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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, history was made today with the release of a document by the U.S. Supreme Court. Today, for the first time in the history of the United States, the Supreme Court has issued a code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices. Most Americans will be surprised to learn that this was the first time this code of conduct has been issued, but that is a fact.

I know this issue better than most because 11 years ago, I wrote to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts--along with several of my colleagues--and told him that the establishment of a code of conduct for the Supreme Court Justices was long overdue.

After years of refusing to act, a series of scandalous disclosures involving several Justices on the Court, and the Senate Judiciary Committee passing legislation sponsored by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on ethical reform, the Supreme Court has finally responded. Today, for the first time in history, the Supreme Court of the United States is at least saying to the American people: We hear you and understand that the nine Justices on the Supreme Court are members of a democratic form of government, not royalty, and that they should be held accountable as all public servants in the Federal Government are held accountable.

At a glance, this Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court is similar to the standards that apply to all other lower court Federal judges. The Court's code of conduct sets forth several important canons of conduct, including canons on upholding the integrity and independence of the judiciary and avoiding impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.

All of these are important steps, but they fall short of what we could and should expect when the Supreme Court issues a code of conduct. The Court's statement on the code specifically notes:

For the most part these rules and principles are not new.

That is a problem because the Court's previous practices were plainly inadequate. The Court's new code of conduct does not appear to contain any meaningful enforcement mechanism to hold Justices accountable for any violations of the code. It also leaves a wide range of decisions up to the discretion of individual Justices, including decisions on recusal from sitting on cases.

I am still reviewing the Court's new code of conduct. For now, I would note that the Court's adoption of this code marks a step in the right direction. It may fall short of the ethical standards which other Federal judges are held to, and that is unacceptable. And if it falls short, the American people will ultimately have the last word, and the integrity of the Court is at issue.

We are going to carefully review this proposed code of conduct to evaluate whether it complies with our goal that the highest court in the land not languish with the lowest standard of ethics in our Federal Government. But this release today, long overdue, begins a dialogue which could end in restoring the integrity of the Court, and that is long overdue.

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