“Every time allegations are made about ethical lapses on the Supreme Court, the same question is asked: Why, unlike federal judges in lower courts, do the nine justices not have a binding code of conduct?” NBC News asked on Wednesday, February 8, 2023.
Because, “Until now, the justices have held firm, even though district court and appeals court judges are bound by a judicial ethics code” (read story here). In other words, they want to be above the rules they apply to other judges.
NBC News noted, “There is also no procedure that allows for complaints to be investigated short of the drastic step of impeachment.” The Framers apparently thought that would be enough to prevent serious misconduct on the highest court, but the impeachment process has broken down. One of the rightwing justices could beat a baby to death and the Republicans in Congress would block removal because they don’t want Biden filling the seat.
So the American Bar Association has called for a code of conduct, and a Democratic senator has introduced a bill to create one and authorize “an ethics investigation lawyer who would have the power to enforce” it, although it’s not clear to me how you enforce anything against a justice Congress isn’t willing to impeach.
A large majority of Americans believe the Supreme Court is broken. A similar large majority also support abortion rights and gun control. But public opinion doesn’t mean squat at this court, whose six rightwing Catholic justices are wildly unrepresentative of the American people and public opinion. And in refusing to adopt a code of conduct they’ve positioned themselves as a law unto themselves.