The U.S. Judicial Conference decided not to refer ethics complaints against Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Justice Department.
According to Fox News, Ethics complaints surrounding undisclosed gifts and income involving Justices Clarence Thomas and Ketanji Brown Jackson have been reviewed, but no further action will be taken by the Department of Justice.
Justice Clarence Thomas received scrutiny over free private travel and gifts from billionaire Harland Crow, prompting calls for an investigation. Despite allegations, he has agreed to follow new guidelines for disclosing such gifts and travel. Justice Thomas amended his financial disclosure statements after these issues came to light.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson also faced an ethics complaint. This one concerned the previously unreported consulting income of her husband. She has since revised her financial disclosures to include this information.
The ethics complaints were initiated by members of Congress and advocacy groups. Notably, Democratic Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Ron Wyden, along with Representative Hank Johnson, questioned Justice Thomas's ethics, while Citizens for Renewing America filed a complaint against Justice Jackson.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse critiqued the Judicial Conference, arguing it failed to enforce Supreme Court accountability. ProPublica had previously disclosed several unreported instances of Justice Thomas receiving private travel and lodging benefits.
Gabe Roth, Executive Director of Fix the Court, expressed discontent with the Judicial Conference's decision, highlighting a perceived neglect in the handling of Supreme Court justices' ethics violations. Roth pushed for Congress to establish a more transparent system to investigate these matters.
Judicial efforts to address these concerns led to the Supreme Court adopting its first ethics code last year. However, the code requires individual justices to decide on compliance, leaving gaps in enforcement.
Judge Robert Conrad, head of the judicial conference's policy-making body, remarked on the limited authority of the Judicial Conference over Supreme Court Justices, indicating constitutional challenges to increasing that authority.
The Justice Department has been inactive regarding another request from Whitehouse and Wyden to appoint a special counsel to investigate former President Donald Trump. This parallels the lack of action on the Supreme Court ethics complaints.
Following the Judicial Conference's decision, advocacy group Fix the Court called for Congress to intervene. They argue that a new, clear mechanism is necessary to address ethical violations by Supreme Court justices.
Last year, a two-year investigation by Senate Democrats uncovered additional unreported luxury travel by Justice Thomas in 2021, raising further questions about the thoroughness of financial disclosures among top justices.
Throughout these investigations and reporting adjustments, debates about the transparency and ethical standards of the U.S. Supreme Court continue. The situation underscores ongoing concerns about the efficacy of internal and external mechanisms in overseeing judicial conduct at the highest levels. Both justices' moves to amend their disclosures served to quell some immediate concerns, but larger questions about ethical transparency in the nation's highest court persist.
