Hirono, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Strengthen Ethics Oversight on the U.S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and four colleagues in introducing the Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act, legislation aimed at promoting ethical conduct and accountability for ethics violations within the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. Representative Daniel Goldman (D-NY) introduced companion legislation in the House earlier this year.

“Americans should be able to have faith in the integrity of the highest court in the land, but the justices rely on each other for ethical guidance, and have no one checking their work,” said Senator Hirono. “This legislation will help to address these issues by establishing offices to provide professional advice to justices on ethical matters and to investigate complaints made against them or their spouses. The American people should be able to trust that justices arrive at decisions fairly and objectively, and the Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act will help to hold the highest court in the land to the highest level of ethical accountability.”

Numerous allegations of ethical improprieties and undisclosed conflicts of interests and gifts, along with refusals to recuse by Supreme Court justices have eroded the public’s trust in the Court and increased demand for more transparency and accountability in the nation’s highest court. 

Specifically, the Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act would establish two new offices within the Supreme Court: 

1. An Office of Ethics Counsel that would provide regular ethics training and advise justices on ethics issues, including disclosing gifts and deciding when to recuse from cases, and
2. An Office of Investigative Counsel that would investigate potential instances of ethical impropriety by justices and report the findings to Congress.

This legislation is endorsed by the following organizations: Fix the Court, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Accountable.US, End Citizens United (ECU), Project on Government Oversight (POGO), P Street, Court Accountability, and Demand Justice.

In addition to Senators Hirono and Booker, the Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Peter Welch (D-VT).

As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Hirono has consistently championed more robust ethics and accountability for the federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court. In May, Senator Hirono introduced the Shadow Docket Sunlight Act, legislation to bring transparency to decisions on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, also called the “shadow docket.” In April, Senator Hirono introduced legislation that would curtail judge shopping across the country by codifying the Judicial Conference’s recently-announced policy requiring the random assignment of judges in major federal cases. In March, Senator Hirono introduced the bipartisan and bicameral Federal Judiciary Stabilization Act, legislation to transition 10 temporary federal judgeships—including one in Hawaii—to permanent status in order to maintain the current level of access to the federal court for millions of Americans across the nation.

The full text of the legislation is available here.

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