{"id":96272,"date":"2023-02-12T11:01:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-12T16:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/framinghamsource.com\/?p=96272"},"modified":"2023-02-12T13:41:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-12T18:41:00","slug":"senators-markey-murphy-re-introduce-supreme-court-ethics-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/framinghamsource.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/12\/senators-markey-murphy-re-introduce-supreme-court-ethics-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Senators Markey & Murphy Re-Introduce Supreme Court Ethics Act"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In full transparency, the following is a media release from Sen. Ed Markey, who was elected by voters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to serve the state in Washington DC in the US Senate. He is a Democrat.<\/em> (file photo) SOURCE publishes press release from elected leaders as a community service.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WASHINGTON DC – As public confidence in the Supreme Court falls to an all-time low, <\/strong>Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) joined Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Representative Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) in reintroducing the Supreme Court Ethics Act<\/a><\/em> to require the Judicial Conference of the United States to create a code of ethical conduct for the Supreme Court of the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation would also require the appointment of an Ethics Investigations Counsel and require justices to publicly disclose recusal decisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-N.M.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) co-sponsored the legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cEvery federal judge is bound by a code of ethics \u2013 except for the nine who sit on the highest court in the country. Trust in the Supreme Court is at a historic low because the American people see justices hide their conflicts of interest and openly engage in political behavior. This legislation would help restore some lost faith by requiring the Judicial Conference to create a code of ethics for Supreme Court justices. It\u2019s a simple, non-partisan solution to increase transparency, enforce accountability, and start to rebuild public confidence in the Court,\u201d said Murphy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t a conservative-liberal justice problem \u2013 it\u2019s an American Democracy [capital D] problem when the court regularly faces challenging ethical questions, and because of their crucial and prominent role, the justices receive intense public scrutiny for their choices,\u201d said Johnson, ranking member of the House Judiciary subcommittee on courts. \u201cAs we read more and more about the dealing of the court, it continues to show us what\u2019s going on behind the curtain, more and more of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will be calling for justices to bind themselves to a code of ethics.\u201d         <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Supreme Court of the Unites States ought to be the embodiment of objectivity. As reports of ethically questionable behavior by Justices continue to surface, Congress must close the inexcusable \u2018Supreme Court loophole\u2019 in federal judicial ethics rules by creating and enforcing a code of ethics for Supreme Court Justices. The Supreme Court Ethics Act is a common sense step that we can take to ensure impartiality in deliberations, help reverse the troubling trajectory of public trust in the Court, and hold its Justices to the highest of ethical standards,\u201d said Durbin, chair of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Supreme Court Ethics Act<\/em> would:<\/p>\n\n\n\n