Yes, you all know that I have contempt for Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin. When it comes to the SCOTUS corruption and naked partisanship, we get lame calls for Alito or Thomas to recuse themselves and nothing else. We get Senator Blumenthal appearing on TV to tell us, “Well, the big bad Republicans won’t let us do anything!” and then a shoulder shrug. Now, we get two “new” things. Josh Marshall says low energy Durbin released another press release that looks like it is from someone who takes Alito’s open arrogance that he is above the constitutional system seriously. And Senator Sheldon Whitehouse drops hints to Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC that the Judiciary Committee will do something about Alito.
I don’t know about you all, but fuck their tea leaves. Just tell me if you are going to really do an investigation or maybe call Alito or Roberts to testify to the Judiciary Committee. Don’t treat me like a kid around Christmas time with hints of what Santa will bring, then I get a pair of ugly socks under the Christmas tree instead. Because when it comes to Durbin and his committee doing anything about the SCOTUS, it makes me long for the ugly socks.
What I really get is coal in my stocking.
Here’s the link to Josh Marshall and the latest press release from Dick Durbin. Read it for yourself. I don’t want to get busted for plagiarism for just copying and pasting it for all to see in this diary.
As for Sheldon Whitehouse, here is the interview with Lawrence O’Donnell.
So we have gone from “Yeah, you should recuse Dude. Someday. Maybe.” Then, “We can’t do anything because Republicans block us, so why even try?” Now, MAYBE we might get serious about you Alito!
Wake me when this is over.
NOTE: Here’s the press release.
Durbin: Justice Alito Must Recuse Himself From Cases Related To The 2020 Election After 'Appeal To Heaven' Flag Was Flown At His Home
Durbin Also Called For The Passage Of The SCERT Act, Legislation That Requires Supreme Court Justices To Adopt A Binding Code Of Ethics
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after a New York Times report that an “Appeal to Heaven” flag—a symbol carried on January 6—was flown at Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s vacation home:
“This incident is yet another example of apparent ethical misconduct by a sitting justice, and it adds to the Court’s ongoing ethical crisis. For the good of our country and the Court, Justice Alito must recuse himself immediately from cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection. And the Chief Justice must see how this is damaging the Court and immediately enact an enforceable code of conduct.
“This episode will further erode public faith in the Court. The Senate Judiciary Committee has been investigating the ethical crisis at the Court for more than a year, and that investigation continues. And we remain focused on ensuring the Supreme Court adopts an enforceable code of conduct, which we can do by passing the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act.”
Durbin has continuously called for the passage of the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act, legislation that the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced last July. The bill would require Supreme Court justices to adopt a binding code of conduct, create a mechanism to investigate alleged violations of the code of conduct and other laws, improve disclosure and transparency when a justice has a connection to a party or amicus before the Court, and require justices to explain their recusal decisions to the public.
Durbin has been calling on the Supreme Court to adopt an enforceable code of conduct for more than a decade. He first sent a letter to the Chief Justice on this issue more than 12 years ago.
Now, something I heard from Jamel Bouie of the NYT while he was on Chris Hayes’s show. Congress does have the power of the purse, so they can call to zero out Alito’s budget for law clerks and even take away his office. I know. If it’s up to votes NOW, Democrats cannot do this. But I think if we get the House and keep the Senate, Alito has to be shown that his arrogance of power has limits. When’s the last damn time Alito did some actual work? You think Alito is a mean old bastard now, just think of him having to do all of his own damn work on the SCOTUS. It is a thought.