Supreme Court Term Marked by ‘Ethical Rot’: Historian

The Supreme Court’s most recent term is defined by “ethical rot” among the justices, who have faced scrutiny over ties to wealthy donors, historian Jeff Shesol wrote in a New York Times opinion piece.

The court ended the 2022-2023 term last week by issuing a number of rulings including ending affirmative action in education, allowing businesses to decline expressive services to same-sex couples based on their religious beliefs, and ruling against a theory that would rewrite election laws across the United States. The rulings were broadly viewed as an extension of the court’s rightward shift over recent years, although an analysis showed otherwise, and come after the court’s credibility was called into question after it overturned Roe v. Wade, which previously guaranteed abortion rights across the United States in 2022.

While the term will likely be remembered for these decisions, Shesol believes questions about the court’s ethics defined this term, he wrote in an essay titled The Tragedy of John Roberts that was published in the Times on Monday.

“The larger story of this term has been one of ethical rot and official indifference,” he wrote. “Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas drew attention—not for the first time—for their close ties to wealthy benefactors who have business before the court.”

The U.S. Supreme Court is shown at dusk on June 28, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Historian Jeff Shesol wrote in a New York Times essay that the court’s most recent term has been defined by its “ethical rot” amid several scandals facing the justices.
Drew Angerer/Getty

Several justices have recently come under question over their ties to wealthy political donors.

Justice Clarence Thomas, for instance, is facing scrutiny over his ties to Republican megadonor Harlan Crow. ProPublica reported in April that Thomas has accepted luxury vacations from Crow without disclosure. Crow also paid private school tuition for a child raised by Thomas and his wife, according to the investigation. Thomas responded to the ProPublica report by saying he has “always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines” and that it is his “intent to follow this guidance in the future.”

ProPublica has also reported that Justice Samuel Alito accepted a luxury fishing vacation from Republican donor Paul Singer. He has defended himself, saying that the flight to Alaska was the “only occasion” where he accepted transportation to a social event.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, meanwhile, has faced questions about the sale of a propertyhe co-owned to the chief executive of Greenberg Tauri, a law firm that frequently has cases before the Supreme Court. Politico reported that once he learned Gorsuch was among the owners, Greenberg’s Brian Duffy said, he cleared the sale with his firm’s ethics department.

Shesol noted that the “tenor” of the justices’ public statements has also grown “unrestrained.”

“This behavior has bled into the business of the court. Observers have seen a new contentiousness during oral arguments,” he wrote. “Justice Alito’s after-hours persona is increasingly on display and of a piece with his opinions. Dobbs, last year’s decision on abortion rights, was typical of the genre, notable not only for its results but its biting, indignant and sometimes exultant tone.”

Newsweek reached out to the Supreme Court’s public affairs office for comment.

Concerns about the justices’ ethics have prompted calls for an ethical code to be imposed on the court, as they are currently not bound by such rules.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, suggested on Sunday that Congress should investigate potential conflicts of interest as well as pass ethical guidelines to prevent judicial “overreach.”

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