TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Paul Burch on May 2, 2023

Former federal judge J. Michael Luttig told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Congress “has the power under the Constitution” to “enact laws prescribing the ethical standards applicable to the nonjudicial conduct and activities of the Supreme Court of the United States,” CNN reports. The hearing on ethics was called by committee Chair Richard J. Durbin, D-Illinois, after recent reports that Justice Neil Gorsuch failed to disclose a real estate transaction with the chief executive of a law firm that often does business before the court and Justice Clarence Thomas had omitted luxury gifts and real estate deals from his disclosure statements for decades. Last week, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts declined an invitation to appear before the committee, citing concerns about judicial independence.