Opinion: Supreme Court scandals are no laughing matter

Photo/Sarah Silbiger/The New York Times / Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., displays a photo of Justice Clarence Thomas during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Supreme Court ethics reform on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 2, 2023.
Photo/Sarah Silbiger/The New York Times / Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., displays a photo of Justice Clarence Thomas during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Supreme Court ethics reform on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 2, 2023.

The White House Correspondents' Dinner has always been a hub for controversial satire targeting well-known figures. Last weekend, one of the targets was Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The edgy humor of "The Daily Show" correspondent, Roy Wood Jr., was on full display as Wood roasted Thomas over his unreported luxury trips with billionaire Harlan Crow. Wood ripped up both Crow and Thomas: "This man bought a Supreme Court justice. Do you understand how rich you have to be to buy a Supreme — a Black one on top of that. There's only two in stock, and Harlan Crow owns half the inventory."

As funny as that might seem, the recent Supreme Court scandals are no joking matter. Neil Gorsuch didn't disclose that he sold a 40-acre property to the CEO of a law firm that often argues cases before the court. Chief Justice Roberts' wife, Jane, received $10.3 million from "elite law firms" that had business before the court. And new reporting by ProPublica shows Crow paid the private school tuition of Thomas' grandnephew whom he was raising.

Thomas' justification to his lack of reporting reminds me of my 2-year-old telling me, "I don't have to if I don't want to." Colleague Samuel Alito whined: "We are being hammered daily, and I think quite unfairly in a lot of instances. And nobody, practically nobody, is defending us." Alito was disappointed that the organized legal bar hasn't come to their defense. And instead, "... they've participated to some degree in these attacks."

Alito probably smiled when a high-profile lawyer, Mark Paoletta, (who represented Clarence Thomas' spouse, conservative activist Ginni Thomas, at the Jan. 6 committee last year), argued in the right-leaning National Review that Thomas had "acted properly and consistent with the rules" of financial disclosures for Supreme Court justices. But he's likely not smiling about seeing Paoletta featured in an oil painting commissioned by billionaire Crow of Thomas vacationing at the luxury resort along with Leonard Leo, a lawyer who co-chairs the billionaire-funded, right-wing Federalist Society.

To distract and re-direct criticism, Alito and Republicans are now saying that it's all about "The Left" trying to "de-legitimize" the Supreme Court. Sen. Ted Cruz decried the "political smear job," and Twitter commentators chimed in with comments like these: "The Left needs to be exposed for what they are ... Anti-Republic."

We must continue to insist that the Supreme Court's ethical failures be addressed rather than covered up. Lower court federal judges would have been removed. They're required to follow the policies of the Judicial Conference of the U.S., a governmental body created a century ago to develop a code of conduct for the federal court system. But the Judicial Conference has no authority over the Supreme Court.

So other actions must be taken. In mid-March, new regulations went into effect strengthening financial disclosure requirements for justices who travel, dine or vacation for free at the expense of the wealthy. A good try at transparency, but it's not enough.

The Supreme Court justices must be held accountable; lower court judges are. The court must not become what one tweet called "an unelected, unaccountable, partisan overlord authority," We deserve better from the highest court in the land.

Contact Deborah Levine, an author, trainer/coach and editor of the American Diversity Report, at deborah@diversityreport.com.

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