Ethics

A reporter on Huffington Post is reporting that House Democrats are "drafting demands that Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas be disbarred in Missouri for perjury, and investigated by the Department of Justice for bribery, according to House Judiciary Committee aides."  We'll see if that really comes to pass.

The "bribery" allegation is that Thomas's vote in the Citizens United case was a payback for political support Thomas received nearly twenty years ago.  Really.  The perjury allegation is based upon Thomas's admitted, multi-year failure to list his wife's income on the disclosure forms he was required to fill out.

This latest projected attack on Justice Thomas comes across as so partisan and calculated that I'm still waiting to see if it really comes to fruition as promised.  And if and when these charges get tossed out there, I will try to read them carefully to see if there's any substance.  But as I've said here before we all lose if judicial ethics becomes just another handy weapon in the left-right culture wars.

Tom Goldstein has thoughtful comments in this video.