The Supreme Court has a serious ethics problem, and the latest revelations about Justice Clarence Thomas should be alarming to every American.  

• For twenty years, Justice Thomas accepted and failed to disclose luxury vacations gifted to him by GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, including multiple trips on private jets and yachts potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. 
• We now know that Thomas also sold three properties to Crow and failed to report the deal on his financial disclosures. One of those properties was the home where Thomas’ mother still lives, and Crow has acted as Thomas’ mother’s landlord for the past decade, charging her $0 in rent, while retrofitting and refurbishing her home and an entire neighborhood to benefit the Thomas family. 
• Thomas’ financial entanglements with Crow are only the latest controversy calling into question his fitness to serve on our nation’s highest court. Justice Thomas has also failed to recuse himself from cases related to January 6th, despite his wife’s clear involvement in the conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. Ginni Thomas pressed lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin to intervene in the election certification process to overturn Biden’s win, and she urged White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows not to allow Trump to concede the election. Even so, Justice Thomas was the only justice to vote against granting the January 6 Select Committee access to key Trump administration documents related to the insurrection.

• And sadly, Justice Thomas is not the only Supreme Court justice with ethical issues: Chief Justice Roberts’ wife has earned millions of dollars from law firms with business before the Supreme Court. Justice Alito has dined with conservative anti-abortion activists and allegedly leaked reproductive health decisions.
  
  
• How is all of this unethical behavior possible? The nine justices on the Supreme Court are the only federal judges not bound by a code of ethics. It’s up to the justices to self-police on ethical issues, and they want to keep it that way. It’s increasingly clear that we simply cannot trust the Supreme Court to hold themselves to the same ethical standard as other federal judges.
  
  
• The Supreme Court’s numerous ethics scandals have damaged public confidence in the Court. Today, less than half of Americans say they have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the Supreme Court.
  
  
• Congress has a constitutional duty to act as a check on the Supreme Court and restore faith in our judicial system by investigating Justice Thomas, holding hearings, and passing a code of ethics for Supreme Court justices.
  
  
• The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act (H.R.926/S.359) would require the Supreme Court to adopt and abide by a code of conduct. It would also create an investigative board to review ethics complaints against the justices and set transparency standards. Congress needs to step up and pass this critical legislation to help put an end to corruption on our nation’s highest court.
  
  
• The Supreme Court’s decisions affect every aspect of our lives. We should be able to trust the Court to act with integrity and impartiality––but the shadow of corruption hangs over Clarence Thomas and other right-wing justices on the Court. 

• Americans should have faith that the Supreme Court will protect our rights, but decades of corruption have led to attacks on the freedoms of regular people, who no longer trust the Court.

• Justice Thomas’ corruption is only the latest example of why the Supreme Court needs reforms.

• Justices have cozied with activists with matters before the Court, released results of cases to activists early, ignored their own conflicts of interests, and have favored the dark money groups that spent tens of millions to ensure their confirmations.

• It is no surprise that Americans’ trust in the Supreme Court is at an all time low.

• Extremist Dark money groups have received a massive return on their investment as decisions side with corporations and special interests. 

• Since extremist dark money groups have captured the courts, Justices have thrown out nearly 40 years of precedent to overturn Roe v. Wade, weakened protections for workers, and struck down common sense gun safety laws.

• The Supreme Court’s corrupt, antidemocratic behavior is part of an overall attack on our democracy. They have undermined the right to vote, allowed politicians to enact extreme partisan gerrymandering, and opened the door to unlimited spending and dark money in our elections.

• We need to bring transparency and accountability to the Supreme Court to restore faith in our justice system.

• Chief Justice Roberts has made it clear that he is unwilling to address the Supreme Court’s corruption.

• Americans need to know that Supreme Court Justices are fair and impartial.

• Justices need an enforceable code of conduct to ensure accountability and transparency, and to prevent conflicts of interest. We need to pass the DISCLOSE Act to bring the dark money spent in judicial confirmations into the light.