The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 13 issued a code of conduct for justices. The code sets out specific ethical guidelines for the justices and explains when justices may need to disclose personal or financial relationships.
The announcement of the code came after the American Bar Association urged the Supreme Court to codify an ethical code earlier this year. Amid declining public trust in the nation’s high court, various individuals, legislative bodies and organizations have called for increased transparency and ethical guidelines in recent years.
What’s in the New Code of Conduct?
Canon 2 of the code relates to impropriety and any appearance of impropriety. The code states that “a Justice should respect and comply with the law and act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.” Among other rules, the code says a justice “shouldn’t allow family, social, political, financial or other relationships to influence official conduct or judgment.” The section goes on to note that justices shouldn’t hold memberships in organizations that discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion or national origin. Canon 2 also stipulates that justices shouldn’t voluntarily testify as a character witness.
Canon 3 notes simply that justices “shouldn’t be swayed by partisan interests, public clamor, or fear of criticism.”
Canon 4D(3) and 4H “articulate the practice formalized in 1991 of individual Justices following the financial disclosure requirements and limitations on gifts, outside earned income, outside employment, and honoraria.” This section of the code notes that the justices file the same annual financial disclosure reports as other federal judges and says the reports disclose the justices’ “non-governmental income, investments, gifts, and reimbursements from third parties.” Justices file those reports through the Judicial Conference Committee on Financial Disclosure, according to the Nov. 13 document published by the Supreme Court.
Also in Canon 4, the code allows justices to accept “comprehensive security protections” as “high-profile public figures,” possibly referencing various security concerns dating back to last year.
Also included in the code are provisions related to recusal. It states the provisions largely “depend on the Justice’s knowledge of certain relationships or interests” and goes on to note the volume of petitions the high court receives, stating that around 97% of them are denied without joint discussion and don’t have a reasonable prospect of certiorari review. The code also notes that recusals are up to the justices and not the court.
Under the recusal canon, the court opined in the code that “the loss of even one Justice may undermine the ‘fruitful interchange of minds which is indispensable’ to the Court’s decision-making process.”
The court noted in the code that it would continue to seek guidance from the Office of Legal Counsel and the staff of the Judicial Conference committees. The Office of Legal Counsel will also maintain specific guidance about ethics, disclosure and finance issues as they come up.