Courts

Elena Kagan Thinks It Would Be A 'Good Thing' For The Supreme Court To Have An Ethics Code

Who could possibly be holding up the Court's adoption of ethical standards?

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Elena Kagan LF Justice Elena KaganThe Supreme Court has been mired in ethical controversies of late, all thanks to certain justices — ahem, Justice Clarence Thomas — receiving years’ worth of undisclosed travel and gifts from conservative compatriots. Many, including members of Congress, have called for the country’s highest court to be regulated by a code of judicial ethics, while Justice Samuel Alito has all but declared SCOTUS to be above the law. But Justice Elena Kagan, ever the Court’s cockeyed optimist, now says that a Supreme code of ethics would be “a good thing.”

During a recent speaking engagement at the University of Notre Dame Law School, Kagan elaborated on her thoughts about an ethical code of conduct for the Supreme Court. The National Law Journal has the details:

Kagan said there is a “legitimate concern” that certain rules for lower court judges wouldn’t “fit quite as well” for the nine members of the nation’s top bench.

“But of course what we could do is just adapt the code of conduct that the other court systems have in order to reflect those slight or certain differences,” she said…. “And I think it would be a good thing for the court to do that.”

Kagan continued, noting, “It would help in our own compliance with the rules and it would, I think, go far in persuading other people that we were adhering to the highest standards of conduct.”

The Supreme Court is considering adopting its own code of ethics, but it’s taking quite some time for the justices to come up with a solution. This seems like an issue that needs to be addressed urgently, so what could possibly be taking the justices so long?

Kagan declined to reveal what was holding up the court.

“What goes on in the conference room goes on in the conference room,” she said. “And I don’t want to suggest that there’s one holdout. … There are some things to be worked out. I hope that we can work them out.”

Of course Kagan doesn’t want to suggest that there’s one holdout — but she just did. Oopsie! Take your best guesses on who that holdout may be.

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In closing her remarks, Kagan, ever the jokester, quipped that she’d worn the wrong color (red) to the event ahead of Notre Dame’s football game against Ohio State. To that, Notre Dame’s dean, Marcus Cole, offered up a variety of green clothing items for her to wear. “But not over the gift limit,” she wisecracked, drawing a round of laughter from the audience.

Justice Kagan Says Supreme Court Ethics Code Would Be ‘Good Thing’ [National Law Journal]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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