Ian Millhiser has an exclusive interview with Rep. Chris Murphy, who has introduced legislation that would strip Supreme Court justices of their immunity from a code of ethical conduct that applies to other federal judges. Murphy suggests that Congressional investigations might be necessary "to determine whether Justice Clarence Thomas' many ethics scandals rise to the level where Thomas is no longer fit to serve on the nation’s highest Court."
QUESTION: Do you think what Thomas has done is as serious as what forced [disgraced former Supreme Court Justice Abe] Fortas off the bench?
MURPHY: I think our problem is we don’t know the full extent of Justice Thomas’ connections to [leading GOP donor] Harlan Crow, or, frankly, to a further network of right-wing funders. What he’s done is incredibly serious. I think, at the very least, his actions should disqualify him from sitting on any cases in which Crow-affiliated organizations are parties to or have attempted to influence [the Court]. But this is starting to rise to the level where there should start to be some real investigations as to whether Clarence Thomas can continue to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court.
He also points out that there's a reason why there's been "deafening silence from Republicans" when it comes to Thomas's ethics scandals.
One of the most shocking speeches that a Supreme Court justice has ever made was one that Justice Thomas made just a few months ago to a group of Virginia law students, in which – with his wife in the audience – he admitted, plainly, that his cause on the Supreme Court as a justice was the exact same cause that his wife was pursuing as the chief organizer of one of the nation’s most prominent Tea Party groups.
Republicans are silent on Thomas for a simple reason. He’s doing their bidding on the Supreme Court today, and they don’t want to do anything that compromises his ability to enforce a political agenda in the United States judicial system.
Rep. Murphy's legislation would prevent this kind of scandal by requiring the Supreme Court justices be subject to the same ethics laws that other members of the judiciary have to follow. It shouldn't be necessary, since someone sitting on the highest court in the land should be above question, but that's obviously and unfortunately not the case. If the blatant disregard for even the appearance of judicial propriety on the part of Scalia, Alito, and Thomas bothers you, sign Rep. Murphy's petition, and show your support for an ethical judiciary.
