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Ethics Reform Reports
Judicial Ethics Editorial Packet
Judicial Ethics Editorial Packet Read More »
Letter from Rep Murphy Calling for Judiciary Committee Hearings
Letter from Rep Murphy Calling for Judiciary Committee Hearings Read More »
HR 862 Letter
Letter calling for hearings on HR 862 Read More »
Judicial Conference Letter 0913
Letter to James Duff from AFJ and Common Cause Read More »
Letter from AFJ and Common Cause to the Judicial Conference calling for an investigation into Justice Thomas’ disclosures
This letter is to follow-up on the Common Cause and Alliance for Justice letter dated September 13, 2011, requesting that the Judicial Conference take action on Justice Clarence Thomas’s apparent violations of the Ethics in Government Act. The letter was forwarded to the Judicial Conference Committee on Financial Disclosure on September 26, 2011. Since then, new information has come to light that makes more clear and compelling the Judicial Conference’s statutory obligation to refer the matter to the Department of Justice. Read More »
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s Disclosure of Virginia Thomas’s Employment
Table showing Justice Thomas’ disclosure of Virginia Thomas’ employment between 1987 and 2009 Read More »
Judicial Ethics Reform: Recusal AFJ Memo
Judicial Ethics Reform: Recusal AFJ Memo Read More »
Supreme Court Ethics Reform: Code of Conduct Memo
Courts, in our system, elaborate principles of law in the course of resolving disputes. The power and the prerogative of a court to perform this function rest, in the end, upon the respect accorded to its judgments. The citizen’s respect for judgments depends in turn upon the issuing court’s absolute probity. Judicial integrity is, in consequence, a state interest of the highest order.” Read More »
Code of Conduct One-Pager
Supreme Court Ethics Reform - Code of Conduct One-Pager Read More »
Ethics in Government Act Memo
A memorandum explaining the financial disclosure rules that apply to Supreme Court justices, and the consequences for failing to disclose information Read More »
Recusal One-Pager
Supreme Court Ethics Reform: Recusal One-Pager Read More »
Roberts Letter (12/22/2011)
With the time fast approaching for your annual Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary, I am writing on behalf of Alliance for Justice to respectfully urge you to take advantage of this important opportunity to address questions that have arisen about the ethical standards governing the Supreme Court. We, among many others, are growing increasingly concerned that the recent decline in public approval of the Court is due in part not only to the well-publicized and ethically questionable actions of some justices, but also to the lack of clear and unequivocal precepts governing justices’ behavior. Read More »
Federalist Society Fundraiser
Supreme Court justices are the only federal judges not formally bound by the Code of Conduct, a set of ethical guidelines that exist to promote public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary. As a result, a handful of justices have again and again engaged in conduct that crosses the ethical lines set in the Code of Conduct. Most recently, Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas served as the featured speakers for the Federalist Society’s 2011 Annual Dinner, a function designed, in part, to thank donors and to raise money for the organization. Read More »
Coalition Letter to Chief Justice Roberts
The Alliance for Justice and ten other reform-minded organizations have sent a letter to the justices of the Supreme Court calling upon them to formally and voluntarily bind themselves to the Code of Conduct for United States Judges. The Code of Conduct applies to all other members of the federal judiciary; only the nine justices of the Supreme Court are exempt. The members of the Court state that they look to the Code for guidance and act as if bound by it; however, behavior by some of the justices, including attending and speaking at overtly political gatherings and participating in fundraisers, belies this claim. We call on the justices of the Supreme Court to take affirmative action to assure the public of their commitment to the highest standards of ethics by formally adopting and binding themselves to the Code of Conduct, action they can, and should, take on their own. Read More »
Law Professor Letter to SCOTUS (2012)
Law Professor Letter to SCOTUS (2012) Read More »
Hart Research: Supreme Court (June 2012)
On behalf of the Alliance for Justice, Hart Research conducted a nationwide telephone survey among 808 voters from May 1 to 4, 2012. These interviews assessed voters’ views and concerns about the Supreme Court in general as well as the upcoming decision on the health care law. The survey’s margin of error is 3.5percentage points for the full sample, and higher among subgroups. This memo reports the survey’s key findings. Read More »
The Federalist Society: 2012 Annual Dinner Program
The Federalist Society: 2012 Annual Dinner Program Read More »
