politics @lemmy.world [email protected] @lemm.ee 10mo ago

Under fire, US Supreme Court unveils ethics code for justices

www.reuters.com Under fire, US Supreme Court unveils ethics code for justices

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday announced its first formal code of conduct governing the ethical behavior of its nine justices, bowing to months of outside pressure over revelations of undisclosed luxury trips and hobnobbing with wealthy benefactors.

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I'm not seeing any consequences listed for failure to comply.
- There is no enforcement listed. It's all an attempt to paper over the issue.
  
  We investigated ourselves and found that we have been very naughty. This will be reported to Santa for enforcement.
- Any law or regulation without enforcement is irrelevant.
Thats a lot of shoulds when it needs to read shall
- there's also zero enforcement on the code.
  
  "Yea. We should not be assholes, but we're still gonna be assholes. whatchya gonna do?"
  
  We need checks and balances, but sometimes it feels like the entire machine has never been maintained. What do you do with corruption this widespread?
They are now only allowed to accept four lavish international vacations per year and free usage of yachts 75 feet long or less. /s
This is the best summary I could come up with:

WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday announced its first formal code of conduct governing the ethical behavior of its nine justices, bowing to months of outside pressure over revelations of undisclosed luxury trips and hobnobbing with wealthy benefactors.

Steven Lubet, a legal ethics expert who teaches law at Northwestern University, said the court's code "answers a public demand in a very respectful and thorough way."

The court has been buffeted for months by revelations regarding justices over undisclosed trips on private jets, luxury vacations, real estate and recreational vehicle deals, and more.

The news outlet ProPublica has detailed luxury trips taken for years by Thomas provided by Texas businessman Harlan Crow as well as real estate transactions involving the justice and the billionaire Republican donor.

A report by Senate Democrats found that Thomas apparently failed to repay at least a "significant portion" of a $267,230 loan he received from longtime friend Anthony Welters to buy a luxury motor coach.

ProPublica also detailed an undisclosed 2008 flight that conservative Justice Samuel Alito took on a private jet provided by billionaire hedge fund founder Paul Singer for a luxury fishing trip in Alaska.

The original article contains 665 words, the summary contains 196 words. Saved 71%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

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