questions regarding ethical conduct within the highest bench in America.
The criticism surrounding Supreme Court justices stepped up earlier this year when ProPublica released a years-long investigation into Clarence Thomas for his suspected connection with conservative corporate leaders potentially trying influence his future votes on cases presented before him.
This prompted increasing scrutiny over both liberal and conservative justices who do not face term limits nor substantial repercussions for alleged misconduct. As a result, American’s trust in the court system dropped to 25 percent according to Gallup polling data taken since 1973 – indicating an all time low confidence rating among citizens nationwide.
With so much attention being directed towards members of such esteemed positions within our government it’s important we take steps towards protecting our democracy by seriously considering steps which could help us restore faith amongst citizens when it comes to ensuring fair practices within our justice system.
Perhaps evaluating existing regulations might help us get closer towards achieving this goal? Only time will tell what direction we take next but as always Americans must remain informed and vigilant when it comes upholding democracy here at home!
