Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh said he is “hopeful” the Supreme Court soon will take specific steps to deal with ethics and boost public confidence in the institution.
Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh said Thursday that he is “hopeful” the Supreme Court soon will take specific steps to deal with ethics issues at the court and boost public confidence in the institution.
Kavanaugh made the comments while speaking at a conference of judges and lawyers, after he was asked by Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit about “perceived ethics issues” at the high court.
“The chief justice spoke about that in May and said that we’re continuing to work on those issues and that is accurate, we are continuing to work on those issues,” Kavanaugh said, referring to a speech by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. “And I’m hopeful that there will be some concrete steps taken soon on that.”
Kavanaugh said of his colleagues, “We’re nine public servants that are hard-working and care a lot about the court and care a lot about the judiciary as a whole.” The justices “want that respect for the institution to be shared by the American people, » he added. « To the extent that we can increase confidence, we’re working on that.”
The high court has come under increasing pressure on ethics in recent years after a cascade of revelations about political activity by Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas; lavish vacation travel by Justices Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. that was paid for by Republican benefactors and not reported on annual disclosure forms; and property sales by Justice Thomas that also were not disclosed.
Both Thomas and Alito maintain that the ethics rules do not require disclosure of trips paid for by friends — and did not require reporting of private jet travel until a rules change earlier this year. Experts are divided on that question, but generally agree that Thomas should have reported his property sale to Harlow Crow, a billionaire businessman.
The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced legislation in July that would require the justices to follow disclosure rules as strict as those that apply to members of Congress — including more detailed and timely information about privately sponsored travel, for example.
