Staff Reports
On Wednesday, ProPublica came out with yet another hit piece against conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, in a clear attempt to smear his reputation. However, Justice Alito was one step ahead, as Ryan reports. And in typical fashion, Democrat Senators Dick Durbin and Sheldon Whitehouse jumped on the opportunity to grandstand and announce a markup of their so-called “Supreme Court Ethics Reform Legislation” following the 4th of July holiday, lamenting about a supposed “crisis.”
Chairman Dick Durbin Reveals He's Moving Ahead With 'Ethics' Code for SCOTUS After 4th of July https://t.co/n1zFGWkANo
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 22, 2023
This legislation, which was introduced in April by Senators Angus King and Lisa Murkowski, would require the Supreme Court to create a code of conduct that would be available to the public. Of course, Murkowski is the only Republican co-sponsor of the bill, and it’s unclear if the legislation will even earn the necessary nine Republican votes to pass in the chamber.
Chief Justice Roberts could resolve this today, but he has not acted.
The highest court in the land should not have the lowest ethical standards. But for too long that has been the case with the United States Supreme Court.
That needs to change.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) June 21, 2023
I hope that before that time, Chief Justice Roberts will take the lead and bring Supreme Court ethics in line with all other federal judges.
But if the Court won’t act, then Congress must.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) June 21, 2023
Despite this, Durbin and Whitehouse released a statement, shedding crocodile tears over the ProPublica hit piece as a way to push their own leftist agenda. However, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was quick to dismiss the bill, stating that the Supreme Court “can’t be dictated to by Congress” and that he trusts Chief Justice John Roberts to handle any issues that arise. Schumer, on the other hand, is dodging the issue, refusing to speak to bringing the bill to the floor even though he claims to support it.
In response to the ProPublica hit piece on him, Justice Alito penned an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, where he criticized the media for unfairly targeting conservative justices. This is a recurring trend that is especially noticeable when it comes to Justice Clarence Thomas, who was also the subject of a similarly unfair ProPublica report back in April. The Wall Street Journal also published a scathing editorial in response to that report.
It’s important to note that liberal justices have had ethics concerns of their own, including Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who failed to recuse herself from cases involving Penguin Random House despite receiving $3 million from the publisher for her books. However, the media has been conveniently silent on these issues, only choosing to focus on attacking conservative justices.
Overall, it’s clear that this “Supreme Court Ethics Reform Legislation” is nothing more than another political ploy by leftists to further their own agenda while attacking conservative Supreme Court justices.
