Chief justice must implement strong ethics code, Sen. Dick Durbin says
“He has the power to make the difference,” he said of John Roberts.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin on Sunday called on Chief Justice John Roberts to create a strong “code of conduct” for the Supreme Court.
“History is going to judge him by the decision he makes on this. He has the power to make the difference,” the Illinois Democrat said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Durbin was speaking in response to the latest reporting by ProPublica about what Texas megadonor Harlan Crow has provided Justice Clarence Thomas over the years, including private-school tuition for a relative of Thomas’. (Thomas was the legal guardian of his relative.) Other news organizations have reported of ethical issues involving Thomas and other current members of the nation’s top court.
“I keep calling on Chief Justice Roberts to make a move and say something and solve this problem,” Durbin told host Jake Tapper. “He has the power to do it for the Roberts Court. But other justices can speak out as well.”
Durbin also said “everything is on the table” but didn’t offer any solutions that Congress could undertake on its own to impose policies on ethics for the nation’s highest court. But he said a strong policy is definitely needed to rebuild the court’s credibility.
“We need to change the image of this court. At this point it is at the lowest ebb in history,” Durbin said.