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Supreme Court Ethics

Floor Speech

Date: Feb. 13, 2019
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Judicial Branch

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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, in recent years, some Americans suspect that politics has infected our courts, particularly the United States Supreme Court. This troubling trend threatens our democracy when the independence of our judiciary is questioned.

Last week, I introduced a bill that requires the Judicial Conference of the United States to create a code of ethical conduct for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Unlike Federal judges, Supreme Court Justices are exempt from the code of conduct. The Supreme Court Ethics Act changes that.

Supreme Court Justices should not be exempt from adhering to the standards other Federal judges must follow. Passage of this necessary ethical reform would restore the public's confidence and perception that the judiciary is independent, impartial, and apolitical; and it would protect public confidence in the rule of law, the inviolability of the judiciary and the incomparable and unique role it plays in the delicate system of checks and balances that sustains our democracy.

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