Washington— Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said he had “no problem” with a possible ethics code for the Supreme Court, as the nation’s highest court continues to face questions about ethical practices amid calls from Democrats for stricter rules.
In an interview with “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell for “CBS Sunday Morning,” Jackson suggested she is open to ways to enforce a code of conduct. issued by the Supreme Court in November 2023.
“I’m considering supporting it as a public matter,” he told O’Donnell about the enforcement mechanism. “I’m not going to comment on specific policy proposals. But from my perspective, I don’t have a problem with the code being able to do it.”
Jackson’s comments were made during his first broadcast interview since attend court in June 2022. She is the first Black female judge. The interview comes ahead of the release of her memoir, “Lovely One,” which will be available Tuesday.
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Jackson said the binding ethics code is a “pretty standard” for judges in the nation’s district and appellate courts. Federal judges have been subject to a code of ethics since 1973, but Supreme Court judges are not. The court, for the first time in its history, enforce its own code of conduct Last November after the year weighs whether to have, but does not contain an enforcement mechanism.
Jackson noted that he is bound by the code that he can enforce during his time in the lower court.
“And I guess the question is, ‘Is the Supreme Court different?’ And I don’t see any persuasive reason why the court is different from other courts,” he said.
The lack of a way to enforce the Supreme Court’s ethics rules has prompted scrutiny from President Biden, who last month proposed a binding code of conduct as part of trio of plans for high court reform. The president has called current judicial ethics measures “weak and self-serving.”
Justice Elena Kagan became the first member to publicly advocate for how to implement the new rules when she said the system “would make sense” in remarks at an annual judicial conference last month.
Over the last 16 months, the Supreme Court has come under scrutiny from Congress over its ethical practices, spurred by a series of articles from investigative news outlet ProPublica about Relations of Justice Clarence Thomas with Harlan Crow, Texas real estate developer and billionaire Republican donor.
ProPublica found that Thomas received lavish vacations from Crow and trips on private jets and yachts during his tenure on the Supreme Court, trips that were not included in his annual financial disclosure forms.
Thomas said last year that don’t believe he must list the trip, since he has advised them to consider the personal hospitality of a close friend and therefore not reportable according to the rules at the time. The disclosure guidelines were changed last March by the Judicial Conference, the policy-making body of the federal judiciary, and justices pledged to comply with the new requirements.
In the 2023 financial disclosure reportThomas recorded traveling on Crow’s private jet and staying at his property in the Adirondacks, and reported real estate transactions 2014 with Republican megadonors. Brother the most recent disclosure formreleased to the public in June, included an amendment that noted two trips Crow took in 2019: to Bali and Monte Rio, California.
However, Democratic senators investigating Thomas’s compliance with ethics policies said they found unknown travel, including three journeys of justice take on Crow’s private jet between 2017 and 2021 and a flight over and over again from Hawaii to New Zealand in November 2010.
Justice Samuel Alito has it too face criticism for a fishing trip taken with a wealthy Republican donor in 2008 and for two flags are raised Virginia home exterior and New Jersey vacation home. The two flags – an upside-down American flag and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag – were carried by rioters who stormed the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Alito guarded that he did not participate in raising these flags and did not understand their meaning. They resisted calls to resign of the case before the court related to January 6.
The investigation into the Supreme Court’s ethical practices has led to heightened interest in judges’ disclosure forms, which are filed annually and describe their positions, income, reimbursements, gifts and outside investments for the previous calendar year.
For him, Jackson reported receiving four concert tickets from the singer Beyoncé, worth $3,711, and artwork for his room worth $10,000 and $2,500 in 2023. He also said that he received congratulatory flowers from Oprah Winfrey worth $1,200, a dress and designer jackets. a $6,580 Vogue photo shoot and a $580 painting in 2022, Jackson’s year joined the Supreme Court.
The gift reporting is subject to federal ethics rules that require judges to list information about items received valued at $480 or more.
Jackson told O’Donnell that he believes it is important to follow the rules on ethical obligations because it ensures the public can trust that judges are impartial when hearing and deciding cases.
“It really boils down to impartiality. That’s what the rules are about,” she said. “People have a right to know that you are receiving gifts as a judge so that they can evaluate whether your opinion is unfair.
Jackson told O’Donnell that “very concerning” public trust in the Supreme Court has declined in recent years. August survey of the Pew Research Center conducted just after the court issued the final decision of its term found that less than half of Americans, 47%, have a favorable opinion of the high court. This is a slight increase from 2023, when 44% of Americans view the Supreme Court favorably – a historic high.
“The Supreme Court is a branch of government that has no military power. We have no power of the purse,” said retired Justice Stephen Breyer, his mentor. “What we have or should have is a commitment to the rule of law by the people of this country, and a belief that the courts do what is necessary to uphold the rule of law.”
See also:
Watch more of Norah O’Donnell’s interview with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on “Person to Person,” streaming Thursday, Sept. 5, at 8:30 a.m. ET on CBS News 24/7 and Paramount+.
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