Rep. Johnson, Sen. Whitehouse Re-Introduce Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As a part of his ongoing effort to protect and bolster the U.S. Supreme Court’s independence, impartiality and accountability, Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) – ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet -- today re-introduced his Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act.
The bill requires justices of the Supreme Court to adopt and follow a binding code of ethics with an enforcement mechanism for resolving ethics or misconduct complaints, creates a process to investigate and enforce violations of the code, mandates improvements to the recusal process, places transparency standards on gifts and travel, and prevents shadow lobbying by litigants and amici curiae by requiring amici to disclose more information about who is funding their amicus briefs.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) introduced the companion bill in the Senate.
“A judiciary whose members are accountable for their conduct, that is transparent to its citizens, and that is free from bias or partiality is truly independent,” said Ranking Member Johnson. “Americans need to feel confident that when serious concerns arise, the judiciary can diligently investigate and correct judicial misconduct, no matter who might be implicated. That is a judiciary whose judgements will be accepted, observed and respected. An independent judiciary is crucial to our democracy now more than ever.”
“Supreme Court justices have repeatedly gotten caught red-handed receiving extravagant gifts from politically active billionaires and refusing to report the gifts as required by law. It’s not even clear proper taxes were paid. Despite these ethical problems, the Court does not allow basic fact-finding regarding the justices’ behavior, or any neutral process to resolve ethics questions,” said Sen. Whitehouse. “This Court has repeatedly proven that it cannot police itself, so it’s time for fair and transparent guardrails, with clear procedures for receiving, investigating, and resolving ethics complaints. With Trump’s persistent improper pressure on the judiciary, it’s now urgent to get this right.”
As a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Courts, Rep. Johnson has been committed to bringing more independence, accountability and transparency to this nation's highest court. The SCERT Act will do just that.
Original cosponsors include: Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03); Jennifer L. McClellan (VA-04); Jill Tokuda (HI-02); Lloyd Doggett (TX-37); André Carson (IN-07); Madeleine Dean (PA-04); Julia Brownley (CA-26); Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02); Maxwell Frost (FL-10); Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC); Chellie Pingree (ME-01); Dan Goldman (NY-10); Jerrold Nadler (NY-12); Deborah K. Ross (NC-02); Ted W. Lieu (CA-36); Cleo Fields (LA-06); Summer Lee (PA-12); Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05); Eric Swalwell (CA-14); Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11); Greg Stanton (AZ-04); Juan Vargas (CA-52); Jamie Raskin (MD-08); Dave Min (CA-47); Angie Craig (MN-02); Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and Joe Neguse (CO-02).
Supporting Groups: Fix the Court, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Public Citizen, Common Cause, Demand Justice, Accountable.US/Accountable.NOW, End Citizens United/Let America Vote, New York City Bar Association, People’s Parity Project, League of Conservation Voters, Court Accountability Action, Free Law Project, American Governance Institute, Lawyers for Good Government, Stand Up America.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
“Ethics reform for the Supreme Court is long overdue,” said Maggie Jo Buchanan, Interim Executive Director of Demand Justice. “The American people deserve a Court they can trust and respect--not one that is beholden to special interest groups and billionaire donors. Scandal after scandal has shown that the Court is unwilling to hold itself to the ethical standard that all other federal judges are sworn to uphold. Congress can and must act, and this bill is a necessary first step.”
“Nearly 80 percent of voters want Congress to pass a binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court. Congress must prioritize ensuring a Supreme Court free of corruption,” said Brett Edkins, Managing Director of Policy and Political Affairs, Stand Up America. Passing the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act is an essential step toward guaranteeing high ethical standards and restoring trust in our nation’s highest court. Representative Johnson has been a steadfast leader on Supreme Court reform, and we look forward to continuing rallying support around this effort with our two million members across the country.”
“Americans deserve a legal system that isn’t influenced by billionaires, big corporations, and special interest backers advancing an agenda that shifts power away from ordinary families,” said Accountable.US/Accountable.NOW Executive Director Tony Carrk. “But the Supreme Court’s corruption crisis has repeatedly made clear how broken our Courts are and the urgent need for reform. That has been especially clear in recent months, as President Trump’s unconstitutional and self-dealing actions have made the need for public trust in our judiciary even more critical. The SCERT Act would substantially strengthen ethics standards. We applaud Senator Whitehouse and Representative Johnson and their cosponsors for leading the charge to restore credibility and integrity to our highest Court.”
“In a democracy the Supreme Court must be able to issue rulings independently and without misconduct, bias or undue influence,” said Debra Perlin, Vice President for Policy at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). “The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency Act (SCERT) helps to achieve this goal. By establishing a process for filing and investigating misconduct complaints, preventing abuse of those procedures, creating strict requirements for disclosing and accepting gifts and mandating robust transparency and disqualification measures, SCERT ensures that the public has important information about the justices’ activities, eliminates questions about what conflicts might lie behind closed doors and serves to restore the Court's shaken credibility. CREW applauds Senator Whitehouse and Representative Johnson for reintroducing this critical legislation and urges both houses to pass it expeditiously.”
“There are countless examples across the ages of Congress regulating certain institutional features of the Supreme Court, from its calendar to its funding structure to its financial disclosure responsibilities. Sen. Whitehouse's and Rep. Johnson’s bill maintains that history and tradition by strengthening the justices' conflict-of-interest rules, toughening gift and travel rules and instituting real enforceable ethics. It might be a tautology but raising the bar raises the bar, and the Court should welcome this opportunity — thanks to the continued efforts led by Sen. Whitehouse and Rep. Johnson — to reassert some ethical leadership,” said Fix the Court's Gabe Roth.
“The Supreme Court has been evolving into the most powerful branch of government, dictating what is and is not constitutional, with no oversight and no popular reprieve. Political partisans who cannot win at the polls have tapped into this and stacked the unaccountable court in their favor. Public Citizen wholly endorses this legislation that would help restore the balance of power between the three branches of government,” said Craig Holman, Ph.D., Public Citizen.
Read the bill HERE.
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