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“I just think judges are not so afraid of us. I think there are plenty of judges around this country who could do a task like that in a very fair-minded & serious way” #Kagan said.

Kagan was expanding on her recent suggestion that Chief Justice #JohnRoberts appoint an outside panel of highly experienced judges to review allegations of wrongdoing or #recusal decisions by the justices, some of whom face questions over unreported gifts & conflicts of interest in key cases.

#SCOTUS adopted a code of conduct specific to the 9 justices last fall for the first time. But the policy was quickly panned because it does not include a way to examine alleged misconduct, review whether the justices have recused themselves when necessary, or clear or sanction justices who might violate the rules.

Having an #oversight cmte made up of well-respected lower-court judges “seems like a good idea to me in terms of ensuring that we comply with our code of conduct going forward in the future; it seems like a good idea in terms of ensuring that people have confidence that we’re doing exactly that,” #Kagan said during a wide-ranging conversation at NYU #Law School w/professor Melissa Murray….

Related ICYMI:

Justice #Alito reports concert tickets, #stocks in 2023 financials

Chief Justice #JohnRoberts & Justice Samuel Alito are the only members of #SCOTUS [that we know of; #ClarenceThomas] who own individual stocks.

Alito received concert tickets valued at $900 last year from a German princess known for her #conservative #Catholic views & sold stock in a beer company targeted by anti-#LGBTQ+ activists, acc/to his financial disclosure form released Fri.

#law
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/09/06/supreme-court-alito-financial-disclosures/

#Alito continues to own individual #stock in >2 dozen companies — a practice that is permitted, but that #transparency advocates caution can lead to conflicts of interest that require #recusal from key cases. The justice reported owning stock in Abbott Laboratories, Boeing & ConocoPhillips, among several other companies.

Chief Justice #JohnRoberts is the only other member of #SCOTUS who owns individual stocks; most other justices invest in mutual funds.

#Alito’s 2023 disclosure report was made public nearly 3 months after the reports by the rest of the justices; he requested an extension to file, as he has done in previous yrs.

The filing did not include any travel reimbursements, a category that has drawn increased interest since the revelation in recent years that Justice #ClarenceThomas — &, to a lesser extent, Alito — had received private jet trips & lavish vacations from wealthy benefactors & had not disclosed them.

The report also showed that #Alito has repaid most of a #loan from Edward Jones taken in 2015 & originally valued at between $250,001 & $500,000. Alito noted that he had updated past disclosure forms from 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2022, where he said mention of the loan was *inadvertently* omitted.

#SCOTUS #law #ethics

Justice #Alito reported receiving concert tickets from Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, a European socialite nicknamed “Princess TNT” by Vanity Fair. …It’s unclear where the concert was located or how the trip to the venue was funded.

The NYT reported in 2018 that the princess’s castle in Regensburg, Germany, has become a hub for #disgruntled #RightWing #Catholic #elites & cardinals like German cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller.

Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, Müller & Brian S. Brown, a prominent anti-#LGBTQ+ rights activist, visited #Alito & Justice Brett M. #Kavanaugh at #SCOTUS in 2019, acc/to a photo Brown posted on…[social media].

#FarRight #hate #LGBTQ #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #law #ethics
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/world/europe/princess-gloria-von-thurn-und-taxis-francis.html

#GinniThomas, wife of #SCOTUS Justice #ClarenceThomas, Privately Praised Group Working Against #SupremeCourtReform: “Thank You So, So, So Much”

In a call w/donors, First Liberty Institute’s Kelly Shackelford read the supportive email he said came from Thomas. The leader of the #religious-rights group also labeled Justice Elena Kagan “treasonous” for backing a stronger #ethics code.

#law
https://www.propublica.org/article/ginni-thomas-email-scotus-ethics-reform-first-liberty-institute

#GinniThomas expressed her appreciation in an email sent to #KellyShackelford, an influential litigator whose clients have won cases at #SCOTUS. Shackelford runs the #FirstLibertyInstitute, a $25 million-a-year organization that describes itself as “the largest #legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious liberty for all Americans.”

Shackelford read Thomas’ email aloud on a July 31 private call w/his group’s top donors.

#GinniThomas wrote that #FirstLiberty’s opposition to court-reform proposals gave a boost to certain judges. Acc/to Shackelford, Thomas wrote in all caps: “YOU GUYS HAVE FILLED THE SAILS OF MANY JUDGES. CAN I JUST TELL YOU, THANK YOU SO, SO, SO MUCH.”

Shackelford said he saw Thomas’ support as evidence that #judges, who “can’t go out into the political sphere & fight,” were thankful for their work to block #SCOTUS reform.

On the same call, Shackelford attacked Justice #ElenaKagan as “treasonous” & “disloyal” after she endorsed an #enforcement mechanism for the court’s newly adopted #ethics code in a recent public appearance. He said that such an ethics code would “destroy the independence of the judiciary.” (This past weekend, Justice #KetanjiBrownJackson said she too was open to an enforceable ethics code for #SCOTUS.)