Hirono, Colleagues Reintroduce Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act

~ SCERT Act would require the Supreme Court to adopt a binding and enforceable code of ethical conduct ~

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), U.S. Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA), and 26 colleagues in the Senate in reintroducing the bicameral Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act.  The legislation would require Supreme Court justices to adopt a binding code of conduct and create a mechanism to investigate alleged violations of the code of conduct and other laws.  The SCERT Act would improve disclosure and transparency when a justice has a connection to a party or amicus before the Court, end the practice of justices ruling on their own conflicts of interests, and require justices to explain their recusal decisions to the public.

“The members of the highest court in the land should be setting an example of ethical conduct, and yet, Supreme Court justices appointed by presidents of both parties have repeatedly accepted undisclosed gifts, further damaging Americans’ trust in the justice system,” said Senator Hirono. “Supreme Court justices are currently not subject to a binding code of conduct. The SCERT Act would address this and other shortcomings, helping to reinforce accountability and transparency in our judiciary.”

In 2023, reporting from ProPublica and the New York Times has exposed Justice Clarence Thomas’s long record of accepting undisclosed gifts from politically active right-wing billionaires.  Further reporting from ProPublica found that Justice Samuel Alito accepted private jet travel to an all-expenses-paid vacation from a hedge fund billionaire who had contributed over $80 million to Republican political organizations and had business before the Court.  Justice Alito’s luxury vacation was organized by Leonard Leo, the engineer of the current right-wing Supreme Court supermajority at the behest of a cadre of right-wing billionaires and special interests.

The SCERT Act would address these ethical shortfalls and help restore Americans’ faith in the judicial branch.  The bill would:

• Require the Supreme Court to adopt a code of conduct within 180 days;
• Require the Supreme Court to publish its code of conduct and any other rules or procedures related to ethics, financial disclosure, and judicial misconduct;
• Require the Supreme Court to create a transparent process for the public to submit ethics complaints against the justices, and for a random panel of chief judges from the lower courts to investigate and make recommendations based on those complaints;
• Require safeguards modeled on the lower courts’ complaints process to deter and punish frivolous ethics complaints.

Improve Gift Rules and Transparency

• Require the Supreme Court to adopt rules requiring disclosure of gifts, travel, and income received by justices and law clerks that are at least as rigorous as the House and Senate disclosure rules;
• Require the rules for what gifts justices can accept to be as restrictive as Congress’s;
• Require greater disclosure of amicus curiae funding;
• Require parties and amici curiae before the Supreme Court to disclose any recent gifts, travel, or reimbursements they’ve given to a justice;
• Require parties and amici curiae before the Supreme Court to disclose any lobbying or money they spent promoting a justice’s confirmation to the Court.

Strengthen Recusal Requirements

• Create new recusal requirements governing gifts, income, or reimbursements given to judges;
• Create new recusal requirements governing a party’s lobbying or spending money to campaign for a judge’s confirmation;
• Ensure that requests for a judge to recuse are reviewed by a panel of randomly selected, impartial judges, or by the rest of the justices at the Supreme Court;
• Require written notification and explanations of recusal decisions;
• Require the judiciary to develop rules explaining when a judge’s connection to an amicus curiae brief might require recusal; and
• Require the Federal Judicial Center to study and report to Congress every two years on the extent to which the judiciary is complying with recusal requirements.

Congress has an appropriate and well-established role in oversight of the judiciary and updating ethics laws that apply to federal officials, including federal judges and justices.  Congress passed the Ethics in Government Act and judicial recusal law, which expressly apply to Supreme Court justices.  Congress created through statute the Judicial Conference, which administers financial disclosure laws for the entire judiciary.  Congress also has the authority to regulate and make exceptions to which cases justices can hear, outside of a small category of cases required by the Constitution.

The SCERT Act is endorsed by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Fix the Court, Public Citizen, Demand Justice, Accountable.US/Accountable.NOW, Common Cause, Citizens United/Let America Vote, New York City Bar Association, People’s Parity Project, League of Conservation Voters, Court Accountability Action, Free Law Project, American Governance Institute, Lawyers for Good Government, and Stand Up America.

In addition to Senators Hirono and Whitehouse, this legislation is cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The full text of the legislation is available here.

As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Hirono has consistently championed more robust ethics and accountability for the federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court. In November 2024, Senator Hirono introduced the Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act, legislation aimed at promoting ethical conduct and accountability for ethics violations within the U.S. Supreme Court. In September 2024, Senator Hirono led the bipartisan, bicameral Judiciary Accountability Act, which would hold federal judges and other judiciary employees accountable for workplace misconduct. In May 2024, Senator Hirono introduced the Shadow Docket Sunlight Act, legislation to bring transparency to decisions on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, also called the “shadow docket.” In April 2024, Senator Hirono introduced legislation that would curtail judge shopping across the country by codifying the Judicial Conference’s recently-announced policy requiring the random assignment of judges in major federal cases.

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